éclairer
French
Etymology
From Old French esclairer, from Vulgar Latin *exclāriō, *exclāriāre, from Latin exclārō, exclārāre, from ex- + clārō.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /e.klɛ.ʁe/, /e.kle.ʁe/
audio (file)
Verb
éclairer
- to light up; to brighten
- Le soleil éclaire la terre.
- The sun lights up the Earth.
- (figuratively) to shed light on; to enlighten
- to scout
Conjugation
Conjugation of éclairer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | éclairer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | éclairant /e.klɛ.ʁɑ̃/ or /e.kle.ʁɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | éclairé /e.klɛ.ʁe/ or /e.kle.ʁe/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | éclaire /e.klɛʁ/ | éclaires /e.klɛʁ/ | éclaire /e.klɛʁ/ | éclairons /e.klɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /e.kle.ʁɔ̃/ | éclairez /e.klɛ.ʁe/ or /e.kle.ʁe/ | éclairent /e.klɛʁ/ |
| imperfect | éclairais /e.klɛ.ʁɛ/ or /e.kle.ʁɛ/ | éclairais /e.klɛ.ʁɛ/ or /e.kle.ʁɛ/ | éclairait /e.klɛ.ʁɛ/ or /e.kle.ʁɛ/ | éclairions /e.klɛ.ʁjɔ̃/ or /e.kle.ʁjɔ̃/ | éclairiez /e.klɛ.ʁje/ or /e.kle.ʁje/ | éclairaient /e.klɛ.ʁɛ/ or /e.kle.ʁɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | éclairai /e.klɛ.ʁe/ or /e.kle.ʁe/ | éclairas /e.klɛ.ʁa/ or /e.kle.ʁa/ | éclaira /e.klɛ.ʁa/ or /e.kle.ʁa/ | éclairâmes /e.klɛ.ʁam/ or /e.kle.ʁam/ | éclairâtes /e.klɛ.ʁat/ or /e.kle.ʁat/ | éclairèrent /e.klɛ.ʁɛʁ/ or /e.kle.ʁɛʁ/ | |
| future | éclairerai /e.klɛ.ʁə.ʁe/ or /e.kle.ʁə.ʁe/ | éclaireras /e.klɛ.ʁə.ʁa/ or /e.kle.ʁə.ʁa/ | éclairera /e.klɛ.ʁə.ʁa/ or /e.kle.ʁə.ʁa/ | éclairerons /e.klɛ.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/ or /e.kle.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/ | éclairerez /e.klɛ.ʁə.ʁe/ or /e.kle.ʁə.ʁe/ | éclaireront /e.klɛ.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/ or /e.kle.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | éclairerais /e.klɛ.ʁə.ʁɛ/ or /e.kle.ʁə.ʁɛ/ | éclairerais /e.klɛ.ʁə.ʁɛ/ or /e.kle.ʁə.ʁɛ/ | éclairerait /e.klɛ.ʁə.ʁɛ/ or /e.kle.ʁə.ʁɛ/ | éclairerions /e.klɛ.ʁə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /e.kle.ʁə.ʁjɔ̃/ | éclaireriez /e.klɛ.ʁə.ʁje/ or /e.kle.ʁə.ʁje/ | éclaireraient /e.klɛ.ʁə.ʁɛ/ or /e.kle.ʁə.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 | éclaire /e.klɛʁ/ | éclaires /e.klɛʁ/ | éclaire /e.klɛʁ/ | éclairions /e.klɛ.ʁjɔ̃/ or /e.kle.ʁjɔ̃/ | éclairiez /e.klɛ.ʁje/ or /e.kle.ʁje/ | éclairent /e.klɛʁ/ |
| imperfect2 | éclairasse /e.klɛ.ʁas/ or /e.kle.ʁas/ | éclairasses /e.klɛ.ʁas/ or /e.kle.ʁas/ | éclairât /e.klɛ.ʁa/ or /e.kle.ʁa/ | éclairassions /e.klɛ.ʁa.sjɔ̃/ or /e.kle.ʁa.sjɔ̃/ | éclairassiez /e.klɛ.ʁa.sje/ or /e.kle.ʁa.sje/ | éclairassent /e.klɛ.ʁas/ or /e.kle.ʁas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | éclaire /e.klɛʁ/ | — | éclairons /e.klɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /e.kle.ʁɔ̃/ | éclairez /e.klɛ.ʁe/ or /e.kle.ʁe/ | — | |
| 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
- éclairage
- éclairant
- éclairement
Further reading
- “éclairer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.