nager

See also: Nager

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French nagier, inherited from a reduced form of Latin navigāre. Doublet of naviguer, a later borrowing. Displaced Old French noer, from Latin natāre, natō (“to swim”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /na.ʒe/

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• Rhymes: -e
• Homophones: nagé, nageai, nagée, nagées, nagés, nagez

Verb

nager

1. to swim

Conjugation

This is a regular -er verb, but the stem is written nage- before endings that begin with -a- or -o- (to indicate that the -g- is a "soft" /ʒ/ and not a "hard" /ɡ/). This spelling-change occurs in all verbs in -ger, such as neiger and manger.

Conjugation of nager (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	nager
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	nageant /na.ʒɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		nagé /na.ʒe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	nage /naʒ/	nages /naʒ/	nage /naʒ/	nageons /na.ʒɔ̃/	nagez /na.ʒe/	nagent /naʒ/
	imperfect	nageais /na.ʒɛ/	nageais /na.ʒɛ/	nageait /na.ʒɛ/	nagions /na.ʒjɔ̃/	nagiez /na.ʒje/	nageaient /na.ʒɛ/
	past historic2	nageai /na.ʒe/	nageas /na.ʒa/	nagea /na.ʒa/	nageâmes /na.ʒam/	nageâtes /na.ʒat/	nagèrent /na.ʒɛʁ/
	future	nagerai /naʒ.ʁe/	nageras /naʒ.ʁa/	nagera /naʒ.ʁa/	nagerons /naʒ.ʁɔ̃/	nagerez /naʒ.ʁe/	nageront /naʒ.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	nagerais /naʒ.ʁɛ/	nagerais /naʒ.ʁɛ/	nagerait /naʒ.ʁɛ/	nagerions /na.ʒə.ʁjɔ̃/	nageriez /na.ʒə.ʁje/	nageraient /naʒ.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	nage /naʒ/	nages /naʒ/	nage /naʒ/	nagions /na.ʒjɔ̃/	nagiez /na.ʒje/	nagent /naʒ/
	imperfect2	nageasse /na.ʒas/	nageasses /na.ʒas/	nageât /na.ʒa/	nageassions /na.ʒa.sjɔ̃/	nageassiez /na.ʒa.sje/	nageassent /na.ʒas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	nage /naʒ/	—	nageons /na.ʒɔ̃/	nagez /na.ʒe/	—
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: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• nageoire
• nager comme un fer à repasser
• nager entre deux eaux
• nageur

Related terms

• natation

Further reading

• “nager”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• range, rangé, régna

Middle French

Alternative forms

• nagier

Etymology

From Old French nager, nagier.

Verb

nager

1. to navigate (waters); to sail; to travel by watercraft

Descendants

• French: nager
• Norman:

  Guernsey Norman: nâgier

  Jersey Norman: nagir

References

• nager on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)

Old French

Verb

nager

1. (Anglo-Norman) Alternative form of nagier
   • c. 1110, Benedeit, Le Voyage de saint Brandan:

     Un meis sanz vent nagerent tut plein

     They sailed for a whole month without wind

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. In the present tense an extra supporting e is needed in the first-person singular indicative and throughout the singular subjunctive, and the third-person singular subjunctive ending -t is lost. In addition, g becomes j before an a or an o to keep the /dʒ/ sound intact. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of nager (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		nager			avoir nagé
gerund		en najant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		najant
past participle		nagé
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	nage	nages	nage	najons	nagez	nagent
	imperfect	najoie, nageie, najoe, nageve	najoies, nageies, najoes, nageves	najoit, nageit, najot, nageve	nagiiens, nagiens	nagiiez, nagiez	najoient, nageient, najoent, nagevent
	preterite	najai	najas	naja	najames	najastes	nagerent
	future	nagerai	nageras	nagera	nagerons	nageroiz, nagereiz, nagerez	nageront
	conditional	nageroie, nagereie	nageroies, nagereies	nageroit, nagereit	nageriiens, nageriens	nageriiez, nageriez	nageroient, nagereient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	nage	nages	nage	najons	nagez	nagent
	imperfect	najasse	najasses	najast	nagissons, nagissiens	nagissoiz, nagissez, nagissiez	najassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	nage	—	najons	nagez	—