perdre

See also: perdré and pèrdre

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Old Catalan perdre, from Latin perdere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈpɛr.dɾə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈpɛɾ.ðɾe], [ˈpɛ.ðɾe]

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

perdre (first-person singular present perdo, first-person singular preterite perdí, past participle perdut)

1. (transitive) to lose
2. (reflexive) to get lost; to disappear

   Estàs segur que no ens hem perdut? Amb aquesta boira no es veu res!

   Are you sure we haven't gotten lost? You can't see anything in this fog!

3. (transitive) to miss (as in to miss a train, a film etc.)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of perdre (second conjugation)

infinitive			perdre
gerund			perdent
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		perdut		perduda
		plural		perduts		perdudes
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	perdo	perds	perd	perdem	perdeu	perden
	imperfect	perdia	perdies	perdia	perdíem	perdíeu	perdien
	future	perdré	perdràs	perdrà	perdrem	perdreu	perdran
	preterite	perdí	perderes	perdé	perdérem	perdéreu	perderen
	conditional	perdria	perdries	perdria	perdríem	perdríeu	perdrien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	perdi	perdis	perdi	perdem	perdeu	perdin
	imperfect	perdés	perdessis	perdés	perdéssim	perdéssiu	perdessin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	perd	perdi	perdem	perdeu	perdin
	negative (no)	—	no perdis	no perdi	no perdem	no perdeu	no perdin

Derived terms

• perdedor
• pèrdua

Further reading

• “perdre” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “perdre”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “perdre” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “perdre” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French perdre, from Old French perdre, from Latin perdere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɛʁdʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

perdre

1. (transitive) to lose (be unable to find)

   Synonym: égarer

   Antonym: trouver

   J’ai perdu les clés, mais un de mes amis les a trouvées.

   I lost my keys, but one of my friends found them.

2. (transitive, intransitive) to lose (not win)

   Antonym: gagner

3. (reflexive) to get lost

   Ils se sont perdus dans la forêt dense.

   They got lost in the dense forest.

4. (transitive) to waste, to make bad use of something

   Je crois que la journée est trop belle pour qu’on la perde.

   I think the day is too nice to waste.

Conjugation

Conjugation of perdre (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	perdre
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	perdant /pɛʁ.dɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		perdu /pɛʁ.dy/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	perds /pɛʁ/	perds /pɛʁ/	perd /pɛʁ/	perdons /pɛʁ.dɔ̃/	perdez /pɛʁ.de/	perdent /pɛʁd/
	imperfect	perdais /pɛʁ.dɛ/	perdais /pɛʁ.dɛ/	perdait /pɛʁ.dɛ/	perdions /pɛʁ.djɔ̃/	perdiez /pɛʁ.dje/	perdaient /pɛʁ.dɛ/
	past historic2	perdis /pɛʁ.di/	perdis /pɛʁ.di/	perdit /pɛʁ.di/	perdîmes /pɛʁ.dim/	perdîtes /pɛʁ.dit/	perdirent /pɛʁ.diʁ/
	future	perdrai /pɛʁ.dʁe/	perdras /pɛʁ.dʁa/	perdra /pɛʁ.dʁa/	perdrons /pɛʁ.dʁɔ̃/	perdrez /pɛʁ.dʁe/	perdront /pɛʁ.dʁɔ̃/
	conditional	perdrais /pɛʁ.dʁɛ/	perdrais /pɛʁ.dʁɛ/	perdrait /pɛʁ.dʁɛ/	perdrions /pɛʁ.dʁi.jɔ̃/	perdriez /pɛʁ.dʁi.je/	perdraient /pɛʁ.dʁɛ/
(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	perde /pɛʁd/	perdes /pɛʁd/	perde /pɛʁd/	perdions /pɛʁ.djɔ̃/	perdiez /pɛʁ.dje/	perdent /pɛʁd/
	imperfect2	perdisse /pɛʁ.dis/	perdisses /pɛʁ.dis/	perdît /pɛʁ.di/	perdissions /pɛʁ.di.sjɔ̃/	perdissiez /pɛʁ.di.sje/	perdissent /pɛʁ.dis/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	perds /pɛʁ/	—	perdons /pɛʁ.dɔ̃/	perdez /pɛʁ.de/	—
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: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• à perdre haleine
• heures perdues
• ne perdre rien pour attendre
• perdre connaissance
• perdre de vue
• perdre du temps
• perdre du terrain
• perdre espoir
• perdre la boule
• perdre la face
• perdre la main
• perdre la tête
• perdre la vie
• perdre le fil
• perdre le nord
• perdre les eaux
• perdre les pédales
• perdre l’esprit
• perdre patience
• perdre pied
• perdre ses moyens
• perdre son chemin
• perdre son latin
• perdre son sang-froid
• perdre son temps
• qui part à la chasse perd sa place
• qui va à la chasse perd sa place
• salle des pas perdus
• s’y perdre

 

Related terms

• perdant
• perdition
• perte
• éperdre

Descendants

• Saint Dominican Creole French: perdi
  • Haitian Creole: pèdi

Further reading

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

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French perdre.

Verb

perdre

1. (transitive) to lose

Descendants

• French: perdre

Old French

Etymology

From Latin perdere, present active infinitive of perdō.

Verb

perdre

1. (transitive) to lose (be unable to find)
2. (transitive, intransitive) to lose (not win)

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of perdre (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		perdre			avoir perdu
gerund		en perdant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		perdant
past participle		perdu
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	pert	perz	pert	perdons	perdez	perdent
	imperfect	perdoie, perdeie	perdoies, perdeies	perdoit, perdeit	perdiiens, perdiens	perdiiez, perdiez	perdoient, perdeient
	preterite	perdi	perdis	perdié	perdimes	perdistes	perdierent
	future	perdrai	perdras	perdra	perdrons	perdroiz, perdreiz, perdrez	perdront
	conditional	perdroie, perdreie	perdroies, perdreies	perdroit, perdreit	perdriiens, perdriens	perdriiez, perdriez	perdroient, perdreient
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	perde	perdes	perde	perdons	perdez	perdent
	imperfect	perdisse	perdisses	perdist	perdissons, perdissiens	perdissoiz, perdissez, perdissiez	perdissent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	pert	—	perdons	perdez	—

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “be unable to find”): trover
• (antonym(s) of “not win”): gaaingnier

Descendants

• Middle French: perdre
  • French: perdre
• Norman: pèrdre
• Picard: perde
• Walloon: piede

Old Occitan

Etymology

From Latin perdere, present active infinitive of perdō.

Verb

perdre

1. to lose (no longer possess)

Descendants

• Occitan: pèrdre, pèrder

References

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “perdere”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 8: Patavia–Pix, page 221