nouer

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French nouer, from Old French noer, from Latin nōdāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nwe/, /nu.e/

• Audio

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• Rhymes: -we
• Homophones: nouai, noué, nouée, nouées, noués, nouez

Verb

nouer

1. knot (form into a knot)
2. tie, bind, fasten
3. tie up

Conjugation

Conjugation of nouer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	nouer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	nouant /nwɑ̃/ or /nu.ɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		noué /nwe/ or /nu.e/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	noue /nu/	noues /nu/	noue /nu/	nouons /nwɔ̃/ or /nu.ɔ̃/	nouez /nwe/ or /nu.e/	nouent /nu/
	imperfect	nouais /nwɛ/ or /nu.ɛ/	nouais /nwɛ/ or /nu.ɛ/	nouait /nwɛ/ or /nu.ɛ/	nouions /nu.jɔ̃/	nouiez /nu.je/	nouaient /nwɛ/ or /nu.ɛ/
	past historic2	nouai /nwe/ or /nu.e/	nouas /nwa/ or /nu.a/	noua /nwa/ or /nu.a/	nouâmes /nwam/ or /nu.am/	nouâtes /nwat/ or /nu.at/	nouèrent /nwɛʁ/ or /nu.ɛʁ/
	future	nouerai /nu.ʁe/ or /nu.ə.ʁe/	noueras /nu.ʁa/ or /nu.ə.ʁa/	nouera /nu.ʁa/ or /nu.ə.ʁa/	nouerons /nu.ʁɔ̃/ or /nu.ə.ʁɔ̃/	nouerez /nu.ʁe/ or /nu.ə.ʁe/	noueront /nu.ʁɔ̃/ or /nu.ə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	nouerais /nu.ʁɛ/ or /nu.ə.ʁɛ/	nouerais /nu.ʁɛ/ or /nu.ə.ʁɛ/	nouerait /nu.ʁɛ/ or /nu.ə.ʁɛ/	nouerions /nu.ʁjɔ̃/ or /nu.ə.ʁjɔ̃/	noueriez /nu.ʁje/ or /nu.ə.ʁje/	noueraient /nu.ʁɛ/ or /nu.ə.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	noue /nu/	noues /nu/	noue /nu/	nouions /nu.jɔ̃/	nouiez /nu.je/	nouent /nu/
	imperfect2	nouasse /nwas/ or /nu.as/	nouasses /nwas/ or /nu.as/	nouât /nwa/ or /nu.a/	nouassions /nwa.sjɔ̃/ or /nu.a.sjɔ̃/	nouassiez /nwa.sje/ or /nu.a.sje/	nouassent /nwas/ or /nu.as/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	noue /nu/	—	nouons /nwɔ̃/ or /nu.ɔ̃/	nouez /nwe/ or /nu.e/	—
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).

Related terms

• dénouer
• nœud
• renouer

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• Rouen

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French noer.

Verb

nouer

1. to knot

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of nouer

infinitive	simple	nouer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	nouant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		noué
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	noue	noues	noue	nouons	nouez	nouent
	imperfect	nouois, nouoys	nouois, nouoys	nouoit, nouoyt	nouions, nouyons	nouiez, nouyez	nouoient, nouoyent
	past historic	noua	nouas	noua	nouasmes	nouastes	nouerent
	future	nouerai, noueray	noueras	nouera	nouerons	nouerez	noueront
	conditional	nouerois, noueroys	nouerois, noueroys	noueroit, noueroyt	nouerions, noueryons	noueriez, noueryez	noueroient, noueroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	noue	noues	noue	nouons	nouez	nouent
	imperfect	nouasse	nouasses	nouast	nouassions	nouassiez	nouassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	noue	—	nouons	nouez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Descendants

• French: nouer

Norman

Etymology

From Old French noer, from Latin nōdāre, present active infinitive of nōdō.

Verb

nouer

1. (Jersey) to tie

Related terms

• noeud