repasser

French

Etymology

From re- +‎ passer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.pa.se/ ~ /ʁə.pɑ.se/

• Audio:

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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• Audio (France (Somain)):

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Verb

repasser

1. to iron (to pass an iron over clothing)
2. to pass by again
3. to redo (an exam, a test)

Usage notes

• This verb uses the auxiliary verb avoir when used transitively (or with a transitive sense, even when the complement is omitted); otherwise (when it is intransitive), it uses être.
• il a repassé sa chemise

  he ironed his shirt

• je suis repassé par la poste ce matin

  I went by the post office again this morning

Conjugation

Conjugation of repasser (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	repasser
compound	avoir or être + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	repassant /ʁə.pa.sɑ̃/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sɑ̃/
compound	ayant or étant + past participle
past participle	repassé /ʁə.pa.se/ or /ʁə.pɑ.se/
	singular	plural
first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative	je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	repasse /ʁə.pas/ or /ʁə.pɑs/	repasses /ʁə.pas/ or /ʁə.pɑs/	repasse /ʁə.pas/ or /ʁə.pɑs/	repassons /ʁə.pa.sɔ̃/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sɔ̃/	repassez /ʁə.pa.se/ or /ʁə.pɑ.se/	repassent /ʁə.pas/ or /ʁə.pɑs/
imperfect	repassais /ʁə.pa.sɛ/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sɛ/	repassais /ʁə.pa.sɛ/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sɛ/	repassait /ʁə.pa.sɛ/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sɛ/	repassions /ʁə.pa.sjɔ̃/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sjɔ̃/	repassiez /ʁə.pa.sje/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sje/	repassaient /ʁə.pa.sɛ/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sɛ/
past historic2	repassai /ʁə.pa.se/ or /ʁə.pɑ.se/	repassas /ʁə.pa.sa/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sa/	repassa /ʁə.pa.sa/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sa/	repassâmes /ʁə.pa.sam/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sam/	repassâtes /ʁə.pa.sat/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sat/	repassèrent /ʁə.pa.sɛʁ/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sɛʁ/
future	repasserai /ʁə.pa.sʁe/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sʁe/	repasseras /ʁə.pa.sʁa/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sʁa/	repassera /ʁə.pa.sʁa/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sʁa/	repasserons /ʁə.pa.sʁɔ̃/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sʁɔ̃/	repasserez /ʁə.pa.sʁe/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sʁe/	repasseront /ʁə.pa.sʁɔ̃/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sʁɔ̃/
conditional	repasserais /ʁə.pa.sʁɛ/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sʁɛ/	repasserais /ʁə.pa.sʁɛ/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sʁɛ/	repasserait /ʁə.pa.sʁɛ/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sʁɛ/	repasserions /ʁə.pa.sə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sə.ʁjɔ̃/	repasseriez /ʁə.pa.sə.ʁje/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sə.ʁje/	repasseraient /ʁə.pa.sʁɛ/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir or être + past participle
pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir or être + past participle
past anterior2	past historic of avoir or être + past participle
future perfect	future of avoir or être + past participle
conditional perfect	conditional of avoir or être + past participle
subjunctive	que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	repasse /ʁə.pas/ or /ʁə.pɑs/	repasses /ʁə.pas/ or /ʁə.pɑs/	repasse /ʁə.pas/ or /ʁə.pɑs/	repassions /ʁə.pa.sjɔ̃/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sjɔ̃/	repassiez /ʁə.pa.sje/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sje/	repassent /ʁə.pas/ or /ʁə.pɑs/
imperfect2	repassasse /ʁə.pa.sas/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sas/	repassasses /ʁə.pa.sas/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sas/	repassât /ʁə.pa.sa/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sa/	repassassions /ʁə.pa.sa.sjɔ̃/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sa.sjɔ̃/	repassassiez /ʁə.pa.sa.sje/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sa.sje/	repassassent /ʁə.pa.sas/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir or être + past participle
pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir or être + past participle
imperative	–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple	—	repasse /ʁə.pas/ or /ʁə.pɑs/	—	repassons /ʁə.pa.sɔ̃/ or /ʁə.pɑ.sɔ̃/	repassez /ʁə.pa.se/ or /ʁə.pɑ.se/	—
compound	—	simple imperative of avoir or être + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir or être + past participle	simple imperative of avoir or être + 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

• fer à repasser
• planche à repasser
• table à repasser

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• pressera

Old French

Verb

repasser

1. to retraverse (to traverse again)

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-ss, *-sss, *-sst are modified to s, s, st. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

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

	simple	compound
infinitive	repasser	avoir repassé
gerund	en repassant	gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle	repassant
past participle	repassé
person	singular	plural
first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative	jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	repas	repasses	repasse	repassons	repassez	repassent
imperfect	repassoie, repasseie, repassoe, repasseve	repassoies, repasseies, repassoes, repasseves	repassoit, repasseit, repassot, repasseve	repassiiens, repassiens	repassiiez, repassiez	repassoient, repasseient, repassoent, repassevent
preterite	repassai	repassas	repassa	repassames	repassastes	repasserent
future	repasserai	repasseras	repassera	repasserons	repasseroiz, repassereiz, repasserez	repasseront
conditional	repasseroie, repassereie	repasseroies, repassereies	repasseroit, repassereit	repasseriiens, repasseriens	repasseriiez, repasseriez	repasseroient, repassereient
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	repas	repas	repast	repassons	repassez	repassent
imperfect	repassasse	repassasses	repassast	repassissons, repassissiens	repassissoiz, repassissez, repassissiez	repassassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative	–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
—	repasse	—	repassons	repassez	—

References

• Frédéric Godefroy (1880–1902), “repasser”, in Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle […], Paris: F[riedrich] Vieweg; Émile Bouillon, →OCLC.