bécoter

French

Etymology

From bécot (“peck”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /be.kɔ.te/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

bécoter

1. (informal) to kiss; besmooch

   Synonym: embrasser

   • 1953, “Les amoureux des bancs publics”, performed by Georges Brassens:

     Les amoureux qui s’bécotent sur les bancs publics, / Bancs publics, bancs publics, / En s’disant des "Je t’aime’" pathétiques, / Ont des p’tits gueules bien sympathiques!

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Conjugation

Conjugation of bécoter (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	bécoter
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	bécotant /be.kɔ.tɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		bécoté /be.kɔ.te/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	bécote /be.kɔt/	bécotes /be.kɔt/	bécote /be.kɔt/	bécotons /be.kɔ.tɔ̃/	bécotez /be.kɔ.te/	bécotent /be.kɔt/
	imperfect	bécotais /be.kɔ.tɛ/	bécotais /be.kɔ.tɛ/	bécotait /be.kɔ.tɛ/	bécotions /be.kɔ.tjɔ̃/	bécotiez /be.kɔ.tje/	bécotaient /be.kɔ.tɛ/
	past historic2	bécotai /be.kɔ.te/	bécotas /be.kɔ.ta/	bécota /be.kɔ.ta/	bécotâmes /be.kɔ.tam/	bécotâtes /be.kɔ.tat/	bécotèrent /be.kɔ.tɛʁ/
	future	bécoterai /be.kɔ.tʁe/	bécoteras /be.kɔ.tʁa/	bécotera /be.kɔ.tʁa/	bécoterons /be.kɔ.tʁɔ̃/	bécoterez /be.kɔ.tʁe/	bécoteront /be.kɔ.tʁɔ̃/
	conditional	bécoterais /be.kɔ.tʁɛ/	bécoterais /be.kɔ.tʁɛ/	bécoterait /be.kɔ.tʁɛ/	bécoterions /be.kɔ.tə.ʁjɔ̃/	bécoteriez /be.kɔ.tə.ʁje/	bécoteraient /be.kɔ.tʁɛ/
(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	bécote /be.kɔt/	bécotes /be.kɔt/	bécote /be.kɔt/	bécotions /be.kɔ.tjɔ̃/	bécotiez /be.kɔ.tje/	bécotent /be.kɔt/
	imperfect2	bécotasse /be.kɔ.tas/	bécotasses /be.kɔ.tas/	bécotât /be.kɔ.ta/	bécotassions /be.kɔ.ta.sjɔ̃/	bécotassiez /be.kɔ.ta.sje/	bécotassent /be.kɔ.tas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	bécote /be.kɔt/	—	bécotons /be.kɔ.tɔ̃/	bécotez /be.kɔ.te/	—
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

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