défectif

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /de.fɛk.tif/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

Adjective

défectif (feminine défective, masculine plural défectifs, feminine plural défectives)

1. (grammar) defective (said of a verb that does not conjugate itself at all, does not conjugate itself anymore, or that only conjugates itself in certain persons or in certain tenses)

   Le verbe falloir est défectif. ― The verb falloir is defective.

Usage notes

The conjugation can be impossible like falloir or unusual like gésir or even chaloir known today for the expression «peu m’en chaut» (“It is of little import to me”, “I do not care”).

Further reading

• “défectif”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.