niveler
French
Etymology
niveau + -er, via its Old French root nivel.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ni.vle/
Audio (file)
Verb
niveler
- to level, level out (ground)
- to even, even out (put on the same level)
Conjugation
This verb is conjugated mostly like the regular -er verbs (parler and chanter and so on), but the -e- /ə/ of the second-to-last syllable becomes -è- /ɛ/ when the next vowel is a silent or schwa -e-. For example, in the third-person singular present indicative, we have il nivèle rather than *il nivele. Other verbs conjugated this way include lever and mener. Related but distinct conjugations include those of appeler and préférer.
Conjugation of niveler (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | niveler | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | nivelant /ni.vlɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | nivelé /ni.vle/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | nivèle /ni.vɛl/ | nivèles /ni.vɛl/ | nivèle /ni.vɛl/ | nivelons /ni.vlɔ̃/ | nivelez /ni.vle/ | nivèlent /ni.vɛl/ |
| imperfect | nivelais /ni.vlɛ/ | nivelais /ni.vlɛ/ | nivelait /ni.vlɛ/ | nivelions /ni.və.ljɔ̃/ | niveliez /ni.və.lje/ | nivelaient /ni.vlɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | nivelai /ni.vle/ | nivelas /ni.vla/ | nivela /ni.vla/ | nivelâmes /ni.vlam/ | nivelâtes /ni.vlat/ | nivelèrent /ni.vlɛʁ/ | |
| future | nivèlerai /ni.vɛl.ʁe/ | nivèleras /ni.vɛl.ʁa/ | nivèlera /ni.vɛl.ʁa/ | nivèlerons /ni.vɛl.ʁɔ̃/ | nivèlerez /ni.vɛl.ʁe/ | nivèleront /ni.vɛl.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | nivèlerais /ni.vɛl.ʁɛ/ | nivèlerais /ni.vɛl.ʁɛ/ | nivèlerait /ni.vɛl.ʁɛ/ | nivèlerions /ni.vɛ.lə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /ni.ve.lə.ʁjɔ̃/ | nivèleriez /ni.vɛ.lə.ʁje/ or /ni.ve.lə.ʁje/ | nivèleraient /ni.vɛl.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 | nivèle /ni.vɛl/ | nivèles /ni.vɛl/ | nivèle /ni.vɛl/ | nivelions /ni.və.ljɔ̃/ | niveliez /ni.və.lje/ | nivèlent /ni.vɛl/ |
| imperfect2 | nivelasse /ni.vlas/ | nivelasses /ni.vlas/ | nivelât /ni.vla/ | nivelassions /ni.vla.sjɔ̃/ | nivelassiez /ni.vla.sje/ | nivelassent /ni.vlas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | nivèle /ni.vɛl/ | — | nivelons /ni.vlɔ̃/ | nivelez /ni.vle/ | — | |
| 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
- déniveler
- nivelable
- nivelage
- nivelette
Further reading
- “niveler”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.