obtempérer

See also: obtemperer

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin obtemperō (“I comply with; I conform to, obey”), from ob + temperō (“I show restraint, moderate”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁe/

Verb

obtempérer

(transitive) to obey
(transitive) to comply (with)

Conjugation

This verb is conjugated like céder. It is a regular -er verb, except that its last stem vowel alternates between /e/ (written ‘é’) and /ɛ/ (written ‘è’), with the latter being used before mute ‘e’. One special case is the future stem, used in the future and the conditional. Before 1990, the future stem of such verbs was written obtempérer-, reflecting the historic pronunciation /e/. In 1990, the French Academy recommended that it be written obtempèrer-, reflecting the now common pronunciation /ɛ/, thereby making this distinction consistent throughout the conjugation (and also matching in this regard the conjugations of verbs like lever and jeter). Both spellings are in use today, and both are therefore given here.

Conjugation of obtempérer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		obtempérer			avoir obtempéré
gerund		en obtempérant			en ayant obtempéré
present participle		obtempérant /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁɑ̃/
past participle		obtempéré /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁe/
person		singular			plural
person		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il	nous	vous	ils
simple tenses	present	obtempère /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛʁ/	obtempères /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛʁ/	obtempère /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛʁ/	obtempérons /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁɔ̃/	obtempérez /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁe/	obtempèrent /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛʁ/
	imperfect	obtempérais /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁɛ/	obtempérais /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁɛ/	obtempérait /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁɛ/	obtempérions /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁjɔ̃/	obtempériez /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁje/	obtempéraient /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁɛ/
	past historic¹	obtempérai /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁe/	obtempéras /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁa/	obtempéra /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁa/	obtempérâmes /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁam/	obtempérâtes /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁat/	obtempérèrent /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁɛʁ/
	future	obtempèrerai or obtempérerai /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛ.ʁə.ʁe/	obtempèreras or obtempéreras /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛ.ʁə.ʁa/	obtempèrera or obtempérera /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛ.ʁə.ʁa/	obtempèrerons or obtempérerons /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛ.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/	obtempèrerez or obtempérerez /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛ.ʁə.ʁe/	obtempèreront or obtempéreront /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛ.ʁə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	obtempèrerais or obtempérerais /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛ.ʁə.ʁɛ/	obtempèrerais or obtempérerais /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛ.ʁə.ʁɛ/	obtempèrerait or obtempérerait /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛ.ʁə.ʁɛ/	obtempèrerions or obtempérerions /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛ.ʁə.ʁjɔ̃/	obtempèreriez or obtempéreriez /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛ.ʁə.ʁje/	obtempèreraient or obtempéreraient /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛ.ʁə.ʁɛ/
compound tenses	present perfect	Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	past anterior¹	Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	future perfect	Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	conditional perfect	Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il	que nous	que vous	qu’ils
simple tenses	present	obtempère /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛʁ/	obtempères /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛʁ/	obtempère /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛʁ/	obtempérions /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁjɔ̃/	obtempériez /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁje/	obtempèrent /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛʁ/
simple tenses	imperfect¹	obtempérasse /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁas/	obtempérasses /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁas/	obtempérât /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁa/	obtempérassions /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁa.sjɔ̃/	obtempérassiez /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁa.sje/	obtempérassent /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁas/
compound tenses	past	Use the present subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle
compound tenses	pluperfect¹	Use the imperfect subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
imperative		—	obtempère /ɔp.tɑ̃.pɛʁ/	—	obtempérons /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁɔ̃/	obtempérez /ɔp.tɑ̃.pe.ʁe/	—
¹literary tenses