bégayer
French
Etymology
From Old French beguer, besguer (compare bègue).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /be.ɡɛ.je/, /be.ɡe.je/
Audio (file)
Verb
bégayer
- to stammer
Conjugation
This is a regular -er verb as far as pronunciation is concerned, but as with other verbs in -ayer (such as payer and essayer, the <y> of its stem may optionally be written as <i> when it precedes a silent <e> (compare verbs in -eyer, which never have this spelling change, and verbs in -oyer and -uyer, which always have it; verbs in -ayer belong to either group, according to the writer's preference).
Conjugation of bégayer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | bégayer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | bégayant /be.ɡɛ.jɑ̃/ or /be.ɡe.jɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | bégayé /be.ɡɛ.je/ or /be.ɡe.je/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | bégaye or bégaie /be.ɡɛj/ or /be.ɡɛ/ | bégayes or bégaies /be.ɡɛj/ or /be.ɡɛ/ | bégaye or bégaie /be.ɡɛj/ or /be.ɡɛ/ | bégayons /be.ɡɛ.jɔ̃/ or /be.ɡe.jɔ̃/ | bégayez /be.ɡɛ.je/ or /be.ɡe.je/ | bégayent or bégaient /be.ɡɛj/ or /be.ɡɛ/ |
| imperfect | bégayais /be.ɡɛ.jɛ/ or /be.ɡe.jɛ/ | bégayais /be.ɡɛ.jɛ/ or /be.ɡe.jɛ/ | bégayait /be.ɡɛ.jɛ/ or /be.ɡe.jɛ/ | bégayions /be.ɡɛj.jɔ̃/ | bégayiez /be.ɡɛj.je/ | bégayaient /be.ɡɛ.jɛ/ or /be.ɡe.jɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | bégayai /be.ɡɛ.je/ or /be.ɡe.je/ | bégayas /be.ɡɛ.ja/ or /be.ɡe.ja/ | bégaya /be.ɡɛ.ja/ or /be.ɡe.ja/ | bégayâmes /be.ɡɛ.jam/ or /be.ɡe.jam/ | bégayâtes /be.ɡɛ.jat/ or /be.ɡe.jat/ | bégayèrent /be.ɡɛ.jɛʁ/ or /be.ɡe.jɛʁ/ | |
| future | bégayerai or bégaierai /be.ɡɛj.ʁe/ or /be.ɡɛ.ʁe/ or /be.ɡe.ʁe/ | bégayeras or bégaieras /be.ɡɛj.ʁa/ or /be.ɡɛ.ʁa/ or /be.ɡe.ʁa/ | bégayera or bégaiera /be.ɡɛj.ʁa/ or /be.ɡɛ.ʁa/ or /be.ɡe.ʁa/ | bégayerons or bégaierons /be.ɡɛj.ʁɔ̃/ or /be.ɡɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /be.ɡe.ʁɔ̃/ | bégayerez or bégaierez /be.ɡɛj.ʁe/ or /be.ɡɛ.ʁe/ or /be.ɡe.ʁe/ | bégayeront or bégaieront /be.ɡɛj.ʁɔ̃/ or /be.ɡɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /be.ɡe.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | bégayerais or bégaierais /be.ɡɛj.ʁɛ/ or /be.ɡɛ.ʁɛ/ or /be.ɡe.ʁɛ/ | bégayerais or bégaierais /be.ɡɛj.ʁɛ/ or /be.ɡɛ.ʁɛ/ or /be.ɡe.ʁɛ/ | bégayerait or bégaierait /be.ɡɛj.ʁɛ/ or /be.ɡɛ.ʁɛ/ or /be.ɡe.ʁɛ/ | bégayerions or bégaierions /be.ɡɛ.jə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /be.ɡe.jə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /be.ɡɛ.ʁjɔ̃/ or /be.ɡe.ʁjɔ̃/ | bégayeriez or bégaieriez /be.ɡɛ.jə.ʁje/ or /be.ɡe.jə.ʁje/ or /be.ɡɛ.ʁje/ or /be.ɡe.ʁje/ | bégayeraient or bégaieraient /be.ɡɛj.ʁɛ/ or /be.ɡɛ.ʁɛ/ or /be.ɡe.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 | bégaye or bégaie /be.ɡɛj/ or /be.ɡɛ/ | bégayes or bégaies /be.ɡɛj/ or /be.ɡɛ/ | bégaye or bégaie /be.ɡɛj/ or /be.ɡɛ/ | bégayions /be.ɡɛj.jɔ̃/ | bégayiez /be.ɡɛj.je/ | bégayent or bégaient /be.ɡɛj/ or /be.ɡɛ/ |
| imperfect2 | bégayasse /be.ɡɛ.jas/ or /be.ɡe.jas/ | bégayasses /be.ɡɛ.jas/ or /be.ɡe.jas/ | bégayât /be.ɡɛ.ja/ or /be.ɡe.ja/ | bégayassions /be.ɡɛ.ja.sjɔ̃/ or /be.ɡe.ja.sjɔ̃/ | bégayassiez /be.ɡɛ.ja.sje/ or /be.ɡe.ja.sje/ | bégayassent /be.ɡɛ.jas/ or /be.ɡe.jas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | bégaye or bégaie /be.ɡɛj/ or /be.ɡɛ/ | — | bégayons /be.ɡɛ.jɔ̃/ or /be.ɡe.jɔ̃/ | bégayez /be.ɡɛ.je/ or /be.ɡe.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
- bégaiement
- bégayeur/bégayeuse
Further reading
- “bégayer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.