plaire
French edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Middle French plaire, from Old French plaire, from plaisir, from Latin placēre. The original infinitive now became a noun, and the infinitive ending was changed to -aire by analogy with the future and conditional forms in plair-. The future stem came from Latin pluperfect stem placuer- (placueram, placuerās, ...); some other verbs also use the pluperfect stem for their future stems (but not in the case of pluperfect forms containing -s- or -x-), for example tenir, tiendrai (if using the infinitive form, it results on expected *tenirai < tenī́re hábeō), see also Appendix:French verbs#Origins.
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
plaire
- (intransitive, with indirect object) to please, to appeal to (usually translated into English as like with exchange of subject and object)
- Cet homme me plaît ― I like/fancy that man. (literally, “That man appeals to me.”)
- Cette robe me plaît. ― I like this dress.
- (reflexive) to enjoy (oneself)
- Je me suis plu à Paris. ― I liked it in Paris.
Conjugation edit
plaire and its derived verbs conjugate like taire, except that the third person singular of the present indicative may take a circumflex on the 'i'.
infinitive | simple | plaire | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
present participle or gerund1 | simple | plaisant /plɛ.zɑ̃/ or /ple.zɑ̃/ | |||||
compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
past participle | plu /ply/ | ||||||
singular | plural | ||||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
(simple tenses) |
present | plais /plɛ/ |
plais /plɛ/ |
plaît or plait /plɛ/ |
plaisons /plɛ.zɔ̃/ or /ple.zɔ̃/ |
plaisez /plɛ.ze/ or /ple.ze/ |
plaisent /plɛz/ |
imperfect | plaisais /plɛ.zɛ/ or /ple.zɛ/ |
plaisais /plɛ.zɛ/ or /ple.zɛ/ |
plaisait /plɛ.zɛ/ or /ple.zɛ/ |
plaisions /plɛ.zjɔ̃/ or /ple.zjɔ̃/ |
plaisiez /plɛ.zje/ or /ple.zje/ |
plaisaient /plɛ.zɛ/ or /ple.zɛ/ | |
past historic2 | plus /ply/ |
plus /ply/ |
plut /ply/ |
plûmes /plym/ |
plûtes /plyt/ |
plurent /plyʁ/ | |
future | plairai /plɛ.ʁe/ or /ple.ʁe/ |
plairas /plɛ.ʁa/ or /ple.ʁa/ |
plaira /plɛ.ʁa/ or /ple.ʁa/ |
plairons /plɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /ple.ʁɔ̃/ |
plairez /plɛ.ʁe/ or /ple.ʁe/ |
plairont /plɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /ple.ʁɔ̃/ | |
conditional | plairais /plɛ.ʁɛ/ or /ple.ʁɛ/ |
plairais /plɛ.ʁɛ/ or /ple.ʁɛ/ |
plairait /plɛ.ʁɛ/ or /ple.ʁɛ/ |
plairions /plɛ.ʁjɔ̃/ or /ple.ʁjɔ̃/ |
plairiez /plɛ.ʁje/ or /ple.ʁje/ |
plairaient /plɛ.ʁɛ/ or /ple.ʁɛ/ | |
(compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
(simple tenses) |
present | plaise /plɛz/ |
plaises /plɛz/ |
plaise /plɛz/ |
plaisions /plɛ.zjɔ̃/ or /ple.zjɔ̃/ |
plaisiez /plɛ.zje/ or /ple.zje/ |
plaisent /plɛz/ |
imperfect2 | plusse /plys/ |
plusses /plys/ |
plût /ply/ |
plussions /ply.sjɔ̃/ |
plussiez /ply.sje/ |
plussent /plys/ | |
(compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | – | – | ||||
simple | — | plais /plɛ/ |
— | plaisons /plɛ.zɔ̃/ or /ple.zɔ̃/ |
plaisez /plɛ.ze/ or /ple.ze/ |
— | |
compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). |
plaire and its derived verbs conjugate like taire, except that the third person singular of the present indicative may take a circumflex on the 'i'.
infinitive | simple | se plaire | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
compound | s'être + past participle | ||||||
present participle or gerund1 | simple | se plaisant /sə plɛ.zɑ̃/ or /sə ple.zɑ̃/ | |||||
compound | ayant or étant + past participle | ||||||
past participle | plu /ply/ | ||||||
singular | plural | ||||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
(simple tenses) |
present | me plais /mə plɛ/ |
te plais /tə plɛ/ |
se plaît or se plait /sə plɛ/ |
nous plaisons /nu plɛ.zɔ̃/ or /nu ple.zɔ̃/ |
vous plaisez /vu plɛ.ze/ or /vu ple.ze/ |
se plaisent /sə plɛz/ |
imperfect | me plaisais /mə plɛ.zɛ/ or /mə ple.zɛ/ |
te plaisais /tə plɛ.zɛ/ or /tə ple.zɛ/ |
se plaisait /sə plɛ.zɛ/ or /sə ple.zɛ/ |
nous plaisions /nu plɛ.zjɔ̃/ or /nu ple.zjɔ̃/ |
vous plaisiez /vu plɛ.zje/ or /vu ple.zje/ |
se plaisaient /sə plɛ.zɛ/ or /sə ple.zɛ/ | |
past historic2 | me plus /mə ply/ |
te plus /tə ply/ |
se plut /sə ply/ |
nous plûmes /nu plym/ |
vous plûtes /vu plyt/ |
se plurent /sə plyʁ/ | |
future | me plairai /mə plɛ.ʁe/ or /mə ple.ʁe/ |
te plairas /tə plɛ.ʁa/ or /tə ple.ʁa/ |
se plaira /sə plɛ.ʁa/ or /sə ple.ʁa/ |
nous plairons /nu plɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /nu ple.ʁɔ̃/ |
vous plairez /vu plɛ.ʁe/ or /vu ple.ʁe/ |
se plairont /sə plɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /sə ple.ʁɔ̃/ | |
conditional | me plairais /mə plɛ.ʁɛ/ or /mə ple.ʁɛ/ |
te plairais /tə plɛ.ʁɛ/ or /tə ple.ʁɛ/ |
se plairait /sə plɛ.ʁɛ/ or /sə ple.ʁɛ/ |
nous plairions /nu plɛ.ʁjɔ̃/ or /nu ple.ʁjɔ̃/ |
vous plairiez /vu plɛ.ʁje/ or /vu ple.ʁje/ |
se plairaient /sə plɛ.ʁɛ/ or /sə ple.ʁɛ/ | |
(compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of s'être + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | imperfect indicative of s'être + past participle | ||||||
past anterior2 | past historic of s'être + past participle | ||||||
future perfect | future of s'être + past participle | ||||||
conditional perfect | conditional of s'être + past participle | ||||||
subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
(simple tenses) |
present | me plaise /mə plɛz/ |
te plaises /tə plɛz/ |
se plaise /sə plɛz/ |
nous plaisions /nu plɛ.zjɔ̃/ or /nu ple.zjɔ̃/ |
vous plaisiez /vu plɛ.zje/ or /vu ple.zje/ |
se plaisent /sə plɛz/ |
imperfect2 | me plusse /mə plys/ |
te plusses /tə plys/ |
se plût /sə ply/ |
nous plussions /nu ply.sjɔ̃/ |
vous plussiez /vu ply.sje/ |
se plussent /sə plys/ | |
(compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of s'être + past participle | |||||
pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of s'être + past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | – | – | ||||
simple | — | plais-toi /plɛ.twa/ |
— | plaisons-nous /plɛ.zɔ̃.nu/ or /ple.zɔ̃.nu/ |
plaisez-vous /plɛ.ze.vu/ or /ple.ze.vu/ |
— | |
compound | — | simple imperative of s'être + past participle | — | simple imperative of s'être + past participle | simple imperative of s'être + past participle | — | |
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). |
Derived terms edit
Further reading edit
- “plaire”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams edit
Middle French edit
Etymology edit
From Old French plaire.
Verb edit
plaire
- to please
Descendants edit
- French: plaire
Occitan edit
Etymology edit
From a variant of Old Occitan plazer (probably reformed by analogy from conjugated forms; compare French plaire vs. plaisir, and Catalan plaure vs. plaer), from Latin placeō, placēre (“to please”).
Pronunciation edit
Audio (Languedocien) (file)
Verb edit
plaire (Languedoc)
Dialectal variants edit
Antonyms edit
Related terms edit
- plaser (“pleasure”)
Further reading edit
- Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana, L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2024, page 500.
Old French edit
Verb edit
plaire
- alternative infinitive of plaisir.
Conjugation edit
This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb ends in a palatal stem, so there is an extra i before the e of some endings. This verb has irregularities in its conjugation. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.
simple | compound | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
infinitive | plaire | avoir pleü | |||||
gerund | en plaisant | gerund of avoir + past participle | |||||
present participle | plaisant | ||||||
past participle | pleü | ||||||
person | singular | plural | |||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | jo | tu | il | nos | vos | il | |
simple tenses |
present | plaz, plais | plais | plaist | plaisons | plaisiez | plaisent |
imperfect | plaisoie, plaiseie | plaisoies, plaiseies | plaisoit, plaiseit | plaisiiens, plaisiens | plaisiiez, plaisiez | plaisoient, plaiseient | |
preterite | ploi | pleüs | plot | pleümes | pleüstes | plorent | |
future | plairai | plairas | plaira | plairons | plairoiz, plaireiz, plairez | plairont | |
conditional | plairoie, plaireie | plairoies, plaireies | plairoit, plaireit | plairiiens, plairiens | plairiiez, plairiez | plairoient, plaireient | |
compound tenses |
present perfect | present tense of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | imperfect tense of avoir + past participle | ||||||
past anterior | preterite tense of avoir + past participle | ||||||
future perfect | future tense of avoir + past participle | ||||||
conditional perfect | conditional tense of avoir + past participle | ||||||
subjunctive | que jo | que tu | qu’il | que nos | que vos | qu’il | |
simple tenses |
present | place, plaise | places, plaises | place, plaise | placiens, plaçons, plaisiens, plaisons | placiez, plaisiez | placent, plaisent |
imperfect | pleüsse | pleüsses | pleüst | pleüssons, pleüssiens | pleüssoiz, pleüssez, pleüssiez | pleüssent | |
compound tenses |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | tu | – | nos | vos | – | |
— | plais | — | plaisons | plaisiez | — |