Inherited from Old French maudire, maldire, a semi-learned borrowing from Latin maledīcere (“to slander, curse”). Equivalent to mal + dire. Cf. the Old French form maleir, which may have been inherited.
maudire
This verb lost virtually all contact with its etymological cognate dire. This is almost a regular verb of the second conjugation, like finir, choisir, and most other verbs with infinitives ending in -ir. Its only irregularities are in the past participle, which is maudit(e)(s) rather than *maudi(e)(s), and in the infinitive, which is maudire rather than *maudir.
| infinitive | simple | maudire | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | maudissant /mo.di.sɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | maudit /mo.di/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | maudis /mo.di/ |
maudis /mo.di/ |
maudit /mo.di/ |
maudissons /mo.di.sɔ̃/ |
maudissez /mo.di.se/ |
maudissent /mo.dis/ |
| imperfect | maudissais /mo.di.sɛ/ |
maudissais /mo.di.sɛ/ |
maudissait /mo.di.sɛ/ |
maudissions /mo.di.sjɔ̃/ |
maudissiez /mo.di.sje/ |
maudissaient /mo.di.sɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | maudis /mo.di/ |
maudis /mo.di/ |
maudit /mo.di/ |
maudîmes /mo.dim/ |
maudîtes /mo.dit/ |
maudirent /mo.diʁ/ | |
| future | maudirai /mo.di.ʁe/ |
maudiras /mo.di.ʁa/ |
maudira /mo.di.ʁa/ |
maudirons /mo.di.ʁɔ̃/ |
maudirez /mo.di.ʁe/ |
maudiront /mo.di.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | maudirais /mo.di.ʁɛ/ |
maudirais /mo.di.ʁɛ/ |
maudirait /mo.di.ʁɛ/ |
maudirions /mo.di.ʁjɔ̃/ |
maudiriez /mo.di.ʁje/ |
maudiraient /mo.di.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 | maudisse /mo.dis/ |
maudisses /mo.dis/ |
maudisse /mo.dis/ |
maudissions /mo.di.sjɔ̃/ |
maudissiez /mo.di.sje/ |
maudissent /mo.dis/ |
| imperfect2 | maudisse /mo.dis/ |
maudisses /mo.dis/ |
maudît /mo.di/ |
maudissions /mo.di.sjɔ̃/ |
maudissiez /mo.di.sje/ |
maudissent /mo.dis/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | maudis /mo.di/ |
— | maudissons /mo.di.sɔ̃/ |
maudissez /mo.di.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 , Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Semi-learned borrowing from Latin maledīcere, present active infinitive of maledīcō (“I slander, curse”). Compare the form maleir, which may have been inherited.
maudire
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.
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | maudire | avoir maudiü | |||||
| gerund | en maudiant | gerund of avoir + past participle | |||||
| present participle | maudiant | ||||||
| past participle | maudiü | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | jo | tu | il | nos | vos | il | |
| simple tenses |
present | maudi | maudis | maudit | maudions | maudïez | maudïent |
| imperfect | maudioie, maudïeie | maudioies, maudïeies | maudioit, maudïeit | maudiiiens, maudiiens | maudiiiez, maudiiez | maudioient, maudïeient | |
| preterite | maudis | maudisis | maudist | maudisimes | maudisistes | maudistrent | |
| future | maudirai | maudiras | maudira | maudirons | maudiroiz, maudireiz, maudirez | maudiront | |
| conditional | maudiroie, maudireie | maudiroies, maudireies | maudiroit, maudireit | maudiriiens, maudiriens | maudiriiez, maudiriez | maudiroient, maudireient | |
| 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 | maudïe | maudïes | maudïe | maudions | maudïez | maudïent |
| imperfect | maudisisse | maudisisses | maudisist | maudisissons, maudisissiens | maudisissoiz, maudisissez, maudisissiez | maudisissent | |
| compound tenses |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nos | vos | – | |
| — | maudi | — | maudions | maudïez | — | ||