questionner
French
Etymology
question (“question”) + -er (infinitive suffix)
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kɛs.tjɔ.ne/
- (Louisiana) IPA(key): [kɛs.tjɔ̃.ne]
- Homophones: questionné, questionnées, questionnés
Verb
questionner
- (transitive) to question, interrogate
- (transitive) to call into question
- (Louisiana, transitive) to question, ask (someone)
- (Louisiana, intransitive) to inquire, ask (about)
Usage notes
- Sometimes presented as a semantic calque of the English verb (to) question, and sometimes criticized for this reason. The verb, attested in this sense since the 19th century, is usual in French today.
Conjugation
Conjugation of questionner (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | questionner | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | questionnant /kɛs.tjɔ.nɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | questionné /kɛs.tjɔ.ne/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | questionne /kɛs.tjɔn/ |
questionnes /kɛs.tjɔn/ |
questionne /kɛs.tjɔn/ |
questionnons /kɛs.tjɔ.nɔ̃/ |
questionnez /kɛs.tjɔ.ne/ |
questionnent /kɛs.tjɔn/ |
| imperfect | questionnais /kɛs.tjɔ.nɛ/ |
questionnais /kɛs.tjɔ.nɛ/ |
questionnait /kɛs.tjɔ.nɛ/ |
questionnions /kɛs.tjɔ.njɔ̃/ |
questionniez /kɛs.tjɔ.nje/ |
questionnaient /kɛs.tjɔ.nɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | questionnai /kɛs.tjɔ.ne/ |
questionnas /kɛs.tjɔ.na/ |
questionna /kɛs.tjɔ.na/ |
questionnâmes /kɛs.tjɔ.nam/ |
questionnâtes /kɛs.tjɔ.nat/ |
questionnèrent /kɛs.tjɔ.nɛʁ/ | |
| future | questionnerai /kɛs.tjɔn.ʁe/ |
questionneras /kɛs.tjɔn.ʁa/ |
questionnera /kɛs.tjɔn.ʁa/ |
questionnerons /kɛs.tjɔn.ʁɔ̃/ |
questionnerez /kɛs.tjɔn.ʁe/ |
questionneront /kɛs.tjɔn.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | questionnerais /kɛs.tjɔn.ʁɛ/ |
questionnerais /kɛs.tjɔn.ʁɛ/ |
questionnerait /kɛs.tjɔn.ʁɛ/ |
questionnerions /kɛs.tjɔ.nə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
questionneriez /kɛs.tjɔ.nə.ʁje/ |
questionneraient /kɛs.tjɔn.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 | questionne /kɛs.tjɔn/ |
questionnes /kɛs.tjɔn/ |
questionne /kɛs.tjɔn/ |
questionnions /kɛs.tjɔ.njɔ̃/ |
questionniez /kɛs.tjɔ.nje/ |
questionnent /kɛs.tjɔn/ |
| imperfect2 | questionnasse /kɛs.tjɔ.nas/ |
questionnasses /kɛs.tjɔ.nas/ |
questionnât /kɛs.tjɔ.na/ |
questionnassions /kɛs.tjɔ.na.sjɔ̃/ |
questionnassiez /kɛs.tjɔ.na.sje/ |
questionnassent /kɛs.tjɔ.nas/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | questionne /kɛs.tjɔn/ |
— | questionnons /kɛs.tjɔ.nɔ̃/ |
questionnez /kɛs.tjɔ.ne/ |
— | |
| 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 [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Related terms
Further reading
- “questionner”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
- Dictionary of Louisiana French: As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities (2009; →ISBN; →ISBN)