douter
See also: Douter and doûter
English
Etymology
Etymology tree
From dout (“to put out”) + -er.
Noun
douter (plural douters)
- (obsolete or historical) An extinguisher for candles.
- Synonym: snuffer
References
- “douter”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Anagrams
French
Alternative forms
- doubter (obsolete)
- doûter (obsolete)
Etymology
Inherited from Latin dubitāre.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /du.te/
Audio: (file) Audio (France (Toulouse)): (file) Audio (France (Vosges)): (file) Audio (France (Vosges)): (file) Audio (France (Lyon)): (file) Audio (France (Somain)): (file)
Verb
douter
- (followed by the preposition de) to doubt
- Il ne faut pas douter de la bonne foi de son interlocuteur.
- One must not doubt the intention of one's interlocutor.
- Je doute qu'il y parvienne.
- I doubt that he will manage.
- J'en doute.
- I doubt that.
- (reflexive) to suspect, to have an inkling
- Je me doutais qu'il n'allait pas bien, mais je ne savais pas que c'était à ce point-là.
- I suspected that he was not doing well, but I did not know that it was to that degree.
- Il s'en doute bien.
- He is well aware.
Usage notes
Douter subordinates a subjunctive content clause when used affirmatively, but subordinates the indicative when used non-affirmatively.
- Je doute qu'il ait fait ses devoirs.
- I doubt that he finished his homework.
- Je ne doute pas qu'il a perdu son crayon par accident.
- I don't doubt that he lost his pencil by accident.
Conjugation
Conjugation of douter (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | douter | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | doutant /du.tɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | douté /du.te/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | doute /dut/ |
doutes /dut/ |
doute /dut/ |
doutons /du.tɔ̃/ |
doutez /du.te/ |
doutent /dut/ |
| imperfect | doutais /du.tɛ/ |
doutais /du.tɛ/ |
doutait /du.tɛ/ |
doutions /du.tjɔ̃/ |
doutiez /du.tje/ |
doutaient /du.tɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | doutai /du.te/ |
doutas /du.ta/ |
douta /du.ta/ |
doutâmes /du.tam/ |
doutâtes /du.tat/ |
doutèrent /du.tɛʁ/ | |
| future | douterai /du.tʁe/ |
douteras /du.tʁa/ |
doutera /du.tʁa/ |
douterons /du.tʁɔ̃/ |
douterez /du.tʁe/ |
douteront /du.tʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | douterais /du.tʁɛ/ |
douterais /du.tʁɛ/ |
douterait /du.tʁɛ/ |
douterions /du.tə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
douteriez /du.tə.ʁje/ |
douteraient /du.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 | doute /dut/ |
doutes /dut/ |
doute /dut/ |
doutions /du.tjɔ̃/ |
doutiez /du.tje/ |
doutent /dut/ |
| imperfect2 | doutasse /du.tas/ |
doutasses /du.tas/ |
doutât /du.ta/ |
doutassions /du.ta.sjɔ̃/ |
doutassiez /du.ta.sje/ |
doutassent /du.tas/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | doute /dut/ |
— | doutons /du.tɔ̃/ |
doutez /du.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:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “douter”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
Anagrams
Middle French
Verb
douter
- alternative form of doubter
Old French
Verb
douter
- alternative form of doter
Conjugation
This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-ts, *-tt are modified to z, t. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.
Conjugation of douter (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)
| simple | compound | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive | douter | avoir douté | |||||
| gerund | en doutant | gerund of avoir + past participle | |||||
| present participle | doutant | ||||||
| past participle | douté | ||||||
| person | singular | plural | |||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | jo | tu | il | nos | vos | il | |
| simple tenses |
present | dout | doutes | doute | doutons | doutez | doutent |
| imperfect | doutoie, douteie, doutoe, douteve | doutoies, douteies, doutoes, douteves | doutoit, douteit, doutot, douteve | doutiiens, doutiens | doutiiez, doutiez | doutoient, douteient, doutoent, doutevent | |
| preterite | doutai | doutas | douta | doutames | doutastes | douterent | |
| future | douterai | douteras | doutera | douterons | douteroiz, doutereiz, douterez | douteront | |
| conditional | douteroie, doutereie | douteroies, doutereies | douteroit, doutereit | douteriiens, douteriens | douteriiez, douteriez | douteroient, doutereient | |
| 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 | dout | douz | dout | doutons | doutez | doutent |
| imperfect | doutasse | doutasses | doutast | doutissons, doutissiens | doutissoiz, doutissez, doutissiez | doutassent | |
| compound tenses |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | tu | – | nos | vos | – | |
| — | doute | — | doutons | doutez | — | ||