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matter. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
matter, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
matter in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
From Middle English matere, mater, from Anglo-Norman matere, materie, from Old French materie, matiere, from Latin materia (“wood”), from mater (“mother”), in which case cognate with Old Armenian մայր (mayr, “cedar”) and մայրի (mayri, “forest”). More recently, referred to Proto-Indo-European *dem-. Doublet of Madeira and mother.
Displaced Middle English andweorc, andwork (“material, matter”), from Old English andweorc (“matter, substance, material”), Old English intinga (“matter, affair, business”).
Pronunciation
Noun
matter (countable and uncountable, plural matters)
- (uncountable) Material; substance.
- (physics) Anything with mass.
- (physics) Matter made up of normal particles, not antiparticles.
- Antonym: antimatter
- A kind of substance.
vegetable matter
- Printed material, especially in books or magazines.
He always took some reading matter with him on the plane.
- (philosophy) Aristotelian: undeveloped potentiality subject to change and development; formlessness. Matter receives form, and becomes substance.
- An affair, condition, or subject, especially one of concern or (especially when preceded by the) one that is problematic.
Something is the matter with him.
The diplomats met to discuss state matters.
1597, Francis [Bacon], “Of the Colours of Good and Evill, a Fragment”, in The Essayes , 3rd edition, London: Iohn Haviland , published 1632, →OCLC:So in many armies, if the matter ſhould bee tried by duell betvvene tvvo Champions, the victory ſhould goe on the one ſide, & yet if it be tried by the groſſe, it vvould goe on the other ſide: for excellencies goe as it vvere by chance, but kinds goe by a more certaine Nature, as by Diſcipline in vvarre.
1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. , London: [Samuel Simmons], , →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: , London: Basil Montagu Pickering , 1873, →OCLC:Son of God, Saviour of men! Thy name / Shall be the copious matter of my song.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; […] . Now she had come to look upon the matter in its true proportions, and her anticipation of a possible chance of teaching him a lesson was a pleasure to behold.
2012 July 12, Sam Adams, “Ice Age: Continental Drift”, in AV Club:The matter of whether the world needs a fourth Ice Age movie pales beside the question of why there were three before it, but Continental Drift feels less like an extension of a theatrical franchise than an episode of a middling TV cartoon, lolling around on territory that’s already been settled.
- An approximate amount or extent.
I stayed for a matter of months.
1700, [William] Congreve, The Way of the World, a Comedy. , London: Jacob Tonson, , →OCLC, Act III, scene xv, page 47:[…] I have Thoughts to tarry a ſmall Matter in Town, to learn ſomewhat of your Lingo firſt, before I croſs the Seas.
- (countable, law) Legal services provided by a lawyer or firm to their client in relation to a particular issue.
Please find attached an invoice for three outstanding matters.
- (obsolete) Essence; pith; embodiment.
- (obsolete) (The) inducing cause or reason, especially of anything disagreeable or distressing.
- (dated, medicine) Pus.
- (uncountable) Importance.
1880, Bernard Nulty, The Patriot Chief: And Other Poems, page 211:What matter if we unrewarded must strive, / If Wall Street and gamblers around it may thrive? / What matter if we doubly pay for our food / To support the monopolist kings of the road?
Usage notes
- As regards sense 2 ("an affair, condition, or subject, especially one of concern or one that is problematic"), the phrase the matter can in most cases be replaced by the adjective wrong. Thus, a phrase like "there is nothing the matter" can be reworded as "there is nothing wrong".
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
basic structural component of the universe
- Albanian: lëndë (sq) f
- Arabic: مَادَّة (ar) f (mādda)
- Armenian: նյութ (hy) (nyutʻ)
- Assamese: পদাৰ্থ (podartho)
- Azerbaijani: maddə (az), materiya (az)
- Belarusian: матэ́рыя f (matéryja)
- Bengali: পদার্থ (bn) (podartho)
- Bihari: पदार्थ
- Bulgarian: мате́рия (bg) f (matérija)
- Burmese: ဒြပ် (my) (drap)
- Catalan: matèria (ca) f
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 物質/物质 (zh) (wùzhì, wùzhí)
- Czech: hmota (cs) f
- Danish: stof (da) n
- Doteli: पदार्थ (padārtha)
- Dutch: materie (nl) f
- Esperanto: materio (eo)
- Estonian: aine (et)
- Finnish: aine (fi)
- French: matière (fr) f
- Galician: materia (gl) f
- Georgian: მატერია (maṭeria)
- German: Materie (de) f
- Greek: ύλη (el) f (ýli)
- Ancient: ὕλη f (húlē)
- Gujarati: પદાર્થ m (padārth)
- Hebrew: חומר \ חֹמֶר (he) m (khómer)
- Hindi: पदार्थ (hi) m (padārth)
- Hungarian: anyag (hu)
- Hunsrik: Materje f
- Icelandic: efni (is) n
- Irish: damhna m
- Italian: materia (it) f
- Japanese: 物質 (ja) (ぶっしつ, busshitsu)
- Kannada: ದ್ರವ್ಯ (kn) (dravya)
- Kazakh: материя (materiä)
- Khmer: វត្ថុ (km) (vŏətthoʼ)
- Korean: 물질(物質) (ko) (muljil)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: ماکە (make)
- Northern Kurdish: made (ku)
- Kyrgyz: материя (materiya)
- Lao: ສະສານ (sa sān), ທາດ (thāt)
- Latin: māteria (la) f
- Latvian: matērija f
- Lithuanian: materija f
- Macedonian: материја f (materija)
- Maithili: पदार्थ (padārtha)
- Malay: jirim (ms)
- Malayalam: ദ്രവ്യം (ml) (dravyaṁ)
- Maori: matū
- Marathi: पदार्थ (padārtha)
- Middle English: matere
- Mongolian: матери (mn) (materi)
- Nepali: पदार्थ (padārtha)
- Newar: पदार्थ (padārtha)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: stoff (no) n
- Odia: ପଦାର୍ଥ (or) (pôdarthô)
- Old English: andweorc n
- Pashto: ماده (ps) f (mādá)
- Persian: ماده (fa) (mâdde)
- Polish: materia (pl) f
- Portuguese: matéria (pt) f
- Punjabi: ਪਦਾਰਥ (padārath)
- Romanian: materie (ro) f
- Russian: мате́рия (ru) f (matérija)
- Sanskrit: द्रव्यम् (sa) n (dravyam)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: тва̑р f, ма̀те̄рија f
- Roman: tvȃr (sh) f, màtērija (sh) f
- Sinhalese: පදාර්ථය (padārthaya)
- Slovak: hmota (sk) f
- Slovene: snov (sl) f, materija (sl) f, tvar f
- Spanish: materia (es) f
- Swedish: materia (sv) c
- Tagalog: butang (tl), likhatas
- Tajik: модда (modda)
- Tamil: பொருள் (ta) (poruḷ)
- Tatar: материя (materiyä), матдә (tt) (matdä)
- Telugu: పదార్థము (te) (padārthamu)
- Thai: สสาร (th) (sà-sǎan), ธาตุ (th) (tâat)
- Tibetan: དངོས་པོ (dngos po)
- Turkish: madde (tr)
- Turkmen: materiýa
- Ukrainian: мате́рія (matérija)
- Urdu: مادہ (māda)
- Uyghur: ماددا (madda), ماتېرىيە (matëriye)
- Uzbek: materiya (uz), modda (uz)
- Vietnamese: vật chất (vi) (物質)
- West Frisian: matearje c
- Yiddish: מאַטעריע f (materye)
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reason for concern
- Arabic: قَضِيَّة (ar) (qaḍiyya)
- Belarusian: спра́ва f (správa), пыта́нне (be) n (pytánnje)
- Catalan: assumpte (ca), qüestió (ca)
- Esperanto: afero (eo)
- Farefare: yelle
- Finnish: pulma (fi), ongelma (fi), hätä (fi)
- German: Angelegenheit (de) f
- Greek:
- Ancient: πρᾶγμα n (prâgma)
- Gujarati: બાબત (bābat), વાત (vāt)
- Hebrew: נושא (he) (nosé)
- Hungarian: baj (hu), gond (hu)
- Italian: problema (it) m
- Latin: rēs (la) f, fabula (la) f
- Maori: take
- Ottoman Turkish: امر (emr, emir)
- Plautdietsch: Sach f
- Polish: sprawa (pl) f
- Portuguese: questão (pt) m
- Romanian: problemă (ro) f, chestiune (ro) f
- Russian: де́ло (ru) n (délo), вопро́с (ru) m (voprós)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: пи́та̄ње n
- Roman: pítānje (sh) n
- Slovene: zadeva f
- Spanish: asunto (es) m, cuestión (es) f
- Swedish: fråga (sv) c, ärende (sv) n, angelägenhet (sv) c
- Ukrainian: спра́ва (uk) (správa), пита́ння (uk) (pytánnja)
- West Frisian: saak c
- Yoruba: ọrọ̀
- Zulu: indaba (zu) class 9/10, udaba class 11/10
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situation, condition, subject or affair
- Arabic: أَمْر (ar) m (ʔamr)
- Belarusian: спра́ва f (správa)
- Catalan: situació (ca), qüestió (ca), matèria (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 事情 (zh) (shìqing), 事 (zh) (shì)
- Esperanto: afero (eo)
- Farefare: yelle
- Finnish: tilanne (fi)
- French: affaire (fr) f, question (fr) f
- German: Angelegenheit (de) f
- Greek:
- Ancient: πρᾶγμα n (prâgma)
- Hindi: बात (hi) f (bāt), मामला (hi) m (māmlā)
- Hungarian: ügy (hu), dolog (hu), kérdés (hu), téma (hu), tárgy (hu)
- Italian: argomento (it) m, questione (it) f, faccenda (it) f
- Japanese: 事 (ja) (こと, koto)
- Kyrgyz: иш (ky) (iş)
- Latin: rēs (la) f, fabula (la) f
- Manchu: ᠪᠠᡳᡨᠠ (baita)
- Maori: kaupapa, take, kiko
- Ottoman Turkish: امر (emr, emir)
- Plautdietsch: Sach f
- Portuguese: questão (pt) f, assunto (pt) m
- Romanian: chestiune (ro) f, subiect (ro) n, fond (ro) n, material (ro) n
- Russian: де́ло (ru) n (délo)
- Spanish: asunto (es) m, cuestión (es) f, tema (es) m, materia (es) f, punto (es) m
- Thai: เรื่อง (th) (rʉ̂ʉang)
- Ukrainian: спра́ва (uk) f (správa)
- Urdu: بات f (bāt), معاملہ m (māmlā)
- Vietnamese: việc (vi) (役)
- Yiddish: ענין (inyen)
- Zulu: indaba (zu) class 9/10
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Translations to be checked
Verb
matter (third-person singular simple present matters, present participle mattering, simple past and past participle mattered)
- (intransitive, stative) To be important.
The only thing that matters to Jim is being rich.
Sorry for pouring ketchup on your clean white shirt! - Oh, don't worry, it does not matter.
1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC:As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish, […]. My servant is, so far as I am concerned, welcome to as many votes as he can get. […] I do not suppose that it matters much in reality whether laws are made by dukes or cornerboys, but I like, as far as possible, to associate with gentlemen in private life.
2011 April 10, Alistair Magowan, “Aston Villa 1-0 Newcastle”, in BBC Sport:Despite further attempts by Agbonlahor and Young, however, they could not find the goal to reward their endeavour.
It mattered little as Newcastle's challenge faded and Villa began to dominate the game in midfield, and it was only Barton's continued sense of injustice that offered the visitors any spark in a tame contest.
- (transitive, in negative constructions, now England regional, Caribbean) To care about, to mind; to find important.
- , Folio Society 1973, p.47:
- Besides, if it had been out of doors I had not mattered it so much; but with my own servant, in my own house, under my own roof
- (intransitive, medicine, archaic) To form pus or matter, as an abscess; to maturate.
a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the page number)”, in Fulke Greville, Matthew Gwinne, and John Florio, editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC; republished in Albert Feuillerat, editor, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia (Cambridge English Classics: The Complete Works of Sir Philip Sidney; I), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1912, →OCLC:Each slight sore mattereth.
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
to be important
- Afrikaans: saakmaak
- Arabic: هَمَّ (ar) (hamma)
- Bulgarian: имам значение (imam značenie)
- Catalan: importar (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 有關係/有关系 (zh) (yǒuguānxi), 要緊/要紧 (zh) (yàojǐn)
- Czech: záležet (cs)
- Dutch: belangrijk zijn, er toe doen, uitmaken (nl)
- Esperanto: gravi
- Finnish: merkitä (fi), olla merkitystä, haitata (fi)
- French: importer (fr), compter (fr)
- Galician: importar
- German: wichtig sein, etwas ausmachen, zählen (de)
- Hungarian: számít (hu), fontos (hu), érdekes (hu)
- Ido: importar (io)
- Interlingua: importar
- Irish: is miste
- Italian: importare (it), contare (it)
- Japanese: 重要である (じゅうようである, jūyō de aru)
- Korean: 중요하다 (ko) (jung'yohada)
- Latin: intersum (la), pertineo ad, pertineo (la)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: telle (no), være viktig, spille en rolle, ha betydning
- Old English: mǣnan
- Polish: mieć znaczenie
- Portuguese: importar (pt)
- Romanian: conta (ro)
- Russian: име́ть значе́ние impf (imétʹ značénije), быть ва́жным impf (bytʹ vážnym)
- Scottish Gaelic: is coma
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: бити битно, имати значење, имати важност
- Roman: biti bitno, imati značenje, imati važnost
- Spanish: importar (es)
- Swedish: spela roll (sv)
- Ukrainian: ма́ти зна́чення (máty znáčennja)
- Yiddish: אויסמאַכן (oysmakhn)
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References
Further reading
French
Pronunciation
Verb
matter
- Alternative spelling of mater
Conjugation
infinitive
|
simple
|
matter
|
compound
|
avoir + past participle
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present participle or gerund1
|
simple
|
mattant /ma.tɑ̃/
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compound
|
ayant + past participle
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past participle
|
matté /ma.te/
|
|
singular
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plural
|
first
|
second
|
third
|
first
|
second
|
third
|
indicative
|
je (j’)
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tu
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il, elle, on
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nous
|
vous
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ils, elles
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(simple tenses)
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present
|
matte /mat/
|
mattes /mat/
|
matte /mat/
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mattons /ma.tɔ̃/
|
mattez /ma.te/
|
mattent /mat/
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imperfect
|
mattais /ma.tɛ/
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mattais /ma.tɛ/
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mattait /ma.tɛ/
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mattions /ma.tjɔ̃/
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mattiez /ma.tje/
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mattaient /ma.tɛ/
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past historic2
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mattai /ma.te/
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mattas /ma.ta/
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matta /ma.ta/
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mattâmes /ma.tam/
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mattâtes /ma.tat/
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mattèrent /ma.tɛʁ/
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future
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matterai /ma.tʁe/
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matteras /ma.tʁa/
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mattera /ma.tʁa/
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matterons /ma.tʁɔ̃/
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matterez /ma.tʁe/
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matteront /ma.tʁɔ̃/
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conditional
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matterais /ma.tʁɛ/
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matterais /ma.tʁɛ/
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matterait /ma.tʁɛ/
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matterions /ma.tə.ʁjɔ̃/
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matteriez /ma.tə.ʁje/
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matteraient /ma.tʁɛ/
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(compound tenses)
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present perfect
|
present indicative of avoir + past participle
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pluperfect
|
imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
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past anterior2
|
past historic of avoir + past participle
|
future perfect
|
future of avoir + past participle
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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
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(simple tenses)
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present
|
matte /mat/
|
mattes /mat/
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matte /mat/
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mattions /ma.tjɔ̃/
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mattiez /ma.tje/
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mattent /mat/
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imperfect2
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mattasse /ma.tas/
|
mattasses /ma.tas/
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mattât /ma.ta/
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mattassions /ma.ta.sjɔ̃/
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mattassiez /ma.ta.sje/
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mattassent /ma.tas/
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(compound tenses)
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past
|
present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
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pluperfect2
|
imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
|
imperative
|
–
|
tu
|
–
|
nous
|
vous
|
–
|
simple
|
—
|
matte /mat/
|
—
|
mattons /ma.tɔ̃/
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mattez /ma.te/
|
—
|
compound
|
—
|
simple imperative of avoir + past participle
|
—
|
simple imperative of avoir + past participle
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simple imperative of avoir + past participle
|
—
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1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
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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 , Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).
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Anagrams
German
Pronunciation
Adjective
matter
- comparative degree of matt
- inflection of matt:
- strong/mixed nominative masculine singular
- strong genitive/dative feminine singular
- strong genitive plural
Middle French
Alternative forms
Verb
matter
- to checkmate
Conjugation
- Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of matter
infinitive
|
simple
|
matter
|
compound
|
avoir + past participle
|
present participle1 or gerund2
|
simple
|
]
|
compound
|
present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
|
past participle
|
]
|
|
singular
|
plural
|
first
|
second
|
third
|
first
|
second
|
third
|
indicative
|
ie (i’)
|
tu
|
il, elle
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nous
|
vous
|
ilz, elles
|
(simple tenses)
|
present
|
]
|
]
|
]
|
]
|
]
|
]
|
imperfect
|
], ]
|
], ]
|
], ]
|
], ]
|
], ]
|
], ]
|
past historic
|
]
|
]
|
]
|
]
|
]
|
]
|
future
|
], ]
|
]
|
]
|
]
|
]
|
]
|
conditional
|
], ]
|
], ]
|
], ]
|
], ]
|
], ]
|
], ]
|
(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
|
]
|
]
|
]
|
]
|
]
|
]
|
imperfect
|
]
|
]
|
]
|
]
|
]
|
]
|
(compound tenses)
|
past
|
present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
|
pluperfect
|
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
|
—
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1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château , 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.
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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 , op. cit., p. 180).
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Norwegian Bokmål
Noun
matter m pl or f pl
- indefinite plural of matte (Etymology 1)
Norwegian Nynorsk
Noun
matter f pl
- indefinite plural of matte (Etymology 1)