Two verbs with the same pronunciation and yet...
The verbs égailler and s'égailler are often confused because of their phonetic proximity, but as you might expect, they do not have the same meaning at all.
- égayer : Literally, it is the action of making more cheerful. The verb means to make joyful, to animate, to entertain: Les décorations ont égayé la pièce
- égailler : the meaning is different here since it is about dispersing, scattering when speaking of a group of people or animals : Les enfants se sont égaillés dans le parc
Why this difference?
Well, etymologically, égailler comes from the word gay while égailler comes from the old French "esgailler" which gave rise to "éparpiller" and "render equal." The verb égailler does not present any particular difficulty in conjugation.
je m'égaille
tu t'égailles
il s'égaille
nous nous égaillons
vous vous égaillez
ils s'égaillent
The verb égayer has the same conjugation characteristics as other verbs ending in -ayer. They can be conjugated in two ways:
- either they keep the y throughout the conjugation: j'égaye...
- either the y is replaced by an i in front of a silent e, therefore in front of the endings e, es, ent, erai, erais : j'égaie.
We will also note the presence of the i in the first two persons of the plural in the imperfect indicative and in the present subjunctive.
- Imperfect : vous égayiez
- Subjunctive : que vous égayiez
- Future : il égayera ou il égaiera
- Conditional : nous égayerions ou nous égaierions
In short, "égayer" is related to the idea of making cheerful and lively, while "égailler" means to disperse and scatter when speaking of people.