laisser
French
Etymology
Inherited from Middle French laisser, from Old French lesser, lessier, laissier (“to let, let go, leave”), from Latin laxāre (“to relax, loosen”); possibly partly from or influenced by Old High German lāzan (“to let, let go, leave”) (German lassen), from Proto-West Germanic *lātan (“to let, leave, leave alone”). More at let, lay.
Cognates
Cognate with Old English lǣtan (“to allow, let go, leave, rent”), Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽 (lētan, “to release, forgive”), Italian lasciare (“to leave, let, allow”). Conflated also with Old French laiier (“to leave, abandon, allow”) (compare Old Occitan laihar, laiar, Old Northern Italian lagare), also of Germanic origin, from Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (lagjan, “to lay, let lie, leave”), from Proto-Germanic *lagjaną (“to lay”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /lɛ.se/, /le.se/
audio (file)
Verb
laisser
Conjugation
Conjugation of laisser (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | laisser | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | laissant /lɛ.sɑ̃/ or /le.sɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | laissé /lɛ.se/ or /le.se/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | laisse /lɛs/ |
laisses /lɛs/ |
laisse /lɛs/ |
laissons /lɛ.sɔ̃/ or /le.sɔ̃/ |
laissez /lɛ.se/ or /le.se/ |
laissent /lɛs/ |
| imperfect | laissais /lɛ.sɛ/ or /le.sɛ/ |
laissais /lɛ.sɛ/ or /le.sɛ/ |
laissait /lɛ.sɛ/ or /le.sɛ/ |
laissions /lɛ.sjɔ̃/ or /le.sjɔ̃/ |
laissiez /lɛ.sje/ or /le.sje/ |
laissaient /lɛ.sɛ/ or /le.sɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | laissai /lɛ.se/ or /le.se/ |
laissas /lɛ.sa/ or /le.sa/ |
laissa /lɛ.sa/ or /le.sa/ |
laissâmes /lɛ.sam/ or /le.sam/ |
laissâtes /lɛ.sat/ or /le.sat/ |
laissèrent /lɛ.sɛʁ/ or /le.sɛʁ/ | |
| future | laisserai /lɛ.sʁe/ or /le.sʁe/ |
laisseras /lɛ.sʁa/ or /le.sʁa/ |
laissera /lɛ.sʁa/ or /le.sʁa/ |
laisserons /lɛ.sʁɔ̃/ or /le.sʁɔ̃/ |
laisserez /lɛ.sʁe/ or /le.sʁe/ |
laisseront /lɛ.sʁɔ̃/ or /le.sʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | laisserais /lɛ.sʁɛ/ or /le.sʁɛ/ |
laisserais /lɛ.sʁɛ/ or /le.sʁɛ/ |
laisserait /lɛ.sʁɛ/ or /le.sʁɛ/ |
laisserions /lɛ.sə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /le.sə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
laisseriez /lɛ.sə.ʁje/ or /le.sə.ʁje/ |
laisseraient /lɛ.sʁɛ/ or /le.sʁɛ/ | |
| (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 | laisse /lɛs/ |
laisses /lɛs/ |
laisse /lɛs/ |
laissions /lɛ.sjɔ̃/ or /le.sjɔ̃/ |
laissiez /lɛ.sje/ or /le.sje/ |
laissent /lɛs/ |
| imperfect2 | laissasse /lɛ.sas/ or /le.sas/ |
laissasses /lɛ.sas/ or /le.sas/ |
laissât /lɛ.sa/ or /le.sa/ |
laissassions /lɛ.sa.sjɔ̃/ or /le.sa.sjɔ̃/ |
laissassiez /lɛ.sa.sje/ or /le.sa.sje/ |
laissassent /lɛ.sas/ or /le.sas/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | laisse /lɛs/ |
— | laissons /lɛ.sɔ̃/ or /le.sɔ̃/ |
laissez /lɛ.se/ or /le.se/ |
— | |
| 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:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Derived terms
- à prendre ou à laisser
- laisse béton
- laisse-moi rir
- laisser à désirer
- laisser de côté
- laisser en plan
- laisser en plant
- laisser entendre
- laisser la parole
- laisser pour compte
- laisser pour mort
- laisser sa peau
- laisser sur sa faim
- laisser tomber
- laisser tranquille
- laissez faire
- laissez les bons temps rouler
- laissez vibrer
- laissez-moi rire
- ne pas laisser pierre sur pierre
- y laisser des plumes
Related terms
Descendants
- → Breton: lezel
Further reading
- “laisser”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle French
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old French lesser, lessier, laissier (“to let, let go, leave”), from Latin laxō, laxāre (“to relax, loosen”); partly from or influenced by Old High German lāzan (“to let, let go, leave”) (German lassen), from Proto-West Germanic *lātan (“to let, leave, leave alone”).
Verb
laisser
- to allow; to permit
- to leave (not take)
- to leave alone (not interfere)
- 1488, Jean Dupré, Lancelot du Lac, page 74:
- [ie] vous prie que vous me laissiez ceste bataille
- I beg of you to let me go into this battle alone
Conjugation
- Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of laisser
| infinitive | simple | laisser | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle1 or gerund2 | simple | laissant | |||||
| compound | present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | laissé | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | ie (i’) | tu | il, elle | nous | vous | ilz, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | laisse | laisses | laisse | laissons | laissez | laissent |
| imperfect | laissois, laissoys | laissois, laissoys | laissoit, laissoyt | laissions, laissyons | laissiez, laissyez | laissoient, laissoyent | |
| past historic | laissa | laissas | laissa | laissasmes | laissastes | laisserent | |
| future | laisserai, laisseray | laisseras | laissera | laisserons | laisserez | laisseront | |
| conditional | laisserois, laisseroys | laisserois, laisseroys | laisseroit, laisseroyt | laisserions, laisseryons | laisseriez, laisseryez | laisseroient, laisseroyent | |
| (compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que ie (i’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ilz, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | laisse | laisses | laisse | laissons | laissez | laissent |
| imperfect | laissasse | laissasses | laissast | laissassions | laissassiez | laissassent | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | laisse | — | laissons | laissez | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679. | |||||||
| 2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180). | |||||||
Descendants
- French: laisser
- → Breton: lezel
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