contredire

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French contredire, borrowed from Latin contrādīcere, from contrā (“against”) + dīcō (“to speak”). By surface analysis, contre- +‎ dire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.tʁə.diʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

contredire

1. (transitive) to contradict

Conjugation

This verb is one of a group of -re verbs all ending in -dire. They are conjugated exactly like dire, but with a different second-person plural indicative present (that is, like confire). Members of this group include dédire and interdire.

Conjugation of contredire (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	contredire
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	contredisant /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.zɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		contredit /kɔ̃.tʁə.di/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	contredis /kɔ̃.tʁə.di/	contredis /kɔ̃.tʁə.di/	contredit /kɔ̃.tʁə.di/	contredisons /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.zɔ̃/	contredisez /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.ze/	contredisent /kɔ̃.tʁə.diz/
	imperfect	contredisais /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.zɛ/	contredisais /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.zɛ/	contredisait /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.zɛ/	contredisions /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.zjɔ̃/	contredisiez /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.zje/	contredisaient /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.zɛ/
	past historic2	contredis /kɔ̃.tʁə.di/	contredis /kɔ̃.tʁə.di/	contredit /kɔ̃.tʁə.di/	contredîmes /kɔ̃.tʁə.dim/	contredîtes /kɔ̃.tʁə.dit/	contredirent /kɔ̃.tʁə.diʁ/
	future	contredirai /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.ʁe/	contrediras /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.ʁa/	contredira /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.ʁa/	contredirons /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.ʁɔ̃/	contredirez /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.ʁe/	contrediront /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	contredirais /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.ʁɛ/	contredirais /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.ʁɛ/	contredirait /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.ʁɛ/	contredirions /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.ʁjɔ̃/	contrediriez /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.ʁje/	contrediraient /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.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	contredise /kɔ̃.tʁə.diz/	contredises /kɔ̃.tʁə.diz/	contredise /kɔ̃.tʁə.diz/	contredisions /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.zjɔ̃/	contredisiez /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.zje/	contredisent /kɔ̃.tʁə.diz/
	imperfect2	contredisse /kɔ̃.tʁə.dis/	contredisses /kɔ̃.tʁə.dis/	contredît /kɔ̃.tʁə.di/	contredissions /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.sjɔ̃/	contredissiez /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.sje/	contredissent /kɔ̃.tʁə.dis/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	contredis /kɔ̃.tʁə.di/	—	contredisons /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.zɔ̃/	contredisez /kɔ̃.tʁə.di.ze/	—
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).

Related terms

• contradiction
• contradictoire
• contradicteur

Further reading

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

Old French

Alternative forms

• cuntredire

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin contrādīcō, contrādīcere, from contrā (“against”) + dīcō (“to speak”).

Verb

contredire

1. to speak out against
2. to contradict

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has irregularities in its conjugation. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

		simple			compound
infinitive		contredire			avoir contredit
gerund		en contredisant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		contredisant
past participle		contredit
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	contredi	contredis	contredit	contredimes, contredions, contredisons	contredites	contredient
	imperfect	contredisoie, contrediseie	contredisoies, contrediseies	contredisoit, contrediseit	contredisiiens, contredisiens	contredisiiez, contredisiez	contredisoient, contrediseient
	preterite	contredis	contredesis	contredist	contredesimes	contredesistes	contredistrent
	future	contredirai	contrediras	contredira	contredirons	contrediroiz, contredireiz, contredirez	contrediront
	conditional	contrediroie, contredireie	contrediroies, contredireies	contrediroit, contredireit	contrediriiens, contrediriens	contrediriiez, contrediriez	contrediroient, contredireient
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	contredïe	contredïes	contredïe	contrediiens, contredions, contredisiens, contredisons	contrediiez, contredisiez	contredïent
	imperfect	contredesisse	contredesisses	contredesist	contredesissons, contredesissiens	contredesissoiz, contredesissez, contredesissiez	contredesissent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	contredi	—	contredimes, contredions, contredisons	contredites	—

Descendants

• French: contredire