compter
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈkɒmptə/
Noun
compter (plural compters)
- (obsolete) A counter (token used for keeping count).
- 1623, William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale:
- Let me see: every 'leven wether tods, every tod yields pound and odd shilling; fifteen hundred shorn, what comes the wool to? […] I cannot do't without compters.
-
- (historical) A prison attached to a city court; a counter.
- 2003, John Hamilton Baker, The Oxford History of the Laws of England, Oxford University Press, page 284:
- Each sheriff had his own compter, which were both prisons and offices, administered by the respective secondaries.
-
French
Etymology
From Middle French compter, conter, from Old French compter, which is a respelling of Old French conter, cunter to reflect the etymology Latin computāre, present active infinitive of computō. Doublet of conter and computer.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kɔ̃.te/
audio (file) - Homophone: conter
Verb
compter
- (transitive, intransitive) to count
- (transitive) to reckon, allow
- Pour se rendre jusque là, il faut compter deux bonnes heures. ― To get there, it takes two good hours.
- (transitive) to include; to comprise, to consist of
- Je ne l'ai pas comptée dans le calcul. ― I did not include it in the calculation.
- (transitive) to comprise, to consist of
- Une semaine compte 7 [sept] jours divisés en 24 [vingt-quatre] heures. ― A week consists of 7 days divided to 24 hours.
- (intransitive) to matter
- La seule chose qui compte pour Jim, c'est d'être riche. ― The only thing that matters to Jim is being rich.
- (catenative) to intend, plan
- Tu comptes partir à quelle heure ? ― At what time do you intend to leave?
- to count on [+ sur (someone)]
- Je compte sur toi ! ― I'm counting on you!
Conjugation
Conjugation of compter (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | compter | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | comptant /kɔ̃.tɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | compté /kɔ̃.te/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | compte /kɔ̃t/ | comptes /kɔ̃t/ | compte /kɔ̃t/ | comptons /kɔ̃.tɔ̃/ | comptez /kɔ̃.te/ | comptent /kɔ̃t/ |
| imperfect | comptais /kɔ̃.tɛ/ | comptais /kɔ̃.tɛ/ | comptait /kɔ̃.tɛ/ | comptions /kɔ̃.tjɔ̃/ | comptiez /kɔ̃.tje/ | comptaient /kɔ̃.tɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | comptai /kɔ̃.te/ | comptas /kɔ̃.ta/ | compta /kɔ̃.ta/ | comptâmes /kɔ̃.tam/ | comptâtes /kɔ̃.tat/ | comptèrent /kɔ̃.tɛʁ/ | |
| future | compterai /kɔ̃.tʁe/ | compteras /kɔ̃.tʁa/ | comptera /kɔ̃.tʁa/ | compterons /kɔ̃.tʁɔ̃/ | compterez /kɔ̃.tʁe/ | compteront /kɔ̃.tʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | compterais /kɔ̃.tʁɛ/ | compterais /kɔ̃.tʁɛ/ | compterait /kɔ̃.tʁɛ/ | compterions /kɔ̃.tə.ʁjɔ̃/ | compteriez /kɔ̃.tə.ʁje/ | compteraient /kɔ̃.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 | compte /kɔ̃t/ | comptes /kɔ̃t/ | compte /kɔ̃t/ | comptions /kɔ̃.tjɔ̃/ | comptiez /kɔ̃.tje/ | comptent /kɔ̃t/ |
| imperfect2 | comptasse /kɔ̃.tas/ | comptasses /kɔ̃.tas/ | comptât /kɔ̃.ta/ | comptassions /kɔ̃.ta.sjɔ̃/ | comptassiez /kɔ̃.ta.sje/ | comptassent /kɔ̃.tas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | compte /kɔ̃t/ | — | comptons /kɔ̃.tɔ̃/ | comptez /kɔ̃.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:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Derived terms
- à compter de
- c'est l'intention qui compte
- compte-gouttes
- compter pour du beurre
- compter sur les doigts de la main
- compter sur les doigts d'une main
- compteur
- comptoir
- lance et compte
- sans compter
Related terms
- compte
- conter
Further reading
- “compter”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle French
Etymology
From Old French conter, respelled to reflect Latin computō, computāre.
Verb
compter
- to recount; to tell
Conjugation
- Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of compter
| infinitive | simple | compter | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle1 or gerund2 | simple | comptant | |||||
| compound | present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | compté | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | ie (i’) | tu | il, elle | nous | vous | ilz, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | compte | comptes | compte | comptons | comptez | comptent |
| imperfect | comptois, comptoys | comptois, comptoys | comptoit, comptoyt | comptions, comptyons | comptiez, comptyez | comptoient, comptoyent | |
| past historic | compta | comptas | compta | comptasmes | comptastes | compterent | |
| future | compterai, compteray | compteras | comptera | compterons | compterez | compteront | |
| conditional | compterois, compteroys | compterois, compteroys | compteroit, compteroyt | compterions, compteryons | compteriez, compteryez | compteroient, compteroyent | |
| (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 | compte | comptes | compte | comptons | comptez | comptent |
| imperfect | comptasse | comptasses | comptast | comptassions | comptassiez | comptassent | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | compte | — | comptons | comptez | — | |
| 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). | |||||||
Related terms
- compte
Descendants
- French: compter, conter (separate verbs in modern French)