clicher
French
Etymology
Imitative of the sound of a mold striking molten metal, similar to click.
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Verb
clicher
- to stereotype (in either sense of the word)
- to photograph
- 1996, Fred Vargas, chapter 3, in Un peu plus loin sur la droite[1], page 26:
- À l’abri du châle, Vincent plaça son appareil et clicha à travers les mailles élargies du tricot humide.
- Protected by the shawl, Vincent placed his camera & took a photo through the enlarged stiches of the moist knitting.
Conjugation
Conjugation of clicher (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | clicher | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | clichant /kli.ʃɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | cliché /kli.ʃe/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | cliche /kliʃ/ |
cliches /kliʃ/ |
cliche /kliʃ/ |
clichons /kli.ʃɔ̃/ |
clichez /kli.ʃe/ |
clichent /kliʃ/ |
| imperfect | clichais /kli.ʃɛ/ |
clichais /kli.ʃɛ/ |
clichait /kli.ʃɛ/ |
clichions /kli.ʃjɔ̃/ |
clichiez /kli.ʃje/ |
clichaient /kli.ʃɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | clichai /kli.ʃe/ |
clichas /kli.ʃa/ |
clicha /kli.ʃa/ |
clichâmes /kli.ʃam/ |
clichâtes /kli.ʃat/ |
clichèrent /kli.ʃɛʁ/ | |
| future | clicherai /kliʃ.ʁe/ |
clicheras /kliʃ.ʁa/ |
clichera /kliʃ.ʁa/ |
clicherons /kliʃ.ʁɔ̃/ |
clicherez /kliʃ.ʁe/ |
clicheront /kliʃ.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | clicherais /kliʃ.ʁɛ/ |
clicherais /kliʃ.ʁɛ/ |
clicherait /kliʃ.ʁɛ/ |
clicherions /kli.ʃə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
clicheriez /kli.ʃə.ʁje/ |
clicheraient /kliʃ.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 | cliche /kliʃ/ |
cliches /kliʃ/ |
cliche /kliʃ/ |
clichions /kli.ʃjɔ̃/ |
clichiez /kli.ʃje/ |
clichent /kliʃ/ |
| imperfect2 | clichasse /kli.ʃas/ |
clichasses /kli.ʃas/ |
clichât /kli.ʃa/ |
clichassions /kli.ʃa.sjɔ̃/ |
clichassiez /kli.ʃa.sje/ |
clichassent /kli.ʃas/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | cliche /kliʃ/ |
— | clichons /kli.ʃɔ̃/ |
clichez /kli.ʃe/ |
— | |
| 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:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Descendants
- English: cliché (from past participle)
Further reading
- “clicher”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.