égrener
French
Etymology
From é- + grain + -er.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /e.ɡʁə.ne/
(file) Audio (file)
Verb
égrener
- to shell, pod (maize, peas, wheat etc.)
- Synonym: écosser
- to gin (cotton)
- to ripple (flax)
- (reflexive) to drop off the stalk or bunch
- (figuratively) to dish out
- (figuratively) to rattle off, go through (a list), tick away (time)
- 1973, Claude Simon, Tryptique, Éditions de Minuit, page 12:
- Les sons de la cloche égrenant les quarts, les demies et les heures […]
- The sounds of the clock rattling off the quarters, the halves and the hours […]
- 2000, Jean-François Parot, L'énigme des Blancs-Manteaux, JC Lattès, published 2012, page 12:
- Il chut de tout son long, égrenant à nouveau un chapelet d'horribles jurons.
- He fell full length, reeling off another string of appalling curses.
- 2002, “Tous mes vœux”, in La Femme Trombone, performed by Les Rita Mitsouko:
- Je pleure et fête la perte de l'ovule / Cette mort minuscule / Sereine / Qu'égrène / Le fil du temps
- I cry over, and celebrate, a lost ovum / This tiny death / Serene / That grinds away / The course of time
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Conjugation
This verb is conjugated mostly like the regular -er verbs (parler and chanter and so on), but the -e- /ə/ of the second-to-last syllable becomes -è- /ɛ/ when the next vowel is a silent or schwa -e-. For example, in the third-person singular present indicative, we have il égrène rather than *il égrene. Other verbs conjugated this way include lever and mener. Related but distinct conjugations include those of appeler and préférer.
Conjugation of égrener (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | égrener | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | égrenant /e.ɡʁə.nɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | égrené /e.ɡʁə.ne/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | égrène /e.ɡʁɛn/ | égrènes /e.ɡʁɛn/ | égrène /e.ɡʁɛn/ | égrenons /e.ɡʁə.nɔ̃/ | égrenez /e.ɡʁə.ne/ | égrènent /e.ɡʁɛn/ |
| imperfect | égrenais /e.ɡʁə.nɛ/ | égrenais /e.ɡʁə.nɛ/ | égrenait /e.ɡʁə.nɛ/ | égrenions /e.ɡʁə.njɔ̃/ | égreniez /e.ɡʁə.nje/ | égrenaient /e.ɡʁə.nɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | égrenai /e.ɡʁə.ne/ | égrenas /e.ɡʁə.na/ | égrena /e.ɡʁə.na/ | égrenâmes /e.ɡʁə.nam/ | égrenâtes /e.ɡʁə.nat/ | égrenèrent /e.ɡʁə.nɛʁ/ | |
| future | égrènerai /e.ɡʁɛn.ʁe/ | égrèneras /e.ɡʁɛn.ʁa/ | égrènera /e.ɡʁɛn.ʁa/ | égrènerons /e.ɡʁɛn.ʁɔ̃/ | égrènerez /e.ɡʁɛn.ʁe/ | égrèneront /e.ɡʁɛn.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | égrènerais /e.ɡʁɛn.ʁɛ/ | égrènerais /e.ɡʁɛn.ʁɛ/ | égrènerait /e.ɡʁɛn.ʁɛ/ | égrènerions /e.ɡʁɛ.nə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /e.ɡʁe.nə.ʁjɔ̃/ | égrèneriez /e.ɡʁɛ.nə.ʁje/ or /e.ɡʁe.nə.ʁje/ | égrèneraient /e.ɡʁɛn.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 | égrène /e.ɡʁɛn/ | égrènes /e.ɡʁɛn/ | égrène /e.ɡʁɛn/ | égrenions /e.ɡʁə.njɔ̃/ | égreniez /e.ɡʁə.nje/ | égrènent /e.ɡʁɛn/ |
| imperfect2 | égrenasse /e.ɡʁə.nas/ | égrenasses /e.ɡʁə.nas/ | égrenât /e.ɡʁə.na/ | égrenassions /e.ɡʁə.na.sjɔ̃/ | égrenassiez /e.ɡʁə.na.sje/ | égrenassent /e.ɡʁə.nas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | égrène /e.ɡʁɛn/ | — | égrenons /e.ɡʁə.nɔ̃/ | égrenez /e.ɡʁə.ne/ | — | |
| 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
- égrenage
Further reading
- “égrener”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
- générer