louvoyer

French

Etymology

From lof +‎ -oyer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lu.vwa.je/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

louvoyer

1. (nautical) to tack
2. (figuratively) to avoid verbal commitment, to hedge

Conjugation

This verb is part of a large group of -er verbs that conjugate like noyer or ennuyer. These verbs always replace the 'y' with an 'i' before a silent 'e'.

Conjugation of louvoyer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	louvoyer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	louvoyant /lu.vwa.jɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		louvoyé /lu.vwa.je/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	louvoie /lu.vwa/	louvoies /lu.vwa/	louvoie /lu.vwa/	louvoyons /lu.vwa.jɔ̃/	louvoyez /lu.vwa.je/	louvoient /lu.vwa/
	imperfect	louvoyais /lu.vwa.jɛ/	louvoyais /lu.vwa.jɛ/	louvoyait /lu.vwa.jɛ/	louvoyions /lu.vwaj.jɔ̃/	louvoyiez /lu.vwaj.je/	louvoyaient /lu.vwa.jɛ/
	past historic2	louvoyai /lu.vwa.je/	louvoyas /lu.vwa.ja/	louvoya /lu.vwa.ja/	louvoyâmes /lu.vwa.jam/	louvoyâtes /lu.vwa.jat/	louvoyèrent /lu.vwa.jɛʁ/
	future	louvoierai /lu.vwa.ʁe/	louvoieras /lu.vwa.ʁa/	louvoiera /lu.vwa.ʁa/	louvoierons /lu.vwa.ʁɔ̃/	louvoierez /lu.vwa.ʁe/	louvoieront /lu.vwa.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	louvoierais /lu.vwa.ʁɛ/	louvoierais /lu.vwa.ʁɛ/	louvoierait /lu.vwa.ʁɛ/	louvoierions /lu.vwa.ʁjɔ̃/	louvoieriez /lu.vwa.ʁje/	louvoieraient /lu.vwa.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	louvoie /lu.vwa/	louvoies /lu.vwa/	louvoie /lu.vwa/	louvoyions /lu.vwaj.jɔ̃/	louvoyiez /lu.vwaj.je/	louvoient /lu.vwa/
	imperfect2	louvoyasse /lu.vwa.jas/	louvoyasses /lu.vwa.jas/	louvoyât /lu.vwa.ja/	louvoyassions /lu.vwa.ja.sjɔ̃/	louvoyassiez /lu.vwa.ja.sje/	louvoyassent /lu.vwa.jas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	louvoie /lu.vwa/	—	louvoyons /lu.vwa.jɔ̃/	louvoyez /lu.vwa.je/	—
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

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