apercevoir

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French apercevoir (“to become aware of”), from percevoir.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.pɛʁ.sə.vwaʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -waʁ

Verb

apercevoir

1. to see, to glimpse, to catch sight of
   • 1874, François P. L. Pollen, D. C. van Dam, Recherches sur la Faune de Madagascar et de ses dépendances, page 30:

     Dès qu’ils aperçoivent un caret ou une tortue franche, ils tachent de les avoir à portée et dans le moment favorable ils lancent avec une adresse étonnante un des harpons en visant sur la tête ou la queue pour ne pas dommager les plaques latérales; qui dans les carets font la valeur de l’animal.

     As soon as they spot a loggerhead turtle or a green sea turtle, they try to get it within range, and when the time is right they launch with astonishing dexterity one of the harpoons, aiming for the head or the tail so as not to damage the side plates, which in turtles the value of the animal is found.

2. (reflexive form : s'apercevoir) to realize, to become aware of, to notice (+ de: of)

   Elle s’aperçoit que l’aube se lève.

   She realizes that dawn is breaking.

   Je m’aperçois de mon erreur. (Je m’en aperçois.)

   I am aware of my mistake. (I am aware of it.)

Conjugation

Conjugation of apercevoir (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	apercevoir
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	apercevant /a.pɛʁ.sə.vɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		aperçu /a.pɛʁ.sy/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	aperçois /a.pɛʁ.swa/	aperçois /a.pɛʁ.swa/	aperçoit /a.pɛʁ.swa/	apercevons /a.pɛʁ.sə.vɔ̃/	apercevez /a.pɛʁ.sə.ve/	aperçoivent /a.pɛʁ.swav/
	imperfect	apercevais /a.pɛʁ.sə.vɛ/	apercevais /a.pɛʁ.sə.vɛ/	apercevait /a.pɛʁ.sə.vɛ/	apercevions /a.pɛʁ.sə.vjɔ̃/	aperceviez /a.pɛʁ.sə.vje/	apercevaient /a.pɛʁ.sə.vɛ/
	past historic2	aperçus /a.pɛʁ.sy/	aperçus /a.pɛʁ.sy/	aperçut /a.pɛʁ.sy/	aperçûmes /a.pɛʁ.sym/	aperçûtes /a.pɛʁ.syt/	aperçurent /a.pɛʁ.syʁ/
	future	apercevrai /a.pɛʁ.sə.vʁe/	apercevras /a.pɛʁ.sə.vʁa/	apercevra /a.pɛʁ.sə.vʁa/	apercevrons /a.pɛʁ.sə.vʁɔ̃/	apercevrez /a.pɛʁ.sə.vʁe/	apercevront /a.pɛʁ.sə.vʁɔ̃/
	conditional	apercevrais /a.pɛʁ.sə.vʁɛ/	apercevrais /a.pɛʁ.sə.vʁɛ/	apercevrait /a.pɛʁ.sə.vʁɛ/	apercevrions /a.pɛʁ.sə.vʁi.jɔ̃/	apercevriez /a.pɛʁ.sə.vʁi.je/	apercevraient /a.pɛʁ.sə.vʁɛ/
(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	aperçoive /a.pɛʁ.swav/	aperçoives /a.pɛʁ.swav/	aperçoive /a.pɛʁ.swav/	apercevions /a.pɛʁ.sə.vjɔ̃/	aperceviez /a.pɛʁ.sə.vje/	aperçoivent /a.pɛʁ.swav/
	imperfect2	aperçusse /a.pɛʁ.sys/	aperçusses /a.pɛʁ.sys/	aperçût /a.pɛʁ.sy/	aperçussions /a.pɛʁ.sy.sjɔ̃/	aperçussiez /a.pɛʁ.sy.sje/	aperçussent /a.pɛʁ.sys/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	aperçois /a.pɛʁ.swa/	—	apercevons /a.pɛʁ.sə.vɔ̃/	apercevez /a.pɛʁ.sə.ve/	—
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).

Synonyms

• entrevoir

Related terms

• aperceptif
• aperception
• aperçu
• percevoir

Further reading

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

Old French

Alternative forms

• aperceivre
• aperçoivre

Etymology

From percevoir.

Verb

apercevoir

1. to notice; to realise; to become aware of

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has a stressed present stem aperçoiv distinct from the unstressed stem apercev, as well as other irregularities. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		apercevoir			avoir aperceü
gerund		en apercevant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		apercevant
past participle		aperceü
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	aperçoif, aperçoi	aperçois	aperçoit	apercevons	apercevez	aperçoivent
	imperfect	apercevoie, aperceveie	apercevoies, aperceveies	apercevoit, aperceveit	aperceviiens, aperceviens	aperceviiez, aperceviez	apercevoient, aperceveient
	preterite	aperçui	aperceüs	aperçut	aperceümes	aperceüstes	aperçurent
	future	apercevrai	apercevras	apercevra	apercevrons	apercevroiz, apercevreiz, apercevrez	apercevront
	conditional	apercevroie, apercevreie	apercevroies, apercevreies	apercevroit, apercevreit	apercevriiens, apercevriens	apercevriiez, apercevriez	apercevroient, apercevreient
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	aperçoive	aperçoives	aperçoive	apercevons	apercevez	aperçoivent
	imperfect	aperceüsse	aperceüsses	aperceüst	aperceüssons, aperceüssiens	aperceüssoiz, aperceüssez, aperceüssiez	aperceüssent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	aperçoif	—	apercevons	apercevez	—

Descendants

• French: apercevoir