effleurer
French
Etymology
From ex- (“ex-”) + fleurer (“sprinkle”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /e.flœ.ʁe/
audio (file)
Verb
effleurer
- to stroke gently, to touch lightly
- Synonym: caresser
- to brush over, to brush past
- (figuratively) to skim over (a subject)
Conjugation
Conjugation of effleurer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | effleurer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | effleurant /e.flœ.ʁɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | effleuré /e.flœ.ʁe/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | effleure /e.flœʁ/ | effleures /e.flœʁ/ | effleure /e.flœʁ/ | effleurons /e.flœ.ʁɔ̃/ | effleurez /e.flœ.ʁe/ | effleurent /e.flœʁ/ |
| imperfect | effleurais /e.flœ.ʁɛ/ | effleurais /e.flœ.ʁɛ/ | effleurait /e.flœ.ʁɛ/ | effleurions /e.flœ.ʁjɔ̃/ | effleuriez /e.flœ.ʁje/ | effleuraient /e.flœ.ʁɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | effleurai /e.flœ.ʁe/ | effleuras /e.flœ.ʁa/ | effleura /e.flœ.ʁa/ | effleurâmes /e.flœ.ʁam/ | effleurâtes /e.flœ.ʁat/ | effleurèrent /e.flœ.ʁɛʁ/ | |
| future | effleurerai /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁe/ | effleureras /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁa/ | effleurera /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁa/ | effleurerons /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/ | effleurerez /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁe/ | effleureront /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | effleurerais /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁɛ/ | effleurerais /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁɛ/ | effleurerait /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁɛ/ | effleurerions /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁjɔ̃/ | effleureriez /e.flœ.ʁə.ʁje/ | effleureraient /e.flœ.ʁə.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 | effleure /e.flœʁ/ | effleures /e.flœʁ/ | effleure /e.flœʁ/ | effleurions /e.flœ.ʁjɔ̃/ | effleuriez /e.flœ.ʁje/ | effleurent /e.flœʁ/ |
| imperfect2 | effleurasse /e.flœ.ʁas/ | effleurasses /e.flœ.ʁas/ | effleurât /e.flœ.ʁa/ | effleurassions /e.flœ.ʁa.sjɔ̃/ | effleurassiez /e.flœ.ʁa.sje/ | effleurassent /e.flœ.ʁas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | effleure /e.flœʁ/ | — | effleurons /e.flœ.ʁɔ̃/ | effleurez /e.flœ.ʁe/ | — | |
| 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). | |||||||
Descendants
- → English: efflower
Further reading
- “effleurer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.