controuver

French

FWOTD – 24 January 2022

Etymology

Inherited from Old French controver (whence also English contrive). Equivalent to con- +‎ trouver.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.tʁu.ve/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

controuver

1. (rare, literary) to contrive
   • 1630 June 2, C. de Nielles, letter to J. Wtenbogaert.

     Lesquels ils ne scavent honnir qu’avec l’ordure de leurs mensonges, qu’ils amassent par tout ou ils peuvent, ou les controuvent du venin de leur coeur, dequoy ils sont farcis.

     On whom they know not how to cast blame but with the filth of their lies, which they amass wheresoever they can, or contrive them out of the venom of their heart, with which they are filled.

Conjugation

Conjugation of controuver (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	controuver
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	controuvant /kɔ̃.tʁu.vɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		controuvé /kɔ̃.tʁu.ve/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	controuve /kɔ̃.tʁuv/	controuves /kɔ̃.tʁuv/	controuve /kɔ̃.tʁuv/	controuvons /kɔ̃.tʁu.vɔ̃/	controuvez /kɔ̃.tʁu.ve/	controuvent /kɔ̃.tʁuv/
	imperfect	controuvais /kɔ̃.tʁu.vɛ/	controuvais /kɔ̃.tʁu.vɛ/	controuvait /kɔ̃.tʁu.vɛ/	controuvions /kɔ̃.tʁu.vjɔ̃/	controuviez /kɔ̃.tʁu.vje/	controuvaient /kɔ̃.tʁu.vɛ/
	past historic2	controuvai /kɔ̃.tʁu.ve/	controuvas /kɔ̃.tʁu.va/	controuva /kɔ̃.tʁu.va/	controuvâmes /kɔ̃.tʁu.vam/	controuvâtes /kɔ̃.tʁu.vat/	controuvèrent /kɔ̃.tʁu.vɛʁ/
	future	controuverai /kɔ̃.tʁu.vʁe/	controuveras /kɔ̃.tʁu.vʁa/	controuvera /kɔ̃.tʁu.vʁa/	controuverons /kɔ̃.tʁu.vʁɔ̃/	controuverez /kɔ̃.tʁu.vʁe/	controuveront /kɔ̃.tʁu.vʁɔ̃/
	conditional	controuverais /kɔ̃.tʁu.vʁɛ/	controuverais /kɔ̃.tʁu.vʁɛ/	controuverait /kɔ̃.tʁu.vʁɛ/	controuverions /kɔ̃.tʁu.və.ʁjɔ̃/	controuveriez /kɔ̃.tʁu.və.ʁje/	controuveraient /kɔ̃.tʁu.vʁɛ/
(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	controuve /kɔ̃.tʁuv/	controuves /kɔ̃.tʁuv/	controuve /kɔ̃.tʁuv/	controuvions /kɔ̃.tʁu.vjɔ̃/	controuviez /kɔ̃.tʁu.vje/	controuvent /kɔ̃.tʁuv/
	imperfect2	controuvasse /kɔ̃.tʁu.vas/	controuvasses /kɔ̃.tʁu.vas/	controuvât /kɔ̃.tʁu.va/	controuvassions /kɔ̃.tʁu.va.sjɔ̃/	controuvassiez /kɔ̃.tʁu.va.sje/	controuvassent /kɔ̃.tʁu.vas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	controuve /kɔ̃.tʁuv/	—	controuvons /kɔ̃.tʁu.vɔ̃/	controuvez /kɔ̃.tʁu.ve/	—
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: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Further reading

• “controuver”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.