Inherited fromOld Frenchsavoir/eir, fromVulgar Latin*sapēre, fromLatinsapĕre.
The now-obsolete spellingsçavoir owes its ⟨ç⟩ to the Latinscīre(“to know”), which was long assumed to be the etymon of the French verb.
The 1SG present indicativesais comes from Old Frenchsai < Vulgar Latin */ˈsajo/ ≠ Classical Latinsapiō. The inflections with ⟨ch⟩ reflect regular palatalization of an original [pj], as insache < Old Frenchsacheṭ < */ˈsa(p)t͡ʃat/ < */ˈsapjat/ < Classical Latinsapiat (cf. Frenchseiche < Latinsēpia). The past participlesu comes from Old Frenchseü < */saˈ(β)udo/ < Vulgar Latin*/saˈputu/, most likely influenced by Latin perfect verb forms such assapuī.
See alsoAngevinsçavouèr,Aragonesesaber,Asturiansaber,Bourbonnais-Berrichonsavoér,Bourguignonsaivoi,Catalansaber,Champenoissaouâr,Corsicansapè,Franc-Comtoissaivoi,Friuliansavê,Galiciansaber,Gallosavair,Italiansapere,Liguriansavei,Lombardsaver,Lorrainsahoir,Neapolitansapé,Normansavi,savaer,savei,Occitansaber,saupre,Picardsavoèr,Piedmontesesavèj,Poitevin-Saintongeaissaver,Portuguesesaber,Romanschsavair,saveir,saver,Siciliansapiri,Spanishsaber,Venetansaver,Walloonsaveur.
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savoir
| infinitive | simple | savoir | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle orgerund1 | simple | sachant /sa.ʃɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | su /sy/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | sais /sɛ/ | sais /sɛ/ | sait /sɛ/ | savons /sa.vɔ̃/ | savez /sa.ve/ | savent /sav/ |
| imperfect | savais /sa.vɛ/ | savais /sa.vɛ/ | savait /sa.vɛ/ | savions /sa.vjɔ̃/ | saviez /sa.vje/ | savaient /sa.vɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | sus /sy/ | sus /sy/ | sut /sy/ | sûmes /sym/ | sûtes /syt/ | surent /syʁ/ | |
| future | saurai /sɔ.ʁe/ or/so.ʁe/ | sauras /sɔ.ʁa/ or/so.ʁa/ | saura /sɔ.ʁa/ or/so.ʁa/ | saurons /sɔ.ʁɔ̃/ or/so.ʁɔ̃/ | saurez /sɔ.ʁe/ or/so.ʁe/ | sauront /sɔ.ʁɔ̃/ or/so.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | saurais /sɔ.ʁɛ/ or/so.ʁɛ/ | saurais /sɔ.ʁɛ/ or/so.ʁɛ/ | saurait /sɔ.ʁɛ/ or/so.ʁɛ/ | saurions /sɔ.ʁjɔ̃/ or/so.ʁjɔ̃/ | sauriez /sɔ.ʁje/ or/so.ʁje/ | sauraient /sɔ.ʁɛ/ or/so.ʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) | present perfect | present indicative ofavoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative ofavoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic ofavoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future ofavoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional ofavoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | sache /saʃ/ | saches /saʃ/ | sache /saʃ/ | sachions /sa.ʃjɔ̃/ | sachiez /sa.ʃje/ | sachent /saʃ/ |
| imperfect2 | susse /sys/ | susses /sys/ | sût /sy/ | sussions /sy.sjɔ̃/ | sussiez /sy.sje/ | sussent /sys/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive ofavoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive ofavoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | sache /saʃ/ | — | sachons /sa.ʃɔ̃/ | sachez /sa.ʃe/ | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative ofavoir + past participle | — | simple imperative ofavoir + past participle | simple imperative ofavoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the prepositionen. | |||||||
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). | |||||||
Inherited fromVulgar Latin*sapēre, fromLatinsapere(“taste, know”).
savoir
This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has a stressed present stemsev distinct from the unstressed stemsav, as well as other irregularities. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | savoir | avoirseü | |||||
| gerund | ensavant,sachant | gerund ofavoir + past participle | |||||
| present participle | savant,sachant | ||||||
| past participle | seü | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | jo | tu | il | nos | vos | il | |
| simple tenses | present | sai | ses | set | savons | savez | sevent |
| imperfect | savoie,saveie | savoies,saveies | savoit,saveit | saviiens,saviens | saviiez,saviez | savoient,saveient | |
| preterite | soi | seüs | sot | seümes | seüstes | sorent | |
| future | savrai,sarai | savras,saras | savra,sara | savrons,sarons | savroiz,savreiz,savrez,saroiz,sareiz,sarez | savront,saront | |
| conditional | savroie,savreie,saroie,sareie | savroies,savreies,saroies,sareies | savroit,savreit,saroit,sareit | savriiens,savriens,sariiens,sariens | savriiez,savriez,sariiez,sariez | savroient,savreient,saroient,sareient | |
| compound tenses | present perfect | present tense ofavoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect tense ofavoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior | preterite tense ofavoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future tense ofavoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional tense ofavoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que jo | que tu | qu’il | que nos | que vos | qu’il | |
| simple tenses | present | sache | saches | sache | sachiens,sachons | sachiez | sachent |
| imperfect | seüsse | seüsses | seüst | seüssons,seüssiens | seüssoiz,seüssez,seüssiez | seüssent | |
| compound tenses | past | present subjunctive ofavoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive ofavoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nos | vos | – | |
| — | sache | — | sachiens,sachons | sachiez | — | ||
savoiroblique singular, m (oblique pluralsavoirs,nominative singularsavoirs,nominative pluralsavoir)
