tergiverser
French
Etymology
From Latin tergiversārī, from tergiversor (“I evade”).
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Verb
tergiverser
- to delay answering or deciding with excuses
- to hesitate at length
- Synonym: hésiter
Usage notes
- Do not confuse with English tergiversate
Conjugation
Conjugation of tergiverser (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | tergiverser | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | tergiversant /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | tergiversé /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.se/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | tergiverse /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁs/ | tergiverses /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁs/ | tergiverse /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁs/ | tergiversons /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sɔ̃/ | tergiversez /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.se/ | tergiversent /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁs/ |
| imperfect | tergiversais /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sɛ/ | tergiversais /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sɛ/ | tergiversait /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sɛ/ | tergiversions /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sjɔ̃/ | tergiversiez /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sje/ | tergiversaient /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | tergiversai /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.se/ | tergiversas /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sa/ | tergiversa /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sa/ | tergiversâmes /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sam/ | tergiversâtes /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sat/ | tergiversèrent /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sɛʁ/ | |
| future | tergiverserai /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sə.ʁe/ | tergiverseras /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sə.ʁa/ | tergiversera /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sə.ʁa/ | tergiverserons /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sə.ʁɔ̃/ | tergiverserez /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sə.ʁe/ | tergiverseront /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sə.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | tergiverserais /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sə.ʁɛ/ | tergiverserais /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sə.ʁɛ/ | tergiverserait /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sə.ʁɛ/ | tergiverserions /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sə.ʁjɔ̃/ | tergiverseriez /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sə.ʁje/ | tergiverseraient /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sə.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 | tergiverse /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁs/ | tergiverses /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁs/ | tergiverse /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁs/ | tergiversions /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sjɔ̃/ | tergiversiez /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sje/ | tergiversent /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁs/ |
| imperfect2 | tergiversasse /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sas/ | tergiversasses /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sas/ | tergiversât /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sa/ | tergiversassions /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sa.sjɔ̃/ | tergiversassiez /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sa.sje/ | tergiversassent /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | tergiverse /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁs/ | — | tergiversons /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.sɔ̃/ | tergiversez /tɛʁ.ʒi.vɛʁ.se/ | — | |
| 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). | |||||||
Further reading
- “tergiverser”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Latin
Verb
tergiverser
- first-person singular present active subjunctive of tergiversor