parler
French
Etymology
From Middle French parler (“to speak or talk”), from Old French parler (“to talk; to speak”), from Late Latin parabolō, parabolāre, from Latin parabola (“comparison”), from Ancient Greek παραβολή (parabolḗ).
See cognates in regional languages in France: Norman pâler; Gallo paslaer; Picard parler; Bourguignon pairôlai; Franco-Provençal and Occitan parlar; Corsican parlà.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /paʁ.le/
audio (file) - Rhymes: -e
- Homophones: parlai, parlé, parlée, parlées, parlés, parlez
Verb
parler
- (intransitive) to speak, talk
- Il a commencé à parler à l’âge de quatre ans. ― He began to speak at the age of four.
- Ils ont parlé plusieurs heures avant d’aller se coucher. ― They spoke several hours before going to sleep.
- (transitive) to be able to communicate in a language; to speak
- Elle parle couramment français. ― She speaks French fluently
- (heraldry) to cant; (of a coat of arms) to make a pun of its bearer's name
- Armes parlantes.
- (takes a reflexive pronoun)
- se parler à soi-même ― to talk to oneself
Conjugation
Conjugation of parler (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | parler | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | parlant /paʁ.lɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | parlé /paʁ.le/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | parle /paʁl/2 | parles /paʁl/ | parle /paʁl/ | parlons /paʁ.lɔ̃/ | parlez /paʁ.le/ | parlent /paʁl/ |
| imperfect | parlais /paʁ.lɛ/ | parlais /paʁ.lɛ/ | parlait /paʁ.lɛ/ | parlions /paʁ.ljɔ̃/ | parliez /paʁ.lje/ | parlaient /paʁ.lɛ/ | |
| past historic3 | parlai /paʁ.le/ | parlas /paʁ.la/ | parla /paʁ.la/ | parlâmes /paʁ.lam/ | parlâtes /paʁ.lat/ | parlèrent /paʁ.lɛʁ/ | |
| future | parlerai /paʁ.lə.ʁe/ | parleras /paʁ.lə.ʁa/ | parlera /paʁ.lə.ʁa/ | parlerons /paʁ.lə.ʁɔ̃/ | parlerez /paʁ.lə.ʁe/ | parleront /paʁ.lə.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | parlerais /paʁ.lə.ʁɛ/ | parlerais /paʁ.lə.ʁɛ/ | parlerait /paʁ.lə.ʁɛ/ | parlerions /paʁ.lə.ʁjɔ̃/ | parleriez /paʁ.lə.ʁje/ | parleraient /paʁ.lə.ʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) | present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior3 | 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 | parle /paʁl/2 | parles /paʁl/ | parle /paʁl/ | parlions /paʁ.ljɔ̃/ | parliez /paʁ.lje/ | parlent /paʁl/ |
| imperfect3 | parlasse /paʁ.las/ | parlasses /paʁ.las/ | parlât /paʁ.la/ | parlassions /paʁ.la.sjɔ̃/ | parlassiez /paʁ.la.sje/ | parlassent /paʁ.las/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect3 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | parle /paʁl/ | — | parlons /paʁ.lɔ̃/ | parlez /paʁ.le/ | — | |
| 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 parlé when inverted. | |||||||
3 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 proprement parler
- entendre parler du pays
- façon de parler
- faire parler de soi
- faire parler la poudre
- je ne parle pas anglais
- je ne parle pas français
- ne m'en parle pas
- ne m'en parlez pas
- ne parle pas de malheur
- parle à ma main
- parler à travers son chapeau
- parler à un mur
- parler chiffons
- parler comme un livre
- parler dans le vide
- parler dans sa barbe
- parler de corde dans la maison d'un pendu
- parler de la pluie et du beau temps
- parler de soi-même
- parler de tout et de rien
- parler entre ses dents
- parler français comme une vache espagnole
- parler pour ne rien dire
- parles-tu anglais
- parlez-vous anglais
- parlez-vous français
- quand on parle du loup
- quand on parle du loup, on en voit la queue
- sans parler de
- s'écouter parler
- tu parles
- tu peux parler
Related terms
- parlement
- parleur
- parloir
- parlotte
- parole
Descendants
- → English: parley
- Haitian Creole: pale
Noun
parler m (plural parlers)
- parlance
- vernacular, dialect
See also
- bavarder
- discuter
- jacasser
- jaser
Further reading
- “parler”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle English
Noun
parler
- Alternative form of parlour
Middle French
Etymology
From Old French parler (“to talk; to speak”), from Late Latin parabolō, parabolāre, from Latin parabola (“comparison”), from Ancient Greek παραβολή (parabolḗ).
Verb
parler
- to speak; to talk.
Conjugation
- Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of parler
| infinitive | simple | parler | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle1 or gerund2 | simple | parlant | |||||
| compound | present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | parlé | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | ie (i’) | tu | il, elle | nous | vous | ilz, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | parle | parles | parle | parlons | parlez | parlent |
| imperfect | parlois, parloys | parlois, parloys | parloit, parloyt | parlions, parlyons | parliez, parlyez | parloient, parloyent | |
| past historic | parla | parlas | parla | parlasmes | parlastes | parlerent | |
| future | parlerai, parleray | parleras | parlera | parlerons | parlerez | parleront | |
| conditional | parlerois, parleroys | parlerois, parleroys | parleroit, parleroyt | parlerions, parleryons | parleriez, parleryez | parleroient, parleroyent | |
| (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 | parle | parles | parle | parlons | parlez | parlent |
| imperfect | parlasse | parlasses | parlast | parlassions | parlassiez | parlassent | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | parle | — | parlons | parlez | — | |
| 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). | |||||||
Descendants
- French: parler
- → English: parley
- Haitian Creole: pale
Norman
Etymology
From Old French parler, from Late Latin parabolō, parabolāre, from Latin parabola (“comparison”), from Ancient Greek παραβολή (parabolḗ).
Verb
parler
- to speak
Conjugation
Conjugation of the verb « parler » in Norman| infinitive | parler | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gerund | parlant | ||||||
| auxiliary | aveir1 | ||||||
| past participle | masculine | feminine | |||||
| singular | parlé | parlée | |||||
| plural | parlés | parlées | |||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||
| indicative | je (j') | tu (t') | il, alle, nos | je (nos) | vos | il, alles | |
| present | parle | parles | parle | parloms | parlez | parlent | |
| imperfect | parleis | parleis | parleit | parlioms | parliez | parleient | |
| preterite | parlis | parlis | parlit | parlîmes | parlîtes | parlîtrent | |
| future | parlerai | parleras | parlera | parleroms | parlerez | parleront | |
| conditional | parlereis | parlereis | parlereit | parlerioms | parleriez | parlereient | |
| subjunctive | que je (j') | que te (t') | qu'il, qu'alle, que nos | que je (que nos) | que vos | qu'il, qu'alles | |
| present | parle | parles | parle | parlioms | parliez | parlent | |
| imperfect | parlisse | parlisse | parlît parlisse | parlissioms | parlissiez | parlissent | |
| imperative | — | tu | — | je (nos) | vos | — | |
| parle | parloms | parlez | |||||
| 1Used with past participles. | |||||||
Synonyms
- pâler (partially in Cotentin)
Old French
Alternative forms
- paroler, parlier
Etymology
From Late Latin parabolō, parabolāre, from Latin parabola (“comparison”), from Ancient Greek παραβολή (parabolḗ).
Verb
parler
- to speak; to talk
Conjugation
This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-ols, *-olt are modified to ous, out. This verb has a stressed present stem parol distinct from the unstressed stem parl. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.
Conjugation of parler (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | parler | avoir parlé | |||||
| gerund | en parlant | Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle | |||||
| present participle | parlant | ||||||
| past participle | parlé | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | jo | tu | il | nos | vos | il | |
| simple tenses | present | parol | paroles | parole | parlons | parlez | parolent |
| imperfect | parloie, parleie, parloe, parleve | parloies, parleies, parloes, parleves | parloit, parleit, parlot, parleve | parliiens, parliens | parliiez, parliez | parloient, parleient, parloent, parlevent | |
| preterite | parlai | parlas | parla | parlames | parlastes | parlerent | |
| future | parlerai | parleras | parlera | parlerons | parleroiz, parlereiz, parlerez | parleront | |
| conditional | parleroie, parlereie | parleroies, parlereies | parleroit, parlereit | parleriiens, parleriens | parleriiez, parleriez | parleroient, parlereient | |
| 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 | parol | parous | parout | parlons | parlez | parolent |
| imperfect | parlasse | parlasses | parlast | parlissons, parlissiens | parlissoiz, parlissez, parlissiez | parlassent | |
| 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 | – | |
| — | parole | — | parlons | parlez | — | ||
Related terms
- parole
Descendants
- Gallo: paslaer
- Middle French: parler
- French: parler
- → English: parley
- Haitian Creole: pale
- French: parler
- Norman: pâler, parlaïr
- → English: parle
- → Middle English: parlai
- English: parley