complaire

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French complaire, borrowed from Latin complacere. By surface analysis, com- +‎ plaire.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /kɔ̃.plɛʁ/
  • Audio(file)
  • Audio (CAN)(file)

Verb

complaire

  1. (reflexive) to get stuck in, to get caught in
  2. (reflexive) to take pleasure in, to bask in
  3. (reflexive, derogatory) to wallow, to revel in

Conjugation

plaire and its derived verbs conjugate like taire, except that the third person singular of the present indicative may take a circumflex on the 'i'.

Conjugation of complaire (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple complaire
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple complaisant
/kɔ̃.plɛ.zɑ̃/ or /kɔ̃.ple.zɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle complu
/kɔ̃.ply/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses)		 present complais
/kɔ̃.plɛ/		 complais
/kɔ̃.plɛ/		 complaît or complait
/kɔ̃.plɛ/		 complaisons
/kɔ̃.plɛ.zɔ̃/ or /kɔ̃.ple.zɔ̃/		 complaisez
/kɔ̃.plɛ.ze/ or /kɔ̃.ple.ze/		 complaisent
/kɔ̃.plɛz/
imperfect complaisais
/kɔ̃.plɛ.zɛ/ or /kɔ̃.ple.zɛ/		 complaisais
/kɔ̃.plɛ.zɛ/ or /kɔ̃.ple.zɛ/		 complaisait
/kɔ̃.plɛ.zɛ/ or /kɔ̃.ple.zɛ/		 complaisions
/kɔ̃.plɛ.zjɔ̃/ or /kɔ̃.ple.zjɔ̃/		 complaisiez
/kɔ̃.plɛ.zje/ or /kɔ̃.ple.zje/		 complaisaient
/kɔ̃.plɛ.zɛ/ or /kɔ̃.ple.zɛ/
past historic2 complus
/kɔ̃.ply/		 complus
/kɔ̃.ply/		 complut
/kɔ̃.ply/		 complûmes
/kɔ̃.plym/		 complûtes
/kɔ̃.plyt/		 complurent
/kɔ̃.plyʁ/
future complairai
/kɔ̃.plɛ.ʁe/ or /kɔ̃.ple.ʁe/		 complairas
/kɔ̃.plɛ.ʁa/ or /kɔ̃.ple.ʁa/		 complaira
/kɔ̃.plɛ.ʁa/ or /kɔ̃.ple.ʁa/		 complairons
/kɔ̃.plɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /kɔ̃.ple.ʁɔ̃/		 complairez
/kɔ̃.plɛ.ʁe/ or /kɔ̃.ple.ʁe/		 complairont
/kɔ̃.plɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /kɔ̃.ple.ʁɔ̃/
conditional complairais
/kɔ̃.plɛ.ʁɛ/ or /kɔ̃.ple.ʁɛ/		 complairais
/kɔ̃.plɛ.ʁɛ/ or /kɔ̃.ple.ʁɛ/		 complairait
/kɔ̃.plɛ.ʁɛ/ or /kɔ̃.ple.ʁɛ/		 complairions
/kɔ̃.plɛ.ʁjɔ̃/ or /kɔ̃.ple.ʁjɔ̃/		 complairiez
/kɔ̃.plɛ.ʁje/ or /kɔ̃.ple.ʁje/		 complairaient
/kɔ̃.plɛ.ʁɛ/ or /kɔ̃.ple.ʁɛ/
(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 complaise
/kɔ̃.plɛz/		 complaises
/kɔ̃.plɛz/		 complaise
/kɔ̃.plɛz/		 complaisions
/kɔ̃.plɛ.zjɔ̃/ or /kɔ̃.ple.zjɔ̃/		 complaisiez
/kɔ̃.plɛ.zje/ or /kɔ̃.ple.zje/		 complaisent
/kɔ̃.plɛz/
imperfect2 complusse
/kɔ̃.plys/		 complusses
/kɔ̃.plys/		 complût
/kɔ̃.ply/		 complussions
/kɔ̃.ply.sjɔ̃/		 complussiez
/kɔ̃.ply.sje/		 complussent
/kɔ̃.plys/
(compound
tenses)		 past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — complais
/kɔ̃.plɛ/		 — complaisons
/kɔ̃.plɛ.zɔ̃/ or /kɔ̃.ple.zɔ̃/		 complaisez
/kɔ̃.plɛ.ze/ or /kɔ̃.ple.ze/		 —
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).

Further reading

Middle French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin complaceo, complacere.

Verb

complaire

  1. to please
    • c. 1369, Jean Froissart, Chroniques:
      Le roy de France, pour luy complaire, par le moien du duc d'Angou, le luy donna
      The King of France, to please him, by the intermediary of the Duke of Anjou, gave it to him

Descendants
  • French: compaire
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