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voici

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

French

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Etymology

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Literally, look here. From vois (see!, look!), second-person singular imperative of voir (to see, to look) and ici (here).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /vwa.si/
  • Audio:(file)

Verb

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voici (defective)

  1. here is
    Voici le fromage.
    Here's the cheese.

Usage notes

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  • Voici is a defective verb; its only conjugation is in the present indicative tense, even though it can appear in phrases that imply another tense.
  • As a verb, it can take direct object pronouns:
    Tu m’as appelé, me voici!You called me, and here I am!
  • It can also occur in relative clauses:
    l’homme que voicithe man who is here/this man (right) here
  • It is used to designate a person or object near the speaker, in contrast to voilà which is mainly used to introduce a slightly distant person or object.
  • In face-to-face conversations where both participants can see the subject of the conversation, voici is often replaced by voilà.

Derived terms

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Preposition

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voici

  1. ago
    Synonym: il y a
    Il est parti voici trois jours.He left three days ago.

See also

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Further reading

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