flotter

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French flotter, from Old French floter (“to float”), from Frankish *flotōn (“to float, swim”), from Proto-Germanic *flutōną (“to float, swim”), from Proto-Indo-European *plew-, *plōw- (“to flow, swim”). Cognate with Middle Dutch vlōten (“to float, swim”), Old English flotian (“to float”), Old Norse flota (“to float, launch”). More at English float.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flɔ.te/

• audio

  (file)

Verb

flotter

1. (intransitive) to float
2. to flutter, to wave
3. (informal) to mill about

Conjugation

Conjugation of flotter (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	flotter
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	flottant /flɔ.tɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		flotté /flɔ.te/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	flotte /flɔt/	flottes /flɔt/	flotte /flɔt/	flottons /flɔ.tɔ̃/	flottez /flɔ.te/	flottent /flɔt/
	imperfect	flottais /flɔ.tɛ/	flottais /flɔ.tɛ/	flottait /flɔ.tɛ/	flottions /flɔ.tjɔ̃/	flottiez /flɔ.tje/	flottaient /flɔ.tɛ/
	past historic2	flottai /flɔ.te/	flottas /flɔ.ta/	flotta /flɔ.ta/	flottâmes /flɔ.tam/	flottâtes /flɔ.tat/	flottèrent /flɔ.tɛʁ/
	future	flotterai /flɔ.tʁe/	flotteras /flɔ.tʁa/	flottera /flɔ.tʁa/	flotterons /flɔ.tʁɔ̃/	flotterez /flɔ.tʁe/	flotteront /flɔ.tʁɔ̃/
	conditional	flotterais /flɔ.tʁɛ/	flotterais /flɔ.tʁɛ/	flotterait /flɔ.tʁɛ/	flotterions /flɔ.tə.ʁjɔ̃/	flotteriez /flɔ.tə.ʁje/	flotteraient /flɔ.tʁɛ/
(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	flotte /flɔt/	flottes /flɔt/	flotte /flɔt/	flottions /flɔ.tjɔ̃/	flottiez /flɔ.tje/	flottent /flɔt/
	imperfect2	flottasse /flɔ.tas/	flottasses /flɔ.tas/	flottât /flɔ.ta/	flottassions /flɔ.ta.sjɔ̃/	flottassiez /flɔ.ta.sje/	flottassent /flɔ.tas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	flotte /flɔt/	—	flottons /flɔ.tɔ̃/	flottez /flɔ.te/	—
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: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Related terms

• flottaison
• flottant
• flotte
• flotteur

Descendants

• → Catalan: flotar
• → Italian: flottare
• → Spanish: flotar

Further reading

• “flotter”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

flotter

1. comparative degree of flott

Adjective

flotter

1. inflection of flott:
   1. strong/mixed nominative masculine singular
   2. strong genitive/dative feminine singular
   3. strong genitive plural

Luxembourgish

Adjective

flotter

1. feminine dative of flott

Middle French

Alternative forms

• floter

Etymology

From Old French floter.

Verb

flotter

1. to float

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of flotter

infinitive	simple	flotter
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	flottant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		flotté
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	flotte	flottes	flotte	flottons	flottez	flottent
	imperfect	flottois, flottoys	flottois, flottoys	flottoit, flottoyt	flottions, flottyons	flottiez, flottyez	flottoient, flottoyent
	past historic	flotta	flottas	flotta	flottasmes	flottastes	flotterent
	future	flotterai, flotteray	flotteras	flottera	flotterons	flotterez	flotteront
	conditional	flotterois, flotteroys	flotterois, flotteroys	flotteroit, flotteroyt	flotterions, flotteryons	flotteriez, flotteryez	flotteroient, flotteroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	flotte	flottes	flotte	flottons	flottez	flottent
	imperfect	flottasse	flottasses	flottast	flottassions	flottassiez	flottassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	flotte	—	flottons	flottez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Descendants

• French: flotter