regretter

English

Etymology

regret +‎ -er.

Noun

regretter (plural regretters)

1. One who regrets.
   • 1940, Ernest James Oldmeadow, Francis, Cardinal Bourne, page 311:

     Catholics were not the only regretters of the British Government's lack of courtesy to Cardinal Lauri during his two passings through England and Wales.

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French regretter, regreter, from Old French regreter (“to lament”), from re- (“intensive prefix”) +‎ greter (“to weep”), from Frankish *grātan (“to weep, mourn, lament”), from Proto-Germanic *grētaną (“to weep”) and Frankish *greotan (“to cry, weep”), from Proto-Germanic *greutaną (“to weep, cry”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrew- (“to weep, be sad”). Akin to Old High German grāzan (“to cry”), Old English grǣtan (“to weep, greet”), Old English grēotan (“to weep, lament”), Old Norse gráta (“to weep, groan”), Gothic 𐌲𐍂𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽 (grētan, “to weep”). More at greet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.te/, /ʁə.ɡʁe.te/

• audio

  (file)

Verb

regretter

1. to regret

   Je regrette de t’avoir parlé ainsi tout à l’heure. ― I regret having spoken to you like that earlier.

   Non, je ne regrette rien. ― No, I don't regret anything.

   Je regrette qu’il soit parti si tôt. ― I'm sorry that he left so early.

2. to miss

   On le regrettera. ― He will be missed.

   Je regrette mon argent. ― I wish I hadn't spent my money.

Conjugation

Conjugation of regretter (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	regretter
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	regrettant /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tɑ̃/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		regretté /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.te/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.te/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	regrette /ʁə.ɡʁɛt/	regrettes /ʁə.ɡʁɛt/	regrette /ʁə.ɡʁɛt/	regrettons /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tɔ̃/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tɔ̃/	regrettez /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.te/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.te/	regrettent /ʁə.ɡʁɛt/
	imperfect	regrettais /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tɛ/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tɛ/	regrettais /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tɛ/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tɛ/	regrettait /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tɛ/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tɛ/	regrettions /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tjɔ̃/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tjɔ̃/	regrettiez /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tje/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tje/	regrettaient /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tɛ/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tɛ/
	past historic2	regrettai /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.te/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.te/	regrettas /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.ta/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.ta/	regretta /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.ta/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.ta/	regrettâmes /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tam/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tam/	regrettâtes /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tat/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tat/	regrettèrent /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tɛʁ/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tɛʁ/
	future	regretterai /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tʁe/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tʁe/	regretteras /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tʁa/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tʁa/	regrettera /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tʁa/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tʁa/	regretterons /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tʁɔ̃/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tʁɔ̃/	regretterez /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tʁe/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tʁe/	regretteront /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tʁɔ̃/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tʁɔ̃/
	conditional	regretterais /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tʁɛ/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tʁɛ/	regretterais /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tʁɛ/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tʁɛ/	regretterait /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tʁɛ/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tʁɛ/	regretterions /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tə.ʁjɔ̃/	regretteriez /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tə.ʁje/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tə.ʁje/	regretteraient /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tʁɛ/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.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	regrette /ʁə.ɡʁɛt/	regrettes /ʁə.ɡʁɛt/	regrette /ʁə.ɡʁɛt/	regrettions /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tjɔ̃/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tjɔ̃/	regrettiez /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tje/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tje/	regrettent /ʁə.ɡʁɛt/
	imperfect2	regrettasse /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tas/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tas/	regrettasses /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tas/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tas/	regrettât /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.ta/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.ta/	regrettassions /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.ta.sjɔ̃/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.ta.sjɔ̃/	regrettassiez /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.ta.sje/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.ta.sje/	regrettassent /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tas/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	regrette /ʁə.ɡʁɛt/	—	regrettons /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tɔ̃/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tɔ̃/	regrettez /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.te/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.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

• regret

Descendants

• → Ladino: regretar

Further reading

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

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French regreter (“to lament”), from re- (“intensive prefix”) +‎ greter (“to weep”), from Frankish *grātan (“to weep, mourn, lament”), from Proto-Germanic *grētaną (“to weep”) and Frankish *greotan (“to cry, weep”), from Proto-Germanic *greutaną (“to weep, cry”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrew- (“to weep, be sad”).

Verb

regretter

1. to regret

Conjugation

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

Conjugation of regretter

infinitive	simple	regretter
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	regrettant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		regretté
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	regrette	regrettes	regrette	regrettons	regrettez	regrettent
	imperfect	regrettois, regrettoys	regrettois, regrettoys	regrettoit, regrettoyt	regrettions, regrettyons	regrettiez, regrettyez	regrettoient, regrettoyent
	past historic	regretta	regrettas	regretta	regrettasmes	regrettastes	regretterent
	future	regretterai, regretteray	regretteras	regrettera	regretterons	regretterez	regretteront
	conditional	regretterois, regretteroys	regretterois, regretteroys	regretteroit, regretteroyt	regretterions, regretteryons	regretteriez, regretteryez	regretteroient, regretteroyent
(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	regrette	regrettes	regrette	regrettons	regrettez	regrettent
	imperfect	regrettasse	regrettasses	regrettast	regrettassions	regrettassiez	regrettassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	regrette	—	regrettons	regrettez	—
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).