Define essayer french

When there are two forms of the conjugation, you can use either. The stem of essayer is essay-. To this, a variety of infinitive endings is added that conform with the subject pronoun as well as the tense of the sentence. For instance, "I try" is "j'essaie" or "j'essaye.".

es·say. (ĕs′ā′, ĕ-sā′) n. 1. (ĕs′ā′) a. A short literary composition on a single subject, usually presenting the personal view of the author. b. Something resembling such a composition: a photojournalistic essay.

[French essai, trial, attempt, from Old French, from essayer, to attempt, from Vulgar Latin *exagiāre, to weigh out, from Late Latin exagium, a weighing : Latin ex-, ex- + Latin agere, to drive; see ag- in Indo-European roots.

Updated October 15, 2019. The French verb essayer means "to try.". It's a simple word that can easily be confused with essuyer (to wipe), so be sure to look and listen for that 'A' in essayer. In order to place essayer into the past, present, or future tense, the verb needs to be conjugated.