nager
French
Etymology
From Old French nagier, inherited from a reduced form of Latin navigāre, present active infinitive of navigō. Doublet of naviguer, a later borrowing. Displaced Old French noer, from Latin natāre, natō (“to swim”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /na.ʒe/
audio (file) Audio (Paris) (file) Audio (CAN) (file) - Rhymes: -e
- Homophones: nagé, nageai, nagée, nagées, nagés, nagez
Verb
nager
- to swim
Conjugation
This is a regular -er verb, but the stem is written nage- before endings that begin with -a- or -o- (to indicate that the -g- is a "soft" /ʒ/ and not a "hard" /ɡ/). This spelling-change occurs in all verbs in -ger, such as neiger and manger.
infinitive | simple | nager | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
present participle or gerund1 | simple | nageant /na.ʒɑ̃/ | |||||
compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
past participle | nagé /na.ʒe/ | ||||||
singular | plural | ||||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
(simple tenses) | present | nage /naʒ/ | nages /naʒ/ | nage /naʒ/ | nageons /na.ʒɔ̃/ | nagez /na.ʒe/ | nagent /naʒ/ |
imperfect | nageais /na.ʒɛ/ | nageais /na.ʒɛ/ | nageait /na.ʒɛ/ | nagions /na.ʒjɔ̃/ | nagiez /na.ʒje/ | nageaient /na.ʒɛ/ | |
past historic2 | nageai /na.ʒe/ | nageas /na.ʒa/ | nagea /na.ʒa/ | nageâmes /na.ʒam/ | nageâtes /na.ʒat/ | nagèrent /na.ʒɛʁ/ | |
future | nagerai /naʒ.ʁe/ | nageras /naʒ.ʁa/ | nagera /naʒ.ʁa/ | nagerons /naʒ.ʁɔ̃/ | nagerez /naʒ.ʁe/ | nageront /naʒ.ʁɔ̃/ | |
conditional | nagerais /naʒ.ʁɛ/ | nagerais /naʒ.ʁɛ/ | nagerait /naʒ.ʁɛ/ | nagerions /na.ʒə.ʁjɔ̃/ | nageriez /na.ʒə.ʁje/ | nageraient /naʒ.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 | nage /naʒ/ | nages /naʒ/ | nage /naʒ/ | nagions /na.ʒjɔ̃/ | nagiez /na.ʒje/ | nagent /naʒ/ |
imperfect2 | nageasse /na.ʒas/ | nageasses /na.ʒas/ | nageât /na.ʒa/ | nageassions /na.ʒa.sjɔ̃/ | nageassiez /na.ʒa.sje/ | nageassent /na.ʒas/ | |
(compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | – | – | ||||
simple | — | nage /naʒ/ | — | nageons /na.ʒɔ̃/ | nagez /na.ʒe/ | — | |
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
- nageoire
- nager comme un fer à repasser
- nager entre deux eaux
- nageur
Related terms
- natation
Further reading
- “nager”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
- range, rangé, régna
Middle French
Alternative forms
- nagier
Etymology
From Old French nager, nagier.
Verb
nager
- to navigate (waters); to sail; to travel by watercraft
Descendants
- French: nager
- Norman:
- Guernsey Norman: nâgier
- Jersey Norman: nagir
References
- nager on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)
Old French
Verb
nager
- (Anglo-Norman) Alternative form of nagier
- circa 1110, Benedeit, Le Voyage de saint Brandan:
- Un meis sanz vent nagerent tut plein
- They sailed for a whole month without wind
-
Conjugation
This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. In the present tense an extra supporting e is needed in the first-person singular indicative and throughout the singular subjunctive, and the third-person singular subjunctive ending -t is lost. In addition, g becomes j before an a or an o to keep the /dʒ/ sound intact. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.
simple | compound | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
infinitive | nager | avoir nagé | |||||
gerund | en najant | Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
present participle | najant | ||||||
past participle | nagé | ||||||
person | singular | plural | |||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | jo | tu | il | nos | vos | il | |
simple tenses | present | nage | nages | nage | najons | nagez | nagent |
imperfect | najoie, nageie, najoe, nageve | najoies, nageies, najoes, nageves | najoit, nageit, najot, nageve | nagiiens, nagiens | nagiiez, nagiez | najoient, nageient, najoent, nagevent | |
preterite | najai | najas | naja | najames | najastes | nagerent | |
future | nagerai | nageras | nagera | nagerons | nageroiz, nagereiz, nagerez | nageront | |
conditional | nageroie, nagereie | nageroies, nagereies | nageroit, nagereit | nageriiens, nageriens | nageriiez, nageriez | nageroient, nagereient | |
compound tenses | present perfect | Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
pluperfect | Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
past anterior | Use the preterite tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
future perfect | Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
conditional perfect | Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
subjunctive | que jo | que tu | qu’il | que nos | que vos | qu’il | |
simple tenses | present | nage | nages | nage | najons | nagez | nagent |
imperfect | najasse | najasses | najast | nagissons, nagissiens | nagissoiz, nagissez, nagissiez | najassent | |
compound tenses | past | Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
pluperfect | Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | tu | – | nos | vos | – | |
— | nage | — | najons | nagez | — |