tromper

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French tromper, from Old French tromper (“to tramp, trump, delude”, literally “to play on the trumpet”), from trompe (“trump, trumpet”), from Frankish *trumpa (“trump, trumpet”), from a common Germanic word akin to Old High German trumba, trumpa (“trump, trumpet”), ultimately imitative.

More at tramp, tromp, trump.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tʁɔ̃.pe/

• audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: trom‧per

Verb

tromper

1. (transitive) to deceive, lead astray, mislead
2. (transitive) to trick, dupe
3. (transitive) to cheat on one's significant other
4. (transitive) to distract oneself from
5. (reflexive) to make a mistake, be wrong

   New York est la capitale des États-Unis. Ah non, je me trompe, c’est Washington.

   New York is the capital of the United states. Wait, I'm wrong, it's Washington.

6. (reflexive) to mix up [+ de (object)]

   On est en retard parce qu’on s’est trompé de route, mais on ne s’est rendu compte qu’après une demie heure.

   We're late because we took the wrong road, and we only realized after half an hour.

Conjugation

Conjugation of tromper (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	tromper
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	trompant /tʁɔ̃.pɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		trompé /tʁɔ̃.pe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	trompe /tʁɔ̃p/	trompes /tʁɔ̃p/	trompe /tʁɔ̃p/	trompons /tʁɔ̃.pɔ̃/	trompez /tʁɔ̃.pe/	trompent /tʁɔ̃p/
	imperfect	trompais /tʁɔ̃.pɛ/	trompais /tʁɔ̃.pɛ/	trompait /tʁɔ̃.pɛ/	trompions /tʁɔ̃.pjɔ̃/	trompiez /tʁɔ̃.pje/	trompaient /tʁɔ̃.pɛ/
	past historic2	trompai /tʁɔ̃.pe/	trompas /tʁɔ̃.pa/	trompa /tʁɔ̃.pa/	trompâmes /tʁɔ̃.pam/	trompâtes /tʁɔ̃.pat/	trompèrent /tʁɔ̃.pɛʁ/
	future	tromperai /tʁɔ̃.pʁe/	tromperas /tʁɔ̃.pʁa/	trompera /tʁɔ̃.pʁa/	tromperons /tʁɔ̃.pʁɔ̃/	tromperez /tʁɔ̃.pʁe/	tromperont /tʁɔ̃.pʁɔ̃/
	conditional	tromperais /tʁɔ̃.pʁɛ/	tromperais /tʁɔ̃.pʁɛ/	tromperait /tʁɔ̃.pʁɛ/	tromperions /tʁɔ̃.pə.ʁjɔ̃/	tromperiez /tʁɔ̃.pə.ʁje/	tromperaient /tʁɔ̃.pʁɛ/
(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	trompe /tʁɔ̃p/	trompes /tʁɔ̃p/	trompe /tʁɔ̃p/	trompions /tʁɔ̃.pjɔ̃/	trompiez /tʁɔ̃.pje/	trompent /tʁɔ̃p/
	imperfect2	trompasse /tʁɔ̃.pas/	trompasses /tʁɔ̃.pas/	trompât /tʁɔ̃.pa/	trompassions /tʁɔ̃.pa.sjɔ̃/	trompassiez /tʁɔ̃.pa.sje/	trompassent /tʁɔ̃.pas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	trompe /tʁɔ̃p/	—	trompons /tʁɔ̃.pɔ̃/	trompez /tʁɔ̃.pe/	—
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).

Conjugation of se tromper (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	se tromper
	compound	s'être + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	se trompant /sə tʁɔ̃.pɑ̃/
	compound	ayant or étant + past participle
past participle		trompé /tʁɔ̃.pe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	me trompe /mə tʁɔ̃p/	te trompes /tə tʁɔ̃p/	se trompe /sə tʁɔ̃p/	nous trompons /nu tʁɔ̃.pɔ̃/	vous trompez /vu tʁɔ̃.pe/	se trompent /sə tʁɔ̃p/
	imperfect	me trompais /mə tʁɔ̃.pɛ/	te trompais /tə tʁɔ̃.pɛ/	se trompait /sə tʁɔ̃.pɛ/	nous trompions /nu tʁɔ̃.pjɔ̃/	vous trompiez /vu tʁɔ̃.pje/	se trompaient /sə tʁɔ̃.pɛ/
	past historic2	me trompai /mə tʁɔ̃.pe/	te trompas /tə tʁɔ̃.pa/	se trompa /sə tʁɔ̃.pa/	nous trompâmes /nu tʁɔ̃.pam/	vous trompâtes /vu tʁɔ̃.pat/	se trompèrent /sə tʁɔ̃.pɛʁ/
	future	me tromperai /mə tʁɔ̃.pʁe/	te tromperas /tə tʁɔ̃.pʁa/	se trompera /sə tʁɔ̃.pʁa/	nous tromperons /nu tʁɔ̃.pʁɔ̃/	vous tromperez /vu tʁɔ̃.pʁe/	se tromperont /sə tʁɔ̃.pʁɔ̃/
	conditional	me tromperais /mə tʁɔ̃.pʁɛ/	te tromperais /tə tʁɔ̃.pʁɛ/	se tromperait /sə tʁɔ̃.pʁɛ/	nous tromperions /nu tʁɔ̃.pə.ʁjɔ̃/	vous tromperiez /vu tʁɔ̃.pə.ʁje/	se tromperaient /sə tʁɔ̃.pʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of s'être + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of s'être + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of s'être + past participle
	future perfect	future of s'être + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of s'être + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	me trompe /mə tʁɔ̃p/	te trompes /tə tʁɔ̃p/	se trompe /sə tʁɔ̃p/	nous trompions /nu tʁɔ̃.pjɔ̃/	vous trompiez /vu tʁɔ̃.pje/	se trompent /sə tʁɔ̃p/
	imperfect2	me trompasse /mə tʁɔ̃.pas/	te trompasses /tə tʁɔ̃.pas/	se trompât /sə tʁɔ̃.pa/	nous trompassions /nu tʁɔ̃.pa.sjɔ̃/	vous trompassiez /vu tʁɔ̃.pa.sje/	se trompassent /sə tʁɔ̃.pas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of s'être + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of s'être + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	trompe-toi /tʁɔ̃p.twa/	—	trompons-nous /tʁɔ̃.pɔ̃.nu/	trompez-vous /tʁɔ̃.pe.vu/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of s'être + past participle	—	simple imperative of s'être + past participle	simple imperative of s'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

• trompe-la-mort
• trompe-l’œil
• tromperie

Further reading

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

Middle English

Noun

tromper

1. Alternative form of trompour

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French tromper (“to tramp, trump, delude”, literally “to play on the trumpet”), from trompe (“trump, trumpet”), from Frankish *trumpa (“trump, trumpet”), from a common Germanic word akin to Old High German trumba, trumpa (“trump, trumpet”), ultimately imitative.

Verb

tromper

1. to trick; to deceive

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of tromper

infinitive	simple	tromper
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	trompant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		trompé
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	trompe	trompes	trompe	trompons	trompez	trompent
	imperfect	trompois, trompoys	trompois, trompoys	trompoit, trompoyt	trompions, trompyons	trompiez, trompyez	trompoient, trompoyent
	past historic	trompa	trompas	trompa	trompasmes	trompastes	tromperent
	future	tromperai, tromperay	tromperas	trompera	tromperons	tromperez	tromperont
	conditional	tromperois, tromperoys	tromperois, tromperoys	tromperoit, tromperoyt	tromperions, tromperyons	tromperiez, tromperyez	tromperoient, tromperoyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	trompe	trompes	trompe	trompons	trompez	trompent
	imperfect	trompasse	trompasses	trompast	trompassions	trompassiez	trompassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	trompe	—	trompons	trompez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Descendants

• French: tromper