From the Norman verb flan(n)er. First known usage in French (flaner) in the 19th century. The Norman verb is a descendant of Old Norse flana (“to get into something heedlessly”). Compare Icelandic flana (“to rush, to act rashly, to get into something heedlessly”), flandra and flandur. See also Norwegian flane and flakke.
flâner
| infinitive | simple | flâner | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | flânant /fla.nɑ̃/ or /flɑ.nɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | flâné /fla.ne/ or /flɑ.ne/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | flâne /flan/ or /flɑn/ |
flânes /flan/ or /flɑn/ |
flâne /flan/ or /flɑn/ |
flânons /fla.nɔ̃/ or /flɑ.nɔ̃/ |
flânez /fla.ne/ or /flɑ.ne/ |
flânent /flan/ or /flɑn/ |
| imperfect | flânais /fla.nɛ/ or /flɑ.nɛ/ |
flânais /fla.nɛ/ or /flɑ.nɛ/ |
flânait /fla.nɛ/ or /flɑ.nɛ/ |
flânions /fla.njɔ̃/ or /flɑ.njɔ̃/ |
flâniez /fla.nje/ or /flɑ.nje/ |
flânaient /fla.nɛ/ or /flɑ.nɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | flânai /fla.ne/ or /flɑ.ne/ |
flânas /fla.na/ or /flɑ.na/ |
flâna /fla.na/ or /flɑ.na/ |
flânâmes /fla.nam/ or /flɑ.nam/ |
flânâtes /fla.nat/ or /flɑ.nat/ |
flânèrent /fla.nɛʁ/ or /flɑ.nɛʁ/ | |
| future | flânerai /flan.ʁe/ or /flɑn.ʁe/ |
flâneras /flan.ʁa/ or /flɑn.ʁa/ |
flânera /flan.ʁa/ or /flɑn.ʁa/ |
flânerons /flan.ʁɔ̃/ or /flɑn.ʁɔ̃/ |
flânerez /flan.ʁe/ or /flɑn.ʁe/ |
flâneront /flan.ʁɔ̃/ or /flɑn.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | flânerais /flan.ʁɛ/ or /flɑn.ʁɛ/ |
flânerais /flan.ʁɛ/ or /flɑn.ʁɛ/ |
flânerait /flan.ʁɛ/ or /flɑn.ʁɛ/ |
flânerions /fla.nə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /flɑ.nə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
flâneriez /fla.nə.ʁje/ or /flɑ.nə.ʁje/ |
flâneraient /flan.ʁɛ/ or /flɑn.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 | flâne /flan/ or /flɑn/ |
flânes /flan/ or /flɑn/ |
flâne /flan/ or /flɑn/ |
flânions /fla.njɔ̃/ or /flɑ.njɔ̃/ |
flâniez /fla.nje/ or /flɑ.nje/ |
flânent /flan/ or /flɑn/ |
| imperfect2 | flânasse /fla.nas/ or /flɑ.nas/ |
flânasses /fla.nas/ or /flɑ.nas/ |
flânât /fla.na/ or /flɑ.na/ |
flânassions /fla.na.sjɔ̃/ or /flɑ.na.sjɔ̃/ |
flânassiez /fla.na.sje/ or /flɑ.na.sje/ |
flânassent /fla.nas/ or /flɑ.nas/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | flâne /flan/ or /flɑn/ |
— | flânons /fla.nɔ̃/ or /flɑ.nɔ̃/ |
flânez /fla.ne/ or /flɑ.ne/ |
— | |
| 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 , Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||