veiller
French
Etymology
From Middle French veiller, veigler, from Old French veillier, veiller, from Vulgar Latin *viglāre, contracted from Latin vigilāre, present active infinitive of vigilō. Compare the borrowed doublet vigiler.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /vɛ.je/, /ve.je/
Audio (file)
Verb
veiller
- (intransitive) to stay up, sit up
- (intransitive) to keep guard, keep watch
- (intransitive) to look after, see to ( + à); see to it that ( + à ce que)
- (intransitive) to watch over (someone) ( + sur)
- (transitive) to keep watch over a sick person at night; to do a death wake for
- (intransitive, Quebec) to go out in the evening, e.g. in parties, clubs, bars…
Conjugation
Conjugation of veiller (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | veiller | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | veillant /vɛ.jɑ̃/ or /ve.jɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | veillé /vɛ.je/ or /ve.je/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | veille /vɛj/ | veilles /vɛj/ | veille /vɛj/ | veillons /vɛ.jɔ̃/ or /ve.jɔ̃/ | veillez /vɛ.je/ or /ve.je/ | veillent /vɛj/ |
| imperfect | veillais /vɛ.jɛ/ or /ve.jɛ/ | veillais /vɛ.jɛ/ or /ve.jɛ/ | veillait /vɛ.jɛ/ or /ve.jɛ/ | veillions /vɛj.jɔ̃/ | veilliez /vɛj.je/ | veillaient /vɛ.jɛ/ or /ve.jɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | veillai /vɛ.je/ or /ve.je/ | veillas /vɛ.ja/ or /ve.ja/ | veilla /vɛ.ja/ or /ve.ja/ | veillâmes /vɛ.jam/ or /ve.jam/ | veillâtes /vɛ.jat/ or /ve.jat/ | veillèrent /vɛ.jɛʁ/ or /ve.jɛʁ/ | |
| future | veillerai /vɛj.ʁe/ | veilleras /vɛj.ʁa/ | veillera /vɛj.ʁa/ | veillerons /vɛj.ʁɔ̃/ | veillerez /vɛj.ʁe/ | veilleront /vɛj.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | veillerais /vɛj.ʁɛ/ | veillerais /vɛj.ʁɛ/ | veillerait /vɛj.ʁɛ/ | veillerions /vɛ.jə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /ve.jə.ʁjɔ̃/ | veilleriez /vɛ.jə.ʁje/ or /ve.jə.ʁje/ | veilleraient /vɛj.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 | veille /vɛj/ | veilles /vɛj/ | veille /vɛj/ | veillions /vɛj.jɔ̃/ | veilliez /vɛj.je/ | veillent /vɛj/ |
| imperfect2 | veillasse /vɛ.jas/ or /ve.jas/ | veillasses /vɛ.jas/ or /ve.jas/ | veillât /vɛ.ja/ or /ve.ja/ | veillassions /vɛ.ja.sjɔ̃/ or /ve.ja.sjɔ̃/ | veillassiez /vɛ.ja.sje/ or /ve.ja.sje/ | veillassent /vɛ.jas/ or /ve.jas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | veille /vɛj/ | — | veillons /vɛ.jɔ̃/ or /ve.jɔ̃/ | veillez /vɛ.je/ or /ve.je/ | — | |
| 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
- dorveille
- éveiller
- réveiller
- surveiller
- veille
- veiller au grain
Further reading
- “veiller”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
- vieller
Middle French
Alternative forms
- veigler
Etymology
From Old French veillier, from Latin vigilo, vigilare.
Verb
veiller
- to be awake
Conjugation
- Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of veiller
| infinitive | simple | veiller | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle1 or gerund2 | simple | veillant | |||||
| compound | present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | veillé | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | ie (i’) | tu | il, elle | nous | vous | ilz, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | veille | veilles | veille | veillons | veillez | veillent |
| imperfect | veillois, veilloys | veillois, veilloys | veilloit, veilloyt | veillions, veillyons | veilliez, veillyez | veilloient, veilloyent | |
| past historic | veilla | veillas | veilla | veillasmes | veillastes | veillerent | |
| future | veillerai, veilleray | veilleras | veillera | veillerons | veillerez | veilleront | |
| conditional | veillerois, veilleroys | veillerois, veilleroys | veilleroit, veilleroyt | veillerions, veilleryons | veilleriez, veilleryez | veilleroient, veilleroyent | |
| (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 | veille | veilles | veille | veillons | veillez | veillent |
| imperfect | veillasse | veillasses | veillast | veillassions | veillassiez | veillassent | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | veille | — | veillons | veillez | — | |
| 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: veiller