voici

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

French

[edit]

Etymology

[edit]

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

Pronunciation

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

Verb

[edit]

voici (defective)

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

Usage notes

[edit]
  • 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

[edit]

Preposition

[edit]

voici

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

See also

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]