Appendix:Old French verbs

The Old French language is an extinct Romance language spoken from roughly 824 - 1340. It derived from Vulgar and Medieval Latin. Much like modern French and other modern Romance languages, the four principal Latin conjugations became three, but all infinitive endings were preserved as -(i)er, -oir, -re, and -ir/-ïr. Instead of the Latin second and third conjugation endings being merged, -oir and -re together became a single class and treated as third group.

Old French was a series of dialects and varied much more from region to region than modern French does, so the rules given here are very general, as it would be impractical to try to include all the regional variations in one appendix.

First conjugation

First conjugation verbs mainly are derived from Latin first conjugation ones. The -are ending of Latin infinitives becomes -er as it does in modern French.

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-ts, *-tt are modified to z, t. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		chanter			avoir chanté
gerund		en chantant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		chantant
past participle		chanté
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	chant	chantes	chante	chantons	chantez	chantent
	imperfect	chantoie, chanteie, chantoe, chanteve	chantoies, chanteies, chantoes, chanteves	chantoit, chanteit, chantot, chanteve	chantiiens, chantiens	chantiiez, chantiez	chantoient, chanteient, chantoent, chantevent
	preterite	chantai	chantas	chanta	chantames	chantastes	chanterent
	future	chanterai	chanteras	chantera	chanterons	chanteroiz, chantereiz, chanterez	chanteront
	conditional	chanteroie, chantereie	chanteroies, chantereies	chanteroit, chantereit	chanteriiens, chanteriens	chanteriiez, chanteriez	chanteroient, chantereient
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	chant	chanz	chant	chantons	chantez	chantent
	imperfect	chantasse	chantasses	chantast	chantissons, chantissiens	chantissoiz, chantissez, chantissiez	chantassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	chante	—	chantons	chantez	—

Verbs in -ier

Also have the same origin as -er verbs, but instead became -ier after palatals and as a result of the regular ejection of /j/ before open front vowels, or after palatals /dʒʲ/ or /tʃʲ/. Some verbs which also end in -ier like manier use the conjugation -er instead of -ier.

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -ier, with a palatal stem. These verbs are conjugated mostly like verbs in -er, but there is an extra i before the e of some endings. The forms that would normally end in *-ss, *-sss, *-sst are modified to s, s, st. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		baissier			avoir baissié
gerund		en baissant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		baissant
past participle		baissié
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	bais	baisses	baisse	baissons	baissiez	baissent
	imperfect	baissoie, baisseie, baissoe, baissieve	baissoies, baisseies, baissoes, baissieves	baissoit, baisseit, baissot, baissieve	baissiiens, baissiens	baissiiez, baissiez	baissoient, baisseient, baissoent, baissievent
	preterite	baissai	baissas	baissa	baissames	baissastes	baissierent
	future	baisserai	baisseras	baissera	baisserons	baisseroiz, baissereiz, baisserez	baisseront
	conditional	baisseroie, baissereie	baisseroies, baissereies	baisseroit, baissereit	baisseriiens, baisseriens	baisseriiez, baisseriez	baisseroient, baissereient
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	bais	bais	baist	baissons	baissiez	baissent
	imperfect	baissasse	baissasses	baissast	baississons, baississiens	baississoiz, baississez, baississiez	baissassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	baisse	—	baissons	baissiez	—

Second conjugation

Second conjugation verbs mainly are descended from the fourth conjugation in Latin. The -ire ending of Latin infinitives becomes -ir, as it does in modern French, as well as many other Romance languages.

This verb conjugates as a second-group verb (ending in -ir, with an -iss- infix). Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		fenir			avoir feni
gerund		en fenissant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		fenissant
past participle		feni
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	fenis	fenis	fenist	fenissons	fenissez	fenissent
	imperfect	fenissoie, fenisseie	fenissoies, fenisseies	fenissoit, fenisseit	fenissiiens, fenissiens	fenissiiez, fenissiez	fenissoient, fenisseient
	preterite	feni	fenis	feni	fenimes	fenistes	fenirent
	future	fenirai	feniras	fenira	fenirons	feniroiz, fenireiz, fenirez	feniront
	conditional	feniroie, fenireie	feniroies, fenireies	feniroit, fenireit	feniriiens, feniriens	feniriiez, feniriez	feniroient, fenireient
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	fenisse	fenisses	fenisse	fenissons	fenissez	fenissent
	imperfect	fenisse	fenisses	fenist	fenissons, fenissiens	fenissoiz, fenissez, fenissiez	fenissent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	fenis	—	fenissons	fenissez	—

Third conjugation

The third conjugation, as in modern French, is made up of all the verbs that do not fit into the first and second conjugation. Therefore, there is no consistent conjugation. Although the section of -re verbs includes the conjugation, it has many exceptions.

Verbs in -re

The -ere ending of Latin infinitives becomes -re as it does in modern French.

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		rendre			avoir rendu
gerund		en rendant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		rendant
past participle		rendu
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	rent	renz	rent	rendons	rendez	rendent
	imperfect	rendoie, rendeie	rendoies, rendeies	rendoit, rendeit	rendiiens, rendiens	rendiiez, rendiez	rendoient, rendeient
	preterite	rendi	rendis	rendié	rendimes	rendistes	rendierent
	future	rendrai	rendras	rendra	rendrons	rendroiz, rendreiz, rendrez	rendront
	conditional	rendroie, rendreie	rendroies, rendreies	rendroit, rendreit	rendriiens, rendriens	rendriiez, rendriez	rendroient, rendreient
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	rende	rendes	rende	rendons	rendez	rendent
	imperfect	rendisse	rendisses	rendist	rendissons, rendissiens	rendissoiz, rendissez, rendissiez	rendissent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	rent	—	rendons	rendez	—

Verbs in -oir

The -ēre ending of Latin infinitives becomes -oir as it does in modern French. There are no "regular" -oir verbs unlike the third conjugation infinitive -re in Modern French, so all -oir verbs are irregular.

Infinitives

Old French often has more than one infinitive for the same verb. That is, more than one infinitive with the same conjugation. For first conjugation verbs, this often means -er and -ier forms being interchangeable, such as aprocher or aprochier, or cuider or cuidier. There are a few instances of third conjugation verbs with varying infinitives (usually one with a stressed root and one with an unstressed root):

• plaire or plaisir
• remanoir or remaindre
• decevoir or deçoivre
• recevoir or reçoivre
• coure or corir
• coillir or cueudre

Agreement of the past participle

Unlike in modern French, the past participle can agree even when it comes after the direct object:

• Dit : « Amis, or vent Kaherdin. Sa nef ai veüe en la mer. » (Tristan, Thomas of Britain)

• (Modern French) Elle dit : « Ami, Kaherdin arrive. J'ai vu son bateau sur la mer. »
• (English) She says, "Friend, Kaherdin is coming. I have seen her boat on the sea."

veüe is the feminine singular form of the past participle of veoir. In modern French, vu does not agree with bateau (or nef, which still exists but is archaic).

See also

• Appendix:French verbs
• Appendix:Latin verbs

References

• Petite Grammaire de l’ancien français, XII^e - XIII^e siècles - Ed Faral, Éditions Hachette (1943), ISBN 2.01.002541.5
• Histoire de la langue française, Jacques Leclerc, available on the website of the Laval University, Quebec.