Onomatopoeic formation from a reduplication of z.
zézayer
This is a regular -er verb as far as pronunciation is concerned, but as with other verbs in -ayer (such as payer and essayer), the <y> of its stem may optionally be written as <i> when it precedes a silent <e> (compare verbs in -eyer, which never have this spelling change, and verbs in -oyer and -uyer, which always have it; verbs in -ayer belong to either group, according to the writer's preference).
| infinitive | simple | zézayer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | zézayant /ze.zɛ.jɑ̃/ or /ze.ze.jɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | zézayé /ze.zɛ.je/ or /ze.ze.je/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | zézaye or zézaie /ze.zɛj/ or /ze.zɛ/ |
zézayes or zézaies /ze.zɛj/ or /ze.zɛ/ |
zézaye or zézaie /ze.zɛj/ or /ze.zɛ/ |
zézayons /ze.zɛ.jɔ̃/ or /ze.ze.jɔ̃/ |
zézayez /ze.zɛ.je/ or /ze.ze.je/ |
zézayent or zézaient /ze.zɛj/ or /ze.zɛ/ |
| imperfect | zézayais /ze.zɛ.jɛ/ or /ze.ze.jɛ/ |
zézayais /ze.zɛ.jɛ/ or /ze.ze.jɛ/ |
zézayait /ze.zɛ.jɛ/ or /ze.ze.jɛ/ |
zézayions /ze.zɛj.jɔ̃/ |
zézayiez /ze.zɛj.je/ |
zézayaient /ze.zɛ.jɛ/ or /ze.ze.jɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | zézayai /ze.zɛ.je/ or /ze.ze.je/ |
zézayas /ze.zɛ.ja/ or /ze.ze.ja/ |
zézaya /ze.zɛ.ja/ or /ze.ze.ja/ |
zézayâmes /ze.zɛ.jam/ or /ze.ze.jam/ |
zézayâtes /ze.zɛ.jat/ or /ze.ze.jat/ |
zézayèrent /ze.zɛ.jɛʁ/ or /ze.ze.jɛʁ/ | |
| future | zézayerai or zézaierai /ze.zɛj.ʁe/ or /ze.zɛ.ʁe/ or /ze.ze.ʁe/ |
zézayeras or zézaieras /ze.zɛj.ʁa/ or /ze.zɛ.ʁa/ or /ze.ze.ʁa/ |
zézayera or zézaiera /ze.zɛj.ʁa/ or /ze.zɛ.ʁa/ or /ze.ze.ʁa/ |
zézayerons or zézaierons /ze.zɛj.ʁɔ̃/ or /ze.zɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /ze.ze.ʁɔ̃/ |
zézayerez or zézaierez /ze.zɛj.ʁe/ or /ze.zɛ.ʁe/ or /ze.ze.ʁe/ |
zézayeront or zézaieront /ze.zɛj.ʁɔ̃/ or /ze.zɛ.ʁɔ̃/ or /ze.ze.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | zézayerais or zézaierais /ze.zɛj.ʁɛ/ or /ze.zɛ.ʁɛ/ or /ze.ze.ʁɛ/ |
zézayerais or zézaierais /ze.zɛj.ʁɛ/ or /ze.zɛ.ʁɛ/ or /ze.ze.ʁɛ/ |
zézayerait or zézaierait /ze.zɛj.ʁɛ/ or /ze.zɛ.ʁɛ/ or /ze.ze.ʁɛ/ |
zézayerions or zézaierions /ze.zɛ.jə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /ze.ze.jə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /ze.zɛ.ʁjɔ̃/ or /ze.ze.ʁjɔ̃/ |
zézayeriez or zézaieriez /ze.zɛ.jə.ʁje/ or /ze.ze.jə.ʁje/ or /ze.zɛ.ʁje/ or /ze.ze.ʁje/ |
zézayeraient or zézaieraient /ze.zɛj.ʁɛ/ or /ze.zɛ.ʁɛ/ or /ze.ze.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 | zézaye or zézaie /ze.zɛj/ or /ze.zɛ/ |
zézayes or zézaies /ze.zɛj/ or /ze.zɛ/ |
zézaye or zézaie /ze.zɛj/ or /ze.zɛ/ |
zézayions /ze.zɛj.jɔ̃/ |
zézayiez /ze.zɛj.je/ |
zézayent or zézaient /ze.zɛj/ or /ze.zɛ/ |
| imperfect2 | zézayasse /ze.zɛ.jas/ or /ze.ze.jas/ |
zézayasses /ze.zɛ.jas/ or /ze.ze.jas/ |
zézayât /ze.zɛ.ja/ or /ze.ze.ja/ |
zézayassions /ze.zɛ.ja.sjɔ̃/ or /ze.ze.ja.sjɔ̃/ |
zézayassiez /ze.zɛ.ja.sje/ or /ze.ze.ja.sje/ |
zézayassent /ze.zɛ.jas/ or /ze.ze.jas/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | zézaye or zézaie /ze.zɛj/ or /ze.zɛ/ |
— | zézayons /ze.zɛ.jɔ̃/ or /ze.ze.jɔ̃/ |
zézayez /ze.zɛ.je/ or /ze.ze.je/ |
— | |
| 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). | |||||||