prouver

French

Etymology

From Old French prover, from Latin probāre, present active infinitive of probō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁu.ve/

• audio:

  (file)

Verb

prouver

1. to prove

Conjugation

Conjugation of prouver (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	prouver
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	prouvant /pʁu.vɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		prouvé /pʁu.ve/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	prouve /pʁuv/	prouves /pʁuv/	prouve /pʁuv/	prouvons /pʁu.vɔ̃/	prouvez /pʁu.ve/	prouvent /pʁuv/
	imperfect	prouvais /pʁu.vɛ/	prouvais /pʁu.vɛ/	prouvait /pʁu.vɛ/	prouvions /pʁu.vjɔ̃/	prouviez /pʁu.vje/	prouvaient /pʁu.vɛ/
	past historic2	prouvai /pʁu.ve/	prouvas /pʁu.va/	prouva /pʁu.va/	prouvâmes /pʁu.vam/	prouvâtes /pʁu.vat/	prouvèrent /pʁu.vɛʁ/
	future	prouverai /pʁu.vʁe/	prouveras /pʁu.vʁa/	prouvera /pʁu.vʁa/	prouverons /pʁu.vʁɔ̃/	prouverez /pʁu.vʁe/	prouveront /pʁu.vʁɔ̃/
	conditional	prouverais /pʁu.vʁɛ/	prouverais /pʁu.vʁɛ/	prouverait /pʁu.vʁɛ/	prouverions /pʁu.və.ʁjɔ̃/	prouveriez /pʁu.və.ʁje/	prouveraient /pʁu.vʁɛ/
(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	prouve /pʁuv/	prouves /pʁuv/	prouve /pʁuv/	prouvions /pʁu.vjɔ̃/	prouviez /pʁu.vje/	prouvent /pʁuv/
	imperfect2	prouvasse /pʁu.vas/	prouvasses /pʁu.vas/	prouvât /pʁu.va/	prouvassions /pʁu.va.sjɔ̃/	prouvassiez /pʁu.va.sje/	prouvassent /pʁu.vas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	prouve /pʁuv/	—	prouvons /pʁu.vɔ̃/	prouvez /pʁu.ve/	—
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).

Related terms

• approuver
• éprouver
• preuve
• probable
• probation
• prouvable
• prouveur

Further reading

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

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Old French

Verb

prouver

1. Alternative form of prover

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-v, *-vs, *-vt are modified to f, s, t. This verb has a stressed present stem pruev distinct from the unstressed stem prouv, 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 prouver (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		prouver			avoir prouvé
gerund		en prouvant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		prouvant
past participle		prouvé
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	pruis	prueves	prueve	prouvons	prouvez	pruevent
	imperfect	prouvoie, prouveie, prouvoe, prouveve	prouvoies, prouveies, prouvoes, prouveves	prouvoit, prouveit, prouvot, prouveve	prouviiens, prouviens	prouviiez, prouviez	prouvoient, prouveient, prouvoent, prouvevent
	preterite	prouvai	prouvas	prouva	prouvames	prouvastes	prouverent
	future	prouverai	prouveras	prouvera	prouverons	prouveroiz, prouvereiz, prouverez	prouveront
	conditional	prouveroie, prouvereie	prouveroies, prouvereies	prouveroit, prouvereit	prouveriiens, prouveriens	prouveriiez, prouveriez	prouveroient, prouvereient
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	pruisse	pruisses	pruisse, pruist	provons, pruissiens, pruissons	provez, pruissiez	pruissent
	imperfect	prouvasse	prouvasses	prouvast	prouvissons, prouvissiens	prouvissoiz, prouvissez, prouvissiez	prouvassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	pruisse	—	prouvons	prouvez	—