bercer

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French [Term?], from Old French bercier (“to rock”), from Vulgar Latin *bertiāre, via Gaulish from Proto-Celtic *berta- (“to shake”), related to *bereti (“to carry”). See berceau (“cradle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɛʁ.se/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

bercer

1. to cradle; to rock

Conjugation

This verb is part of a group of -er verbs for which 'c' is softened to a 'ç' before the vowels 'a' and 'o'.

Conjugation of bercer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	bercer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	berçant /bɛʁ.sɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		bercé /bɛʁ.se/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	berce /bɛʁs/	berces /bɛʁs/	berce /bɛʁs/	berçons /bɛʁ.sɔ̃/	bercez /bɛʁ.se/	bercent /bɛʁs/
	imperfect	berçais /bɛʁ.sɛ/	berçais /bɛʁ.sɛ/	berçait /bɛʁ.sɛ/	bercions /bɛʁ.sjɔ̃/	berciez /bɛʁ.sje/	berçaient /bɛʁ.sɛ/
	past historic2	berçai /bɛʁ.se/	berças /bɛʁ.sa/	berça /bɛʁ.sa/	berçâmes /bɛʁ.sam/	berçâtes /bɛʁ.sat/	bercèrent /bɛʁ.sɛʁ/
	future	bercerai /bɛʁ.sə.ʁe/	berceras /bɛʁ.sə.ʁa/	bercera /bɛʁ.sə.ʁa/	bercerons /bɛʁ.sə.ʁɔ̃/	bercerez /bɛʁ.sə.ʁe/	berceront /bɛʁ.sə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	bercerais /bɛʁ.sə.ʁɛ/	bercerais /bɛʁ.sə.ʁɛ/	bercerait /bɛʁ.sə.ʁɛ/	bercerions /bɛʁ.sə.ʁjɔ̃/	berceriez /bɛʁ.sə.ʁje/	berceraient /bɛʁ.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	berce /bɛʁs/	berces /bɛʁs/	berce /bɛʁs/	bercions /bɛʁ.sjɔ̃/	berciez /bɛʁ.sje/	bercent /bɛʁs/
	imperfect2	berçasse /bɛʁ.sas/	berçasses /bɛʁ.sas/	berçât /bɛʁ.sa/	berçassions /bɛʁ.sa.sjɔ̃/	berçassiez /bɛʁ.sa.sje/	berçassent /bɛʁ.sas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	berce /bɛʁs/	—	berçons /bɛʁ.sɔ̃/	bercez /bɛʁ.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: 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).

Derived terms

• avoir été bercé trop près du mur
• berceuse

Related terms

• berceau

Descendants

• → Ido: bersar

Further reading

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

Old French

Verb

bercer

1. Alternative form of berser

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-c, *-cs, *-ct are modified to z, z, zt. In addition, c becomes ç before an a, o or u to keep the /ts/ sound intact. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of bercer (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		bercer			avoir bercé
gerund		en berçant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		berçant
past participle		bercé
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	berz	berces	berce	berçons	bercez	bercent
	imperfect	berçoie, berceie, berçoe, berceve	berçoies, berceies, berçoes, berceves	berçoit, berceit, berçot, berceve	berciiens, berciens	berciiez, berciez	berçoient, berceient, berçoent, bercevent
	preterite	berçai	berças	berça	berçames	berçastes	bercerent
	future	bercerai	berceras	bercera	bercerons	berceroiz, bercereiz, bercerez	berceront
	conditional	berceroie, bercereie	berceroies, bercereies	berceroit, bercereit	berceriiens, berceriens	berceriiez, berceriez	berceroient, bercereient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	berz	berz	berzt	berçons	bercez	bercent
	imperfect	berçasse	berçasses	berçast	bercissons, bercissiens	bercissoiz, bercissez, bercissiez	berçassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	berce	—	berçons	bercez	—