délayer
See also: delayer
French edit
Etymology edit
Perhaps from Vulgar Latin delicāre, from Latin deliquāre, and influenced phonetically by the unrelated Old French delaier (cf. délai).
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
délayer
- (transitive) to add water to
- to thin (paint)
- to water down (another liquid)
- to pad out (e.g. a speech)
Conjugation edit
This is a regular -er verb as far as pronunciation is concerned, but as with other verbs in -ayer (such as payer and essayer, the <y> of its stem may optionally be written as <i> when it precedes a silent <e> (compare verbs in -eyer, which never have this spelling change, and verbs in -oyer and -uyer, which always have it; verbs in -ayer belong to either group, according to the writer's preference).
Conjugation of délayer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | délayer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | délayant /de.lɛ.jɑ̃/ or /de.le.jɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | délayé /de.lɛ.je/ or /de.le.je/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | délaye or délaie /de.lɛj/ or /de.lɛ/ |
délayes or délaies /de.lɛj/ or /de.lɛ/ |
délaye or délaie /de.lɛj/ or /de.lɛ/ |
délayons /de.lɛ.jɔ̃/ or /de.le.jɔ̃/ |
délayez /de.lɛ.je/ or /de.le.je/ |
délayent or délaient /de.lɛj/ or /de.lɛ/ |
| imperfect | délayais /de.lɛ.jɛ/ or /de.le.jɛ/ |
délayais /de.lɛ.jɛ/ or /de.le.jɛ/ |
délayait /de.lɛ.jɛ/ or /de.le.jɛ/ |
délayions /de.lɛj.jɔ̃/ |
délayiez /de.lɛj.je/ |
délayaient /de.lɛ.jɛ/ or /de.le.jɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | délayai /de.lɛ.je/ or /de.le.je/ |
délayas /de.lɛ.ja/ or /de.le.ja/ |
délaya /de.lɛ.ja/ or /de.le.ja/ |
délayâmes /de.lɛ.jam/ or /de.le.jam/ |
délayâtes /de.lɛ.jat/ or /de.le.jat/ |
délayèrent /de.lɛ.jɛʁ/ or /de.le.jɛʁ/ | |
| future | délayerai or délaierai /de.lɛj.ʁe/ or /de.lɛ.ʁe/ or /de.le.ʁe/ |
délayeras or délaieras /de.lɛj.ʁa/ or /de.lɛ.ʁa/ or /de.le.ʁa/ |
délayera or délaiera /de.lɛj.ʁa/ or /de.lɛ.ʁa/ or /de.le.ʁa/ |
délayerons or délaierons /de.lɛj.ʁɔ̃/ or /de.lɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /de.le.ʁɔ̃/ |
délayerez or délaierez /de.lɛj.ʁe/ or /de.lɛ.ʁe/ or /de.le.ʁe/ |
délayeront or délaieront /de.lɛj.ʁɔ̃/ or /de.lɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /de.le.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | délayerais or délaierais /de.lɛj.ʁɛ/ or /de.lɛ.ʁɛ/ or /de.le.ʁɛ/ |
délayerais or délaierais /de.lɛj.ʁɛ/ or /de.lɛ.ʁɛ/ or /de.le.ʁɛ/ |
délayerait or délaierait /de.lɛj.ʁɛ/ or /de.lɛ.ʁɛ/ or /de.le.ʁɛ/ |
délayerions or délaierions /de.lɛ.jə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /de.le.jə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /de.lɛ.ʁjɔ̃/ or /de.le.ʁjɔ̃/ |
délayeriez or délaieriez /de.lɛ.jə.ʁje/ or /de.le.jə.ʁje/ or /de.lɛ.ʁje/ or /de.le.ʁje/ |
délayeraient or délaieraient /de.lɛj.ʁɛ/ or /de.lɛ.ʁɛ/ or /de.le.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 | délaye or délaie /de.lɛj/ or /de.lɛ/ |
délayes or délaies /de.lɛj/ or /de.lɛ/ |
délaye or délaie /de.lɛj/ or /de.lɛ/ |
délayions /de.lɛj.jɔ̃/ |
délayiez /de.lɛj.je/ |
délayent or délaient /de.lɛj/ or /de.lɛ/ |
| imperfect2 | délayasse /de.lɛ.jas/ or /de.le.jas/ |
délayasses /de.lɛ.jas/ or /de.le.jas/ |
délayât /de.lɛ.ja/ or /de.le.ja/ |
délayassions /de.lɛ.ja.sjɔ̃/ or /de.le.ja.sjɔ̃/ |
délayassiez /de.lɛ.ja.sje/ or /de.le.ja.sje/ |
délayassent /de.lɛ.jas/ or /de.le.jas/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | délaye or délaie /de.lɛj/ or /de.lɛ/ |
— | délayons /de.lɛ.jɔ̃/ or /de.le.jɔ̃/ |
délayez /de.lɛ.je/ or /de.le.je/ |
— | |
| 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). | |||||||
Derived terms edit
Further reading edit
- “délayer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.