fesser
French
Etymology
Inherited from Middle French fesser, derived from Old French faisse, fece ((Can this(+) etymology be sourced?) compare Old French faisser), derived from Latin fascia. The spelling and sense (originally "to strike with a rod") influenced by unrelated fesse (“buttock”)).
Compare also Late Latin fasciāre.
Pronunciation
Verb
fesser
- to spank
- Quand les enfants se tiennent mal, leurs parents les fessent et tout ça se répète le lendemain.
- When children misbehave, their parents spank them, then it all happens again the next day.
- (Quebec, slang) to whack, to strike or crash into
- (Can we add an example for this sense?)
Conjugation
Conjugation of fesser (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | fesser | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | fessant /fɛ.sɑ̃/ or /fe.sɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | fessé /fɛ.se/ or /fe.se/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | fesse /fɛs/ |
fesses /fɛs/ |
fesse /fɛs/ |
fessons /fɛ.sɔ̃/ or /fe.sɔ̃/ |
fessez /fɛ.se/ or /fe.se/ |
fessent /fɛs/ |
| imperfect | fessais /fɛ.sɛ/ or /fe.sɛ/ |
fessais /fɛ.sɛ/ or /fe.sɛ/ |
fessait /fɛ.sɛ/ or /fe.sɛ/ |
fessions /fɛ.sjɔ̃/ or /fe.sjɔ̃/ |
fessiez /fɛ.sje/ or /fe.sje/ |
fessaient /fɛ.sɛ/ or /fe.sɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | fessai /fɛ.se/ or /fe.se/ |
fessas /fɛ.sa/ or /fe.sa/ |
fessa /fɛ.sa/ or /fe.sa/ |
fessâmes /fɛ.sam/ or /fe.sam/ |
fessâtes /fɛ.sat/ or /fe.sat/ |
fessèrent /fɛ.sɛʁ/ or /fe.sɛʁ/ | |
| future | fesserai /fɛ.sʁe/ or /fe.sʁe/ |
fesseras /fɛ.sʁa/ or /fe.sʁa/ |
fessera /fɛ.sʁa/ or /fe.sʁa/ |
fesserons /fɛ.sʁɔ̃/ or /fe.sʁɔ̃/ |
fesserez /fɛ.sʁe/ or /fe.sʁe/ |
fesseront /fɛ.sʁɔ̃/ or /fe.sʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | fesserais /fɛ.sʁɛ/ or /fe.sʁɛ/ |
fesserais /fɛ.sʁɛ/ or /fe.sʁɛ/ |
fesserait /fɛ.sʁɛ/ or /fe.sʁɛ/ |
fesserions /fɛ.sə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /fe.sə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
fesseriez /fɛ.sə.ʁje/ or /fe.sə.ʁje/ |
fesseraient /fɛ.sʁɛ/ or /fe.sʁɛ/ | |
| (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 | fesse /fɛs/ |
fesses /fɛs/ |
fesse /fɛs/ |
fessions /fɛ.sjɔ̃/ or /fe.sjɔ̃/ |
fessiez /fɛ.sje/ or /fe.sje/ |
fessent /fɛs/ |
| imperfect2 | fessasse /fɛ.sas/ or /fe.sas/ |
fessasses /fɛ.sas/ or /fe.sas/ |
fessât /fɛ.sa/ or /fe.sa/ |
fessassions /fɛ.sa.sjɔ̃/ or /fe.sa.sjɔ̃/ |
fessassiez /fɛ.sa.sje/ or /fe.sa.sje/ |
fessassent /fɛ.sas/ or /fe.sas/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | fesse /fɛs/ |
— | fessons /fɛ.sɔ̃/ or /fe.sɔ̃/ |
fessez /fɛ.se/ or /fe.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). | |||||||
Derived terms
Further reading
- “fesser”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.