compter

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɒmptə/

Noun

compter (plural compters)

1. (obsolete) A counter (token used for keeping count).
   • 1623, William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale:

     Let me see: every 'leven wether tods, every tod yields pound and odd shilling; fifteen hundred shorn, what comes the wool to? […] I cannot do't without compters.

2. (historical) A prison attached to a city court; a counter.
   • 2003, John Hamilton Baker, The Oxford History of the Laws of England, Oxford University Press, page 284:

     Each sheriff had his own compter, which were both prisons and offices, administered by the respective secondaries.

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French compter, conter, from Old French compter, conter, cunter, from Latin computāre. Doublet of conter and computer.

The learned spelling -mpt- was originally used interchangeably with the phonetic spelling -nt-. In modern French they have been split in such a way that the Latinizing form represents the sense “to count”, which was already present in Latin, while the native form represents the derived sense “to tell” (see conter).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.te/

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• Homophones: comptai, compté, comptée, comptées, comptés, comptez, comté, comtés, contai, conté, contée, contées, conter, contés, contez

Verb

compter

1. (ambitransitive) to count
2. (transitive) to reckon, allow

   Pour se rendre jusque là, il faut compter deux bonnes heures. ― To get there, it takes two good hours.

3. (transitive) to include; to comprise, to consist of

   Je ne l'ai pas comptée dans le calcul. ― I did not include it in the calculation.

4. (transitive) to comprise, to consist of

   Une semaine compte 7 [sept] jours divisés en 24 [vingt-quatre] heures. ― A week consists of 7 days divided to 24 hours.

5. (intransitive) to matter

   La seule chose qui compte pour Jim, c'est d'être riche. ― The only thing that matters to Jim is being rich.

6. (catenative) to intend, plan

   Tu comptes partir à quelle heure ? ― At what time do you intend to leave?

7. to count on [with sur ‘someone’]

   Je compte sur toi ! ― I'm counting on you!

Conjugation

Conjugation of compter (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	compter
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	comptant /kɔ̃.tɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		compté /kɔ̃.te/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	compte /kɔ̃t/	comptes /kɔ̃t/	compte /kɔ̃t/	comptons /kɔ̃.tɔ̃/	comptez /kɔ̃.te/	comptent /kɔ̃t/
	imperfect	comptais /kɔ̃.tɛ/	comptais /kɔ̃.tɛ/	comptait /kɔ̃.tɛ/	comptions /kɔ̃.tjɔ̃/	comptiez /kɔ̃.tje/	comptaient /kɔ̃.tɛ/
	past historic2	comptai /kɔ̃.te/	comptas /kɔ̃.ta/	compta /kɔ̃.ta/	comptâmes /kɔ̃.tam/	comptâtes /kɔ̃.tat/	comptèrent /kɔ̃.tɛʁ/
	future	compterai /kɔ̃.tʁe/	compteras /kɔ̃.tʁa/	comptera /kɔ̃.tʁa/	compterons /kɔ̃.tʁɔ̃/	compterez /kɔ̃.tʁe/	compteront /kɔ̃.tʁɔ̃/
	conditional	compterais /kɔ̃.tʁɛ/	compterais /kɔ̃.tʁɛ/	compterait /kɔ̃.tʁɛ/	compterions /kɔ̃.tə.ʁjɔ̃/	compteriez /kɔ̃.tə.ʁje/	compteraient /kɔ̃.tʁɛ/
(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	compte /kɔ̃t/	comptes /kɔ̃t/	compte /kɔ̃t/	comptions /kɔ̃.tjɔ̃/	comptiez /kɔ̃.tje/	comptent /kɔ̃t/
	imperfect2	comptasse /kɔ̃.tas/	comptasses /kɔ̃.tas/	comptât /kɔ̃.ta/	comptassions /kɔ̃.ta.sjɔ̃/	comptassiez /kɔ̃.ta.sje/	comptassent /kɔ̃.tas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	compte /kɔ̃t/	—	comptons /kɔ̃.tɔ̃/	comptez /kɔ̃.te/	—
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 compter de
• c'est l'intention qui compte
• compte-gouttes
• compter pour du beurre
• compter sur les doigts de la main
• compter sur les doigts d'une main
• compteur
• comptoir
• lance et compte
• sans compter

Related terms

• compte
• conter

Descendants

• Haitian Creole: konte

Further reading

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

Middle English

Noun

compter

1. alternative form of countour

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French conter, respelled to reflect Latin computō, computāre.

Verb

compter

1. to recount; to tell

Conjugation

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

Conjugation of compter

infinitive	simple	compter
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	comptant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		compté
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	compte	comptes	compte	comptons	comptez	comptent
	imperfect	comptois, comptoys	comptois, comptoys	comptoit, comptoyt	comptions, comptyons	comptiez, comptyez	comptoient, comptoyent
	past historic	compta	comptas	compta	comptasmes	comptastes	compterent
	future	compterai, compteray	compteras	comptera	compterons	compterez	compteront
	conditional	compterois, compteroys	compterois, compteroys	compteroit, compteroyt	compterions, compteryons	compteriez, compteryez	compteroient, compteroyent
(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	compte	comptes	compte	comptons	comptez	comptent
	imperfect	comptasse	comptasses	comptast	comptassions	comptassiez	comptassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	compte	—	comptons	comptez	—
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).

Related terms

• compte

Descendants

• French: compter, conter (separate verbs in modern French)