promener

French

Etymology

From an alteration of Middle French pourmener, Old French pourmener, pormener (based on numerous verbs beginning with the prefix pro-), itself from pour- and mener; alternatively and less likely corresponds to a Vulgar Latin *prōmināre (“to drive forward”), from prō (“forward”) +‎ minō (“I drive”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pʁɔm.ne/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

promener

1. (reflexive) to walk (leisurely), to go for a walk, to stroll
   • 1869, Charles Beaudelaire, "Perte d'auréole", Petits Poëmes en prose; translated 2009 by Keith Waldrop:

     Je puis maintenant me promener incognito, faire des actions basses, et me livrer à la crapule, comme les simples mortels

     Now I can stroll about incognito, do mean things, launch into debauches, like ordinary mortals.

   • 1962, Françoise Hardy, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     Tous les garçons et les filles de mon âge se promènent dans la rue deux par deux.

     All the boys and girls of my age walk down the street in pairs.

2. (transitive) to walk out (an animal)
3. (transitive) to carry around, often with the implication of showing off

Conjugation

This verb is conjugated like parler, except the -e- /ə/ of the second-to-last syllable becomes -è- /ɛ/ when the next vowel is a silent or schwa -e-, as in the third-person singular present indicative il promène and the third-person singular future indicative il promènera.

Conjugation of promener (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	promener
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	promenant /pʁɔm.nɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		promené /pʁɔm.ne/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	promène /pʁɔ.mɛn/	promènes /pʁɔ.mɛn/	promène /pʁɔ.mɛn/	promenons /pʁɔm.nɔ̃/	promenez /pʁɔm.ne/	promènent /pʁɔ.mɛn/
	imperfect	promenais /pʁɔm.nɛ/	promenais /pʁɔm.nɛ/	promenait /pʁɔm.nɛ/	promenions /pʁɔ.mə.njɔ̃/	promeniez /pʁɔ.mə.nje/	promenaient /pʁɔm.nɛ/
	past historic2	promenai /pʁɔm.ne/	promenas /pʁɔm.na/	promena /pʁɔm.na/	promenâmes /pʁɔm.nam/	promenâtes /pʁɔm.nat/	promenèrent /pʁɔm.nɛʁ/
	future	promènerai /pʁɔ.mɛn.ʁe/	promèneras /pʁɔ.mɛn.ʁa/	promènera /pʁɔ.mɛn.ʁa/	promènerons /pʁɔ.mɛn.ʁɔ̃/	promènerez /pʁɔ.mɛn.ʁe/	promèneront /pʁɔ.mɛn.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	promènerais /pʁɔ.mɛn.ʁɛ/	promènerais /pʁɔ.mɛn.ʁɛ/	promènerait /pʁɔ.mɛn.ʁɛ/	promènerions /pʁɔ.mɛ.nə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /pʁɔ.me.nə.ʁjɔ̃/	promèneriez /pʁɔ.mɛ.nə.ʁje/ or /pʁɔ.me.nə.ʁje/	promèneraient /pʁɔ.mɛn.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	promène /pʁɔ.mɛn/	promènes /pʁɔ.mɛn/	promène /pʁɔ.mɛn/	promenions /pʁɔ.mə.njɔ̃/	promeniez /pʁɔ.mə.nje/	promènent /pʁɔ.mɛn/
	imperfect2	promenasse /pʁɔm.nas/	promenasses /pʁɔm.nas/	promenât /pʁɔm.na/	promenassions /pʁɔm.na.sjɔ̃/	promenassiez /pʁɔm.na.sje/	promenassent /pʁɔm.nas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	promène /pʁɔ.mɛn/	—	promenons /pʁɔm.nɔ̃/	promenez /pʁɔm.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: 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

• envoyer promener

Related terms

• promenade

See also

• aller
• border
• côtoyer
• courir
• longer
• marcher

Further reading

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