faillir

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

French[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

Inherited from Middle French faillir, from Old French falir, from Vulgar Latin *fallīre, from Latin fallere. See also falloir.

Verb[edit]

faillir

  1. to almost do something
    J’ai failli aller en Allemagne, mais j’ai annulé au dernier moment
    I almost went to Germany, but cancelled at the last minute
  2. to fail
    Tu as failli à ta mission.
    You failed your mission.
Conjugation[edit]

This verb has two conjugations, one is older and irregular, but is in modern usage giving way to a conjugation like that of finir. It is hardly used except in the infinitive, past historic, and the composed tenses. The third-person singular present indicative faut is also found in certain set phrases.

Conjugation of faillir (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple faillir
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple faillant
/fa.jɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle failli
/fa.ji/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present faux
/fo/ 		faux
/fo/ 		faut
/fo/ 		faillons
/fa.jɔ̃/ 		faillez
/fa.je/ 		faillent
/faj/
imperfect faillais
/fa.jɛ/ 		faillais
/fa.jɛ/ 		faillait
/fa.jɛ/ 		faillions
/faj.jɔ̃/ 		failliez
/faj.je/ 		faillaient
/fa.jɛ/
past historic2 faillis
/fa.ji/ 		faillis
/fa.ji/ 		faillit
/fa.ji/ 		faillîmes
/fa.jim/ 		faillîtes
/fa.jit/ 		faillirent
/fa.jiʁ/
future faudrai or faillirai
/fo.dʁe/ or /fa.ji.ʁe/ 		faudras or failliras
/fo.dʁa/ or /fa.ji.ʁa/ 		faudra or faillira
/fo.dʁa/ or /fa.ji.ʁa/ 		faudrons or faillirons
/fo.dʁɔ̃/ or /fa.ji.ʁɔ̃/ 		faudrez or faillirez
/fo.dʁe/ or /fa.ji.ʁe/ 		faudront or failliront
/fo.dʁɔ̃/ or /fa.ji.ʁɔ̃/
conditional faudrais or faillirais
/fo.dʁɛ/ or /fa.ji.ʁɛ/ 		faudrais or faillirais
/fo.dʁɛ/ or /fa.ji.ʁɛ/ 		faudrait or faillirait
/fo.dʁɛ/ or /fa.ji.ʁɛ/ 		faudrions or faillirions
/fo.dʁi.jɔ̃/ or /fa.ji.ʁjɔ̃/ 		faudriez or failliriez
/fo.dʁi.je/ or /fa.ji.ʁje/ 		faudraient or failliraient
/fo.dʁɛ/ or /fa.ji.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 faille
/faj/ 		failles
/faj/ 		faille
/faj/ 		faillions
/faj.jɔ̃/ 		failliez
/faj.je/ 		faillent
/faj/
imperfect2 faillisse
/fa.jis/ 		faillisses
/fa.jis/ 		faillît
/fa.ji/ 		faillissions
/fa.ji.sjɔ̃/ 		faillissiez
/fa.ji.sje/ 		faillissent
/fa.jis/
(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).

Synonyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
  • → German: fallieren
  • → Swedish: fallera

Etymology 2[edit]

From faillite.

Verb[edit]

faillir

  1. to go bankrupt
Conjugation[edit]

This is a regular verb of the second conjugation, like finir, choisir, and most other verbs with infinitives ending in -ir. One salient feature of this conjugation is the repeated appearance of the infix -iss-.

Conjugation of faillir (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple faillir
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple faillissant
/fa.ji.sɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle failli
/fa.ji/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present faillis
/fa.ji/ 		faillis
/fa.ji/ 		faillit
/fa.ji/ 		faillissons
/fa.ji.sɔ̃/ 		faillissez
/fa.ji.se/ 		faillissent
/fa.jis/
imperfect faillissais
/fa.ji.sɛ/ 		faillissais
/fa.ji.sɛ/ 		faillissait
/fa.ji.sɛ/ 		faillissions
/fa.ji.sjɔ̃/ 		faillissiez
/fa.ji.sje/ 		faillissaient
/fa.ji.sɛ/
past historic2 faillis
/fa.ji/ 		faillis
/fa.ji/ 		faillit
/fa.ji/ 		faillîmes
/fa.jim/ 		faillîtes
/fa.jit/ 		faillirent
/fa.jiʁ/
future faillirai
/fa.ji.ʁe/ 		failliras
/fa.ji.ʁa/ 		faillira
/fa.ji.ʁa/ 		faillirons
/fa.ji.ʁɔ̃/ 		faillirez
/fa.ji.ʁe/ 		failliront
/fa.ji.ʁɔ̃/
conditional faillirais
/fa.ji.ʁɛ/ 		faillirais
/fa.ji.ʁɛ/ 		faillirait
/fa.ji.ʁɛ/ 		faillirions
/fa.ji.ʁjɔ̃/ 		failliriez
/fa.ji.ʁje/ 		failliraient
/fa.ji.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 faillisse
/fa.jis/ 		faillisses
/fa.jis/ 		faillisse
/fa.jis/ 		faillissions
/fa.ji.sjɔ̃/ 		faillissiez
/fa.ji.sje/ 		faillissent
/fa.jis/
imperfect2 faillisse
/fa.jis/ 		faillisses
/fa.jis/ 		faillît
/fa.ji/ 		faillissions
/fa.ji.sjɔ̃/ 		faillissiez
/fa.ji.sje/ 		faillissent
/fa.jis/
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — faillis
/fa.ji/ 		— faillissons
/fa.ji.sɔ̃/ 		faillissez
/fa.ji.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:
  • 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[edit]

Middle French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old French falir, from Vulgar Latin *fallīre, from Latin fallere, present active infinitive of fallō.

Verb[edit]

faillir

  1. to fail
    • c. 1369, Jean Froissart, Chroniques:
      quant les lances leur failloient, ils se prendoient aux haches
      when their lances failed them, they took up their axes
    • 1595, Michel de Montaigne, Essais, book II, chapter 37:
      Ou, s’il leur plait, ils se servent encore de cet empirement, et en font leurs affaires par cet autre moyen qui ne leur peut jamais faillir
      Or, if they preferred, they still made use of this deterioration, and did their affairs by this other means which could never fail them

Descendants[edit]

Old French[edit]

Verb[edit]

faillir

  1. alternative infinitive of falir

Conjugation[edit]

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 faillir (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)
simple compound
infinitive faillir avoir fali, failli
gerund en falant, faillant gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle falant, faillant
past participle fali, failli
person singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative jo tu il nos vos il
simple
tenses 		present fail faus faut falons, faillons falez, failliez falent, faillent
imperfect faloie, faleie, failloie, failleie faloies, faleies, failloies, failleies faloit, faleit, failloit, failleit faliiens, faliens, failliiens, failliens faliiez, faliez, failliiez, failliez faloient, faleient, failloient, failleient
preterite fali, failli falis, faillis fali, failli falimes, faillimes falistes, faillistes falirent, faillirent
future faudrai faudras faudra faudrons faudroiz, faudreiz, faudrez faudront
conditional faudroie, faudreie faudroies, faudreies faudroit, faudreit faudriiens, faudriens faudriiez, faudriez faudroient, faudreient
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 faille failles faille failliens, faillons failliez faillent
imperfect faillise faillises faillit faillisons, faillisiens faillisoiz, faillisez, faillisiez faillisent
compound
tenses 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nos vos –
— fail — falons, faillons falez, failliez —

Descendants[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=faillir&oldid=75887635"