choisir
See also: chòisir and chóisir
French
Etymology
From Middle French choisir, from Old French choisir, coisir (“to differentiate, see distinctly”), from Frankish *kauʀijan (“to choose”) or Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (kausjan), both from Proto-Germanic *kauzijaną, from Proto-Germanic *keusaną (“to choose, taste”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵews- (“to choose, taste”). Cognate with Franco-Provençal chouêsir (“to choose”), Germanic cognates include Old Frisian kēra (“to elect”). Related also to Gothic 𐌺𐌹𐌿𐍃𐌰𐌽 (kiusan, “to choose, examine”), Old High German kiosan (“to choose”), Old English ċēosan (“to choose”), Old Norse kjósa (“to choose”). More at choose.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʃwa.ziʁ/
audio (file) - Hyphenation: choi‧sir
Verb
choisir
- to choose
- Je n'ai pas eu le temps de choisir.
- (obsolete) to perceive, distinguish
Conjugation
This is a regular verb of the second conjugation, like finir, nourrir, and most other verbs with infinitives ending in -ir. One salient feature of this conjugation is the repeated appearance of the infix -iss-.
Conjugation of choisir (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | choisir | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | choisissant /ʃwa.zi.sɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | choisi /ʃwa.zi/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | choisis /ʃwa.zi/ | choisis /ʃwa.zi/ | choisit /ʃwa.zi/ | choisissons /ʃwa.zi.sɔ̃/ | choisissez /ʃwa.zi.se/ | choisissent /ʃwa.zis/ |
| imperfect | choisissais /ʃwa.zi.sɛ/ | choisissais /ʃwa.zi.sɛ/ | choisissait /ʃwa.zi.sɛ/ | choisissions /ʃwa.zi.sjɔ̃/ | choisissiez /ʃwa.zi.sje/ | choisissaient /ʃwa.zi.sɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | choisis /ʃwa.zi/ | choisis /ʃwa.zi/ | choisit /ʃwa.zi/ | choisîmes /ʃwa.zim/ | choisîtes /ʃwa.zit/ | choisirent /ʃwa.ziʁ/ | |
| future | choisirai /ʃwa.zi.ʁe/ | choisiras /ʃwa.zi.ʁa/ | choisira /ʃwa.zi.ʁa/ | choisirons /ʃwa.zi.ʁɔ̃/ | choisirez /ʃwa.zi.ʁe/ | choisiront /ʃwa.zi.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | choisirais /ʃwa.zi.ʁɛ/ | choisirais /ʃwa.zi.ʁɛ/ | choisirait /ʃwa.zi.ʁɛ/ | choisirions /ʃwa.zi.ʁjɔ̃/ | choisiriez /ʃwa.zi.ʁje/ | choisiraient /ʃwa.zi.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 | choisisse /ʃwa.zis/ | choisisses /ʃwa.zis/ | choisisse /ʃwa.zis/ | choisissions /ʃwa.zi.sjɔ̃/ | choisissiez /ʃwa.zi.sje/ | choisissent /ʃwa.zis/ |
| imperfect2 | choisisse /ʃwa.zis/ | choisisses /ʃwa.zis/ | choisît /ʃwa.zi/ | choisissions /ʃwa.zi.sjɔ̃/ | choisissiez /ʃwa.zi.sje/ | choisissent /ʃwa.zis/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | choisis /ʃwa.zi/ | — | choisissons /ʃwa.zi.sɔ̃/ | choisissez /ʃwa.zi.se/ | — | |
| 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
- de deux maux, il faut choisir le moindre
- entre deux maux, il faut choisir le moindre
Related terms
- choix
Further reading
- “choisir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle French
Etymology
From Old French choisir, coisir (“to differentiate, see distinctly”), Frankish *kauʀijan (“to choose”) or Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍃𐌾𐌰𐌽 (kausjan), both from Proto-Germanic *kauzijaną (“to choose, taste, test”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵews- (“to choose, taste”).
Verb
choisir
- to choose
Conjugation
- Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of choisir
| infinitive | simple | choisir | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle1 or gerund2 | simple | choisissant | |||||
| compound | present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | choisi | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | ie (i’) | tu | il, elle | nous | vous | ilz, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | choisis | choisis | choisit | choisissons | choisissez | choisissent |
| imperfect | choisissois, choisissoys | choisissois, choisissoys | choisissoit, choisissoyt | choisissions | choisissiez | choisissoient, choisissoyent | |
| past historic | choisis | choisis | choisit | choisismes | choisistes | choisirent | |
| future | choisirai, choisiray | choisiras | choisira | choisirons | choisirez | choisiront | |
| conditional | choisirois, choisiroys | choisirois, choisiroys | choisiroit, choisiroyt | choisirions | choisiriez | choisiroient, choisiroyent | |
| (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 | choisisse | choisisses | choisisse | choisissions | choisissiez | choisissent |
| imperfect | choisisse | choisisses | choisist | choisissions | choisissiez | choisissent | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | choisis | — | choisissons | choisissez | — | |
| 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). | |||||||