Kilo Lingo

/maʁʃe/

Line drawing of marcher
Coloured illustration of marcher
#515 of 5,000 Core 1000

Translation

to walk; to work, to function

Word origin

From Old French marchier ('to tread, to march'), of disputed origin. It may go back to Frankish markon ('to mark out, to tread') or to Latin marcus ('hammer').

Origin
Old French
Root
marchier
English cognates
march

Other proposed origins

  • Often traced to Frankish markon ('to mark out, to press with the foot'). (markon)
  • Some accounts derive it from Latin marcus ('hammer'), via a sense of beating the ground. (marcus)

Grammar

Verb type-er regular (1st group)

Conjugation

Regular -er conjugation. Pronouns: je, tu, il/elle, nous, vous, ils/elles.

Indicative

Person PresentImperfectPast historicFutureConditional
jemarchemarchaismarchaimarcheraimarcherais
tumarchesmarchaismarchasmarcherasmarcherais
il/ellemarchemarchaitmarchamarcheramarcherait
nousmarchonsmarchionsmarchâmesmarcheronsmarcherions
vousmarchezmarchiezmarchâtesmarcherezmarcheriez
ils/ellesmarchentmarchaientmarchèrentmarcherontmarcheraient

Subjunctive

Person PresentImperfect
jemarchemarchasse
tumarchesmarchasses
il/ellemarchemarchât
nousmarchionsmarchassions
vousmarchiezmarchassiez
ils/ellesmarchentmarchassent

Imperative

Person Affirmative
tumarche
nousmarchons
vousmarchez

Non-finite

Gerund / present participle
marchant
Past participle
marché · marchée · marchés · marchées

Examples

.

It is about a twenty-minute walk from the station to the office.

- télévision panne ' ?

Is the television still working after yesterday's breakdown?

.

That is not how things work in this company.

.

We walked for three hours in the countryside.

.

This old phone has not been working since yesterday.

Marcher est un verbe regulier du premier groupe avec deux sens principaux : marcher (to walk) et marcher (to work, to function - said of objects or plans). Ca marche ! (It works! / OK!) est une des expressions les plus frequentes du francais oral.

Faire marcher quelqu'un (to make someone look a fool, to pull someone's leg) est une expression de plaisanterie. Marcher sur des oeufs (to walk on eggshells) signifie agir avec prudence extreme. Marcher a pied est pleonastique mais parfois utilise pour insister sur le moyen de transport.

Used in

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This word is part of lesson 11.