conter

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French conter, from Latin computāre. Doublet of compter and computer. Semantical shift from "count" to "recount" via the notion of "enumerate facts, go through facts"; compare the same in English tell.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.te/

• audio

  (file)

• Homophones: comptai, compté, comptée, comptées, compter, comptés, comptez, comté, comtés, contai, conté, contée, contées, contés, contez

Verb

conter

1. to recount (tell a story)

Conjugation

Conjugation of conter (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	conter
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	contant /kɔ̃.tɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		conté /kɔ̃.te/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	conte /kɔ̃t/	contes /kɔ̃t/	conte /kɔ̃t/	contons /kɔ̃.tɔ̃/	contez /kɔ̃.te/	content /kɔ̃t/
	imperfect	contais /kɔ̃.tɛ/	contais /kɔ̃.tɛ/	contait /kɔ̃.tɛ/	contions /kɔ̃.tjɔ̃/	contiez /kɔ̃.tje/	contaient /kɔ̃.tɛ/
	past historic2	contai /kɔ̃.te/	contas /kɔ̃.ta/	conta /kɔ̃.ta/	contâmes /kɔ̃.tam/	contâtes /kɔ̃.tat/	contèrent /kɔ̃.tɛʁ/
	future	conterai /kɔ̃.tʁe/	conteras /kɔ̃.tʁa/	contera /kɔ̃.tʁa/	conterons /kɔ̃.tʁɔ̃/	conterez /kɔ̃.tʁe/	conteront /kɔ̃.tʁɔ̃/
	conditional	conterais /kɔ̃.tʁɛ/	conterais /kɔ̃.tʁɛ/	conterait /kɔ̃.tʁɛ/	conterions /kɔ̃.tə.ʁjɔ̃/	conteriez /kɔ̃.tə.ʁje/	conteraient /kɔ̃.tʁɛ/
(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	conte /kɔ̃t/	contes /kɔ̃t/	conte /kɔ̃t/	contions /kɔ̃.tjɔ̃/	contiez /kɔ̃.tje/	content /kɔ̃t/
	imperfect2	contasse /kɔ̃.tas/	contasses /kɔ̃.tas/	contât /kɔ̃.ta/	contassions /kɔ̃.ta.sjɔ̃/	contassiez /kɔ̃.ta.sje/	contassent /kɔ̃.tas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	conte /kɔ̃t/	—	contons /kɔ̃.tɔ̃/	contez /kɔ̃.te/	—
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

• conter fleurette
• raconter

Related terms

• compter

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• contre, contré
• cornet

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese contẽer, from Latin continēre, present active infinitive of contineō (“I contain”).

Verb

conter (first-person singular present conteño, first-person singular preterite contiven, past participle contido)
conter (first-person singular present contenho, first-person singular preterite contivem or contive, past participle contido, reintegrationist norm)

1. to contain

Conjugation

    Conjugation of conter (irregular)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti)	Third-person (el / ela / Vde.)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / Vdes.)
Infinitive
Impersonal	conter
Personal	conter	conteres	conter	contermos	conterdes	conteren
Gerund
	contendo
Past participle
Masculine	contido			contidos
Feminine	contida			contidas
Indicative
Present	conteño	contés	contén	contemos	contendes, contedes	conteñen
Imperfect	contiña	contiñas	contiña	contiñamos	contiñades	contiñan
Preterite	contiven	contiveches	contivo	contivemos	contivestes	contiveron
Pluperfect	contivera	contiveras	contivera	contiveramos	contiverades	contiveran
Future	conterei	conterás	conterá	conteremos	conteredes	conterán
Conditional	contería	conterías	contería	conteriamos	conteriades	conterían
Subjunctive
Present	conteña	conteñas	conteña	conteñamos	conteñades	conteñan
Imperfect	contivese	contiveses	contivese	contivésemos	contivésedes	contivesen
Future	contiver	contiveres	contiver	contivermos	contiverdes	contiveren
Imperative
Affirmative		contén	conteña	conteñamos	contende, contede	conteñan
Negative (non)		non conteñas	non conteña	non conteñamos	non conteñades	non conteñan

    Reintegrated conjugation of conter (irregular) (See Appendix:Reintegrationism)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti / tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	conter
Personal	conter	conteres	conter	contermos	conterdes	conterem
Gerund
	contendo
Past participle
Masculine	contido			contidos
Feminine	contida			contidas
Indicative
Present	contenho	contés, conténs	contém	contemos	contendes	contenhem, contêm, contém1
Imperfect	continha	continhas	continha	contínhamos	contínhades, contínheis, contínhais1	continham
Preterite	contivem, contive	contiveste, contiveche1	contivo, conteve	contivemos	contivestes	contivérom, contiveram
Pluperfect	contivera	contiveras	contivera	contivéramos	contivérades, contivéreis, contivérais1	contiveram
Future	conterei	conterás	conterá	conteremos	conteredes, contereis	conterám, conterão
Conditional	conteria	conterias	conteria	conteríamos	conteríades, conteríeis, conteríais1	conteriam
Subjunctive
Present	contenha	contenhas	contenha	contenhamos	contenhades, contenhais	contenham
Imperfect	contivesse	contivesses	contivesse	contivéssemos	contivéssedes, contivésseis	contivessem
Future	contiver	contiveres	contiver	contivermos	contiverdes	contiverem
Imperative
Affirmative		contém	contenha	contenhamos	contende	contenham
Negative (nom)		nom contenhas	nom contenha	nom contenhamos	nom contenhades, nom contenhais	nom contenham

¹Less recommended.

Related terms

• abster
• ater
• deter
• entreter
• manter
• reter
• soster
• ter

Old French

Alternative forms

• (Anglo-Norman) cunter

Etymology

From Latin computāre, present active infinitive of computō (“compute”).

Verb

conter

1. to tell; to say
2. to recount (tell a story)
3. to add up (count)

Conjugation

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 conter (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		conter			avoir conté
gerund		en contant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		contant
past participle		conté
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	cont	contes	conte	contons	contez	content
	imperfect	contoie, conteie, contoe, conteve	contoies, conteies, contoes, conteves	contoit, conteit, contot, conteve	contiiens, contiens	contiiez, contiez	contoient, conteient, contoent, contevent
	preterite	contai	contas	conta	contames	contastes	conterent
	future	conterai	conteras	contera	conterons	conteroiz, contereiz, conterez	conteront
	conditional	conteroie, contereie	conteroies, contereies	conteroit, contereit	conteriiens, conteriens	conteriiez, conteriez	conteroient, contereient
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	cont	conz	cont	contons	contez	content
	imperfect	contasse	contasses	contast	contissons, contissiens	contissoiz, contissez, contissiez	contassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	conte	—	contons	contez	—

Descendants

• Middle French: compter
  • French: conter, compter

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese contẽer, from Latin continēre.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kõˈte(ʁ)/ [kõˈte(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kõˈte(ʁ)/ [kõˈte(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /kõˈte(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /kõˈte(ʁ)/ [kõˈte(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /kõˈte(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõˈteɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõˈteɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /kõˈte.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: con‧ter

Verb

conter (first-person singular present contenho, first-person singular preterite contive, past participle contido)

1. to contain, hold, carry
2. to include

Conjugation

    Conjugation of conter (irregular) (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	conter
Personal	conter	conteres	conter	contermos	conterdes	conterem
Gerund
	contendo
Past participle
Masculine	contido			contidos
Feminine	contida			contidas
Indicative
Present	contenho	conténs	contém	contemos	contendes	contêm
Imperfect	continha	continhas	continha	contínhamos	contínheis	continham
Preterite	contive	contiveste	conteve	contivemos	contivestes	contiveram
Pluperfect	contivera	contiveras	contivera	contivéramos	contivéreis	contiveram
Future	conterei	conterás	conterá	conteremos	contereis	conterão
Conditional	conteria	conterias	conteria	conteríamos	conteríeis	conteriam
Subjunctive
Present	contenha	contenhas	contenha	contenhamos	contenhais	contenham
Imperfect	contivesse	contivesses	contivesse	contivéssemos	contivésseis	contivessem
Future	contiver	contiveres	contiver	contivermos	contiverdes	contiverem
Imperative
Affirmative		contém	contenha	contenhamos	contende	contenham
Negative (não)		não contenhas	não contenha	não contenhamos	não contenhais	não contenham

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:conter.

Related terms

• continente
• continência
• contenças
• conteúdo
• ter

Walloon

Etymology

From Old French conter, from Latin computō, computare (“compute”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.ˈte/

Verb

conter

1. to count

Conjugation

   —         —   Conjugation of the verb conter in Walloon   —   Codjowaedje do viebe conter e walon

infinitive			conter
gerund			contant
auxiliary			aveur
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		conté		conteye
		plural		contés		conteyes
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		dji (dj')	ti (t')	i (il) / ele	dji (dj') / nos	vos	i (il)
	present	conte	contes	conte	contans	contez	contnut or contèt
	imperfect	contéve	contéves	contéve	conténs	contîz	contént
	preterit	conta	contas	conta	contîs	contîz	contît
	future	contrè	contrès	contrè	contrans	controz	contront
	conditional	contreu	contreus	contreut	contréns	contrîz	contrént
subjunctive		ki dj'	ki t'	k' i (il) / k' ele	ki dj' / ki nos	ki vos	k' i (il)
	present	conte	contes	conte	contanxhe	contoxhe	contnuxhe or contèxhe
	imperfect	contaxhe	contaxhes	contaxhe	conténxhe	contîxhe	conténxhe
imperative		—	ti	—	dji / nos	vos	—
	affirmative		conte!		contans!	contez!