pooir

Old French

Alternative forms

• podir (very early Old French)
• poer
• poir

• poeir (earlier Old French)
• povoir (later Old French)

Etymology

From earlier poeir, podir, from Vulgar Latin *potēre, formed analogically from potens, the present participle of Latin possum, posse.

Verb

pooir

1. can; to be able to
   • circa 1155, Wace, Le Roman de Brut (in Old French):

     Desfendés vous, si vous poés.

     Defend yourselves, if you can.

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has a stressed present stem pue distinct from the unstressed stem po, as well as other irregularities. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		pooir			avoir peü
gerund		en poänt, puissant			Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle
present participle		poänt, puissant
past participle		peü
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	puis	puez	puet	poons	poez	pueent
	imperfect	pooie, poeie	pooies, poeies	pooit, poeit	poïiens, poïens	poïiez, poïez	pooient, poeient
	preterite	poi	peüs	pot	peümes	peüstes	porent
	future	porrai	porras	porra	porrons	porroiz, porreiz, porrez	porront
	conditional	porroie, porreie	porroies, porreies	porroit, porreit	porriiens, porriens	porriiez, porriez	porroient, porreient
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 preterite 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 jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	puisse	puisses	puisse, puist	puissons	puissez	puissent
	imperfect	peüsse	peüsses	peüst	peüssons, peüssiens	peüssoiz, peüssez, peüssiez	peüssent
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	vos	–
		—	—	—	—	—	—

Noun

pooir m (oblique plural pooirs, nominative singular pooirs, nominative plural pooir)

1. power; ability; capability

Descendants

• English: power
• Middle French: povoir
  • French: pouvoir