parler

French

Etymology

From Middle French parler (“to speak or talk”), from Old French parler (“to talk; to speak”), from Vulgar Latin *paraulare (“to speak”), from Late Latin parabolare, from Latin parabola (“comparison”), from Ancient Greek παραβολή, from παρά (“beside”) with βολή (“throwing”).

Pronunciation

• audio

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• IPA: /paʁle/, X-SAMPA: /paR.le/
• Rhymes: -e

Verb

parler

1. (intransitive) To speak or talk.

   Il ne s'est mis à parler qu'à l'âge de quatre ans.

   Ils parlèrent plusieurs heures avant d'aller se coucher.

2. (transitive) to be able to communicate in a language; to speak

   Elle parle couramment le français. - She speaks French fluently

Conjugation

   Conjugation of parler (see also Appendix:French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		parler			avoir parlé
gerund		en parlant			en ayant parlé
present participle		parlant
past participle		parlé
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il	nous	vous	ils
simple tenses	present	parle	parles	parle	parlons	parlez	parlent
	imperfect	parlais	parlais	parlait	parlions	parliez	parlaient
	past historic1	parlai	parlas	parla	parlâmes	parlâtes	parlèrent
	future	parlerai	parleras	parlera	parlerons	parlerez	parleront
	conditional	parlerais	parlerais	parlerait	parlerions	parleriez	parleraient
compound tenses	present perfect	Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	past anterior1	Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	future perfect	Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	conditional perfect	Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il	que nous	que vous	qu’ils
simple tenses	present	parle	parles	parle	parlions	parliez	parlent
	imperfect1	parlasse	parlasses	parlât	parlassions	parlassiez	parlassent
compound tenses	past	Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect1	Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
		—	parle	—	parlons	parlez	—
1literary tenses

Related terms

• parlement
• parleur
• parloir
• parlotte
• parole

See also

• bavarder
• discuter
• jacasser
• jaser

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Middle French

Etymology

From Old French parler (“to talk; to speak”), from Vulgar Latin *paraulare (“to speak”), from Late Latin parabolare, from Latin parabola (“comparison”), from Ancient Greek παραβολή, from παρά (“beside”) with βολή (“throwing”).

Verb

parler

1. To speak; to talk.

Conjugation

   Conjugation of parler

		simple			compound
infinitive		parler			avoir parlé
gerund		en parlant			Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle
present participle		parlant
past participle		parlé
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (may be j' before a vowel)	tu	il	nous	vous	ils, elles
simple tenses	present	parle	parles	parle	parlons	parlez	parlent
	imperfect	parlois, parloys	parlois, parloys	parloit, parloyt	parlions, parlyons	parliez, parlyez	parloient, parloyent
	past historic	parla	parlas	parla	parlasmes	parlastes	parlerent
	future	parlerai, parleray	parleras	parlera	parlerons	parlerez	parleront
	conditional	parlerois, parleroys	parlerois, parleroys	parleroit, parleroyt	parlerions, parleryons	parleriez, parleryez	parleroient, parleroyent
compound tenses	present perfect	Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	past anterior	Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	future perfect	Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	conditional perfect	Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle
subjunctive		que je	que tu	qu'il	que nous	que vous	qu'ils, qu'elles
simple tenses	present	parle	parles	parle	parlons	parlez	parlent
	imperfect	parlasse	parlasses	parlast	parlassions	parlassiez	parlassent
compound tenses	past	Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
		—	parle	—	parlons	parlez	—

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Old French

Alternative forms

• paroler

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *paraulare (“to speak”), from Late Latin parabolare, from Latin parabola (“comparison”), from Ancient Greek παραβολή, from παρά (“beside”) with βολή (“throwing”).

Verb

parler

1. to speak; to talk

Conjugation

• Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		parler			avoir parlé, parlez
gerund		en parlant			Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle
present participle		parlant
past participle		parlé, parlez
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jeo, jou	tu	il	nos, nous	vos, vous	ils
simple tenses	present	parle, parl	parles, parls	parle, parl	parlons	parlez, parlés	parlent
	imperfect	parloe, parleie, parloie	parloes, parleies, parloies	parlot, parleit, parloit	parlions, parliions	parliez, parliiez	parloent, parlient, parloient
	past historic	parlai	parlas	parla	parlames	parlastes	parlerent
	future	parlerai	parleras	parlera	parlerons	parlerez, parlereiz	parleront
	conditional	parleroe, parlereie, parleroie	parleroes, parlereies, parleroies	parlerot, parlereie, parleroie	parlerions, parleriions	parleriez, parleriiez	parleroent, parlereient, parleroient
compound tenses	present perfect	Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	past anterior	Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	future perfect	Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	conditional perfect	Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle
subjunctive		que jeo, jou	que tu	qu’il	que nos, nous	que vos, vous	qu’ils
simple tenses	present	parle, parl	parles, parls	parle, parl	parlons	parlez	parlent
	imperfect	parlasse	parlasses	parlast	parlissons	parlissez, parlissiez	parlassent
compound tenses	past	Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos, nous	vos, vous	–
		—	parle	—	parlons	parlez	—

Descendants

• French: parler