regretter
English
Etymology
regret + -er.
Noun
regretter (plural regretters)
- One who regrets.
- 1940, Ernest James Oldmeadow, Francis, Cardinal Bourne, page 311:
- Catholics were not the only regretters of the British Government's lack of courtesy to Cardinal Lauri during his two passings through England and Wales.
-
French
Etymology
From Middle French regretter, regreter, from Old French regreter (“to lament”), from re- (“intensive prefix”) + greter (“to weep”), from Frankish *grātan (“to weep, mourn, lament”), from Proto-Germanic *grētaną (“to weep”) and Frankish *greotan (“to cry, weep”), from Proto-Germanic *greutaną (“to weep, cry”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrew- (“to weep, be sad”). Akin to Old High German grāzan (“to cry”), Old English grǣtan (“to weep, greet”), Old English grēotan (“to weep, lament”), Old Norse gráta (“to weep, groan”), Gothic 𐌲𐍂𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽 (grētan, “to weep”). More at greet.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.te/, /ʁə.ɡʁe.te/
audio (file)
Verb
regretter
- to regret
- Je regrette de t'avoir parlé ainsi tout à l'heure.
- I regret having spoken to you like that earlier.
- Non, je ne regrette rien.
- No, I don't regret anything.
Conjugation
Conjugation of regretter (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | regretter | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | regrettant /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tɑ̃/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | regretté /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.te/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.te/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | regrette /ʁə.ɡʁɛt/ | regrettes /ʁə.ɡʁɛt/ | regrette /ʁə.ɡʁɛt/ | regrettons /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tɔ̃/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tɔ̃/ | regrettez /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.te/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.te/ | regrettent /ʁə.ɡʁɛt/ |
| imperfect | regrettais /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tɛ/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tɛ/ | regrettais /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tɛ/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tɛ/ | regrettait /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tɛ/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tɛ/ | regrettions /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tjɔ̃/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tjɔ̃/ | regrettiez /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tje/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tje/ | regrettaient /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tɛ/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | regrettai /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.te/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.te/ | regrettas /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.ta/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.ta/ | regretta /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.ta/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.ta/ | regrettâmes /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tam/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tam/ | regrettâtes /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tat/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tat/ | regrettèrent /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tɛʁ/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tɛʁ/ | |
| future | regretterai /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tʁe/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tʁe/ | regretteras /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tʁa/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tʁa/ | regrettera /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tʁa/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tʁa/ | regretterons /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tʁɔ̃/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tʁɔ̃/ | regretterez /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tʁe/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tʁe/ | regretteront /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tʁɔ̃/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | regretterais /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tʁɛ/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tʁɛ/ | regretterais /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tʁɛ/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tʁɛ/ | regretterait /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tʁɛ/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tʁɛ/ | regretterions /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tə.ʁjɔ̃/ | regretteriez /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tə.ʁje/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tə.ʁje/ | regretteraient /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tʁɛ/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tʁɛ/ | |
| (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 | regrette /ʁə.ɡʁɛt/ | regrettes /ʁə.ɡʁɛt/ | regrette /ʁə.ɡʁɛt/ | regrettions /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tjɔ̃/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tjɔ̃/ | regrettiez /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tje/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tje/ | regrettent /ʁə.ɡʁɛt/ |
| imperfect2 | regrettasse /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tas/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tas/ | regrettasses /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tas/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tas/ | regrettât /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.ta/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.ta/ | regrettassions /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.ta.sjɔ̃/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.ta.sjɔ̃/ | regrettassiez /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.ta.sje/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.ta.sje/ | regrettassent /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tas/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | regrette /ʁə.ɡʁɛt/ | — | regrettons /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.tɔ̃/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.tɔ̃/ | regrettez /ʁə.ɡʁɛ.te/ or /ʁə.ɡʁe.te/ | — | |
| 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). | |||||||
Related terms
- regret
Descendants
- → Ladino: regretar
Further reading
- “regretter”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle French
Etymology
From Old French regreter (“to lament”), from re- (“intensive prefix”) + greter (“to weep”), from Frankish *grātan (“to weep, mourn, lament”), from Proto-Germanic *grētaną (“to weep”) and Frankish *greotan (“to cry, weep”), from Proto-Germanic *greutaną (“to weep, cry”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrew- (“to weep, be sad”).
Verb
regretter
- to regret
Conjugation
- Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of regretter
| infinitive | simple | regretter | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle1 or gerund2 | simple | regrettant | |||||
| compound | present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | regretté | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | ie (i’) | tu | il, elle | nous | vous | ilz, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | regrette | regrettes | regrette | regrettons | regrettez | regrettent |
| imperfect | regrettois, regrettoys | regrettois, regrettoys | regrettoit, regrettoyt | regrettions, regrettyons | regrettiez, regrettyez | regrettoient, regrettoyent | |
| past historic | regretta | regrettas | regretta | regrettasmes | regrettastes | regretterent | |
| future | regretterai, regretteray | regretteras | regrettera | regretterons | regretterez | regretteront | |
| conditional | regretterois, regretteroys | regretterois, regretteroys | regretteroit, regretteroyt | regretterions, regretteryons | regretteriez, regretteryez | regretteroient, regretteroyent | |
| (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 | regrette | regrettes | regrette | regrettons | regrettez | regrettent |
| imperfect | regrettasse | regrettasses | regrettast | regrettassions | regrettassiez | regrettassent | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | regrette | — | regrettons | regrettez | — | |
| 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). | |||||||