valoir

French

Etymology

From Middle French valoir, from Old French valoir, valeir, from Latin valēre, present active infinitive of valeō, from Proto-Italic *walēō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wl̥h₁éh₁yeti, from *h₂welh₁- (“to rule, be strong”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /va.lwaʁ/

• audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -waʁ

Verb

valoir

1. (intransitive) to be worth
2. (transitive) to earn, to win, to bring (something of value)
3. (reflexive) to be the same, to have no difference between

Conjugation

Conjugation of valoir (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	valoir
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	valant /va.lɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		valu /va.ly/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	vaux /vo/	vaux /vo/	vaut /vo/	valons /va.lɔ̃/	valez /va.le/	valent /val/
	imperfect	valais /va.lɛ/	valais /va.lɛ/	valait /va.lɛ/	valions /va.ljɔ̃/	valiez /va.lje/	valaient /va.lɛ/
	past historic2	valus /va.ly/	valus /va.ly/	valut /va.ly/	valûmes /va.lym/	valûtes /va.lyt/	valurent /va.lyʁ/
	future	vaudrai /vo.dʁe/	vaudras /vo.dʁa/	vaudra /vo.dʁa/	vaudrons /vo.dʁɔ̃/	vaudrez /vo.dʁe/	vaudront /vo.dʁɔ̃/
	conditional	vaudrais /vo.dʁɛ/	vaudrais /vo.dʁɛ/	vaudrait /vo.dʁɛ/	vaudrions /vo.dʁi.jɔ̃/	vaudriez /vo.dʁi.je/	vaudraient /vo.dʁɛ/
(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	vaille /vaj/	vailles /vaj/	vaille /vaj/	valions /va.ljɔ̃/	valiez /va.lje/	vaillent /vaj/
	imperfect2	valusse /va.lys/	valusses /va.lys/	valût /va.ly/	valussions /va.ly.sjɔ̃/	valussiez /va.ly.sje/	valussent /va.lys/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	—	—	—	—	—
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

• faire valoir
• faire-valoir

Related terms

• vaillant
• valence
• valeur
• valide
• valoriser
• valoir mieux
• en valoir la peine

Further reading

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

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Middle French

Alternative forms

• valloir (less common)

Etymology

From Latin valēre, present active infinitive of valeō.

Verb

valoir

1. to be worth; to have a certain value
2. (of a person) to have merit; to be have positive qualities

Descendants

• French: valoir

References

• valoir on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)

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Old French

Alternative forms

• valeir

Etymology

From Latin valēre, present active infinitive of valeō.

Verb

valoir

1. to have value; to be worth
   • circa 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:

     Qui plus de çant mars d'arjant vaut

     Which is worth more than 100 marks of silver

Conjugation

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

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		valoir			avoir valu
gerund		en valant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		valant
past participle		valu
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	vail, val	vaus	vaut	valons, vaillons	valez, vailliez	valent, vaillent
	imperfect	valoie, valeie	valoies, valeies	valoit, valeit	valiiens, valiens	valiiez, valiez	valoient, valeient
	preterite	valui, vaus	valus, vausis	valu, vaust	valumes, vausimes	valustes, vausistes	valurent, vaustrent
	future	vaudrai	vaudras	vaudra	vaudrons	vaudroiz, vaudreiz, vaudrez	vaudront
	conditional	vaudroie, vaudreie	vaudroies, vaudreies	vaudroit, vaudreit	vaudriiens, vaudriens	vaudriiez, vaudriez	vaudroient, vaudreient
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	vaille	vailles	vaille	vailliens, vaillons	vailliez	vaillent
	imperfect	valusse, vausisse	valusses, vausisses	valust, vausist	valussons, valussiens, vausissons, vausissiens	valussoiz, valussez, valussiez, vausissoiz, vausissez, vausissiez	valussent, vausissent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	—	—	—	—	—

Derived terms

• vaillant

Descendants

• Middle French: valoir
  • French: valoir
• Norman: valer
• Walloon: valeur
• → Middle English: availen (< a (“to”) + vail)
  • English: avail
  • Scots: avail, avale