pousser
French
Etymology
From Old French, inherited from Latin pulsō, pulsāre, from pulsus (“a push”) (and frequentative of pellō). Compare the prefixed verb expulser, a borrowing from Latin.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pu.se/
audio (file)
Verb
pousser
- (transitive) to push
- (transitive, followed by the preposition à) to urge on, encourage
- pousser quelqu'un à faire quelque chose
- pousser à
- (intransitive, of a living thing) to grow
- L'arbre pousse vite.
- The tree is growing quickly.
- (intransitive, figuratively) to spring up, to sprout
- Les Starbucks poussent comme des champignons ici.
- The Starbucks are springing up like mushrooms here.
- to utter (a cry)
- (reflexive) to move aside
Conjugation
Conjugation of pousser (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | pousser | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | poussant /pu.sɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | poussé /pu.se/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | pousse /pus/ | pousses /pus/ | pousse /pus/ | poussons /pu.sɔ̃/ | poussez /pu.se/ | poussent /pus/ |
| imperfect | poussais /pu.sɛ/ | poussais /pu.sɛ/ | poussait /pu.sɛ/ | poussions /pu.sjɔ̃/ | poussiez /pu.sje/ | poussaient /pu.sɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | poussai /pu.se/ | poussas /pu.sa/ | poussa /pu.sa/ | poussâmes /pu.sam/ | poussâtes /pu.sat/ | poussèrent /pu.sɛʁ/ | |
| future | pousserai /pu.sʁe/ | pousseras /pu.sʁa/ | poussera /pu.sʁa/ | pousserons /pu.sʁɔ̃/ | pousserez /pu.sʁe/ | pousseront /pu.sʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | pousserais /pu.sʁɛ/ | pousserais /pu.sʁɛ/ | pousserait /pu.sʁɛ/ | pousserions /pu.sə.ʁjɔ̃/ | pousseriez /pu.sə.ʁje/ | pousseraient /pu.sʁɛ/ | |
| (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 | pousse /pus/ | pousses /pus/ | pousse /pus/ | poussions /pu.sjɔ̃/ | poussiez /pu.sje/ | poussent /pus/ |
| imperfect2 | poussasse /pu.sas/ | poussasses /pu.sas/ | poussât /pu.sa/ | poussassions /pu.sa.sjɔ̃/ | poussassiez /pu.sa.sje/ | poussassent /pu.sas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | pousse /pus/ | — | poussons /pu.sɔ̃/ | poussez /pu.se/ | — | |
| 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
- pousser à bout
- pousser comme des champignons
- pousser dans ses derniers retranchements
- pousser le bouchon
- pousser mémé dans les orties
- se pousser
- se sentir pousser des ailes
Related terms
- poussée
- poussette
Further reading
- “pousser”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
- poseurs
Norman
Etymology
From Old French, from Latin pulsō, pulsāre (“push, strike, beat, batter, hammer”), frequentative of pellō, pellere (“push, drive, hurl, impel, propel”).
Pronunciation
Audio (Jersey) (file)
IPA: [pu.s̺e]
Verb
pousser
- (Jersey) to push
Antonyms
- tither (“to pull”)