mascher

Middle French

Alternative forms

• macher

Etymology

From Old French mascher, from Latin masticare.

Verb

mascher

1. to chew

Conjugation

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

Conjugation of mascher

infinitive	simple	mascher
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	maschant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		masché
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	masche	masches	masche	maschons	maschez	maschent
	imperfect	maschois, maschoys	maschois, maschoys	maschoit, maschoyt	maschions, maschyons	maschiez, maschyez	maschoient, maschoyent
	past historic	mascha	maschas	mascha	maschasmes	maschastes	mascherent
	future	mascherai, mascheray	mascheras	maschera	mascherons	mascherez	mascheront
	conditional	mascherois, mascheroys	mascherois, mascheroys	mascheroit, mascheroyt	mascherions, mascheryons	mascheriez, mascheryez	mascheroient, mascheroyent
(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	masche	masches	masche	maschons	maschez	maschent
	imperfect	maschasse	maschasses	maschast	maschassions	maschassiez	maschassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	masche	—	maschons	maschez	—
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: mâcher
  • → Alemannic German: mäschere (possibly)
  • → Esperanto: maĉi
• Norman: mâquier, mâquer