Écris

Écris is a form of the French verb écrire, meaning “to write.” In the present tense, the form écris appears in two subject contexts: j’écris (I write) and tu écris (you write). The same form serves both subjects in isolation; the subject pronoun or context indicates which person is meant. The full present-tense paradigm of écrire is: j’écris, tu écris, il écrit, nous écrivons, vous écrivez, ils écrivent.

Etymology and development: écrire derives from Latin scribere, passing into French through Old French escrire and Middle French escripre. The modern spelling Écrire was standardized over centuries, with é (acute accent) marking the word’s initial syllable in the current form.

Usage: Écris is common in everyday French, both in informal speech and in writing. As a command in the second-person singular, the imperative form is Écris! (for example, Écris-moi une lettre). In compound tenses, the verb uses the past participle écrit, as in j’ai écrit, tu as écrit. The form né and related words connect to a broader vocabulary around writing and written language, such as écriture (writing, handwriting) and écrivain (writer).

Notes: The spelling of écris includes the accented é, which reflects French orthography and pronunciation. The verb écrire is irregular in many tenses, with stem changes across forms (écriv- in present, écriv- in other compounds). The word écris itself functions solely as a verb form rather than a standalone noun in standard usage.

See also: écrire, écriture, écrivain, écriture créative.