ressasser

French

FWOTD – 1 January 2016

Etymology

From re- (“again”) +‎ sasser (“to sieve”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.sa.se/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

ressasser

1. (dated) to sieve again

   Il faut ressasser la farine. ― You have to sieve the flour again.

2. (figuratively) to think constantly about the same things

   Synonym: remâcher

   • 1913, Marcel Proust, Swann:

     Pendant ce mois où je ressassai comme une mélodie, sans pouvoir m’en rassasier, ces images de Florence, de Venise et de Pise (...) je ne cessai pas de croire qu’elles correspondaient à une réalité indépendante de moi.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. (figuratively) to repeat oneself

   Synonyms: rabâcher, répéter

   • 1958, Jean Rogissart, Passantes d’Octobre, Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard:

     Par avance, il sait ce qu’il trouvera d’imparfait, de médiocre, de mal, d’immuable, en dépit des conseils, des admonestations ou reproches qu’il prodigue et ressasse à chaque inspection.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Conjugation

Conjugation of ressasser (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	ressasser
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	ressassant /ʁə.sa.sɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		ressassé /ʁə.sa.se/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	ressasse /ʁə.sas/	ressasses /ʁə.sas/	ressasse /ʁə.sas/	ressassons /ʁə.sa.sɔ̃/	ressassez /ʁə.sa.se/	ressassent /ʁə.sas/
	imperfect	ressassais /ʁə.sa.sɛ/	ressassais /ʁə.sa.sɛ/	ressassait /ʁə.sa.sɛ/	ressassions /ʁə.sa.sjɔ̃/	ressassiez /ʁə.sa.sje/	ressassaient /ʁə.sa.sɛ/
	past historic2	ressassai /ʁə.sa.se/	ressassas /ʁə.sa.sa/	ressassa /ʁə.sa.sa/	ressassâmes /ʁə.sa.sam/	ressassâtes /ʁə.sa.sat/	ressassèrent /ʁə.sa.sɛʁ/
	future	ressasserai /ʁə.sa.sʁe/	ressasseras /ʁə.sa.sʁa/	ressassera /ʁə.sa.sʁa/	ressasserons /ʁə.sa.sʁɔ̃/	ressasserez /ʁə.sa.sʁe/	ressasseront /ʁə.sa.sʁɔ̃/
	conditional	ressasserais /ʁə.sa.sʁɛ/	ressasserais /ʁə.sa.sʁɛ/	ressasserait /ʁə.sa.sʁɛ/	ressasserions /ʁə.sa.sə.ʁjɔ̃/	ressasseriez /ʁə.sa.sə.ʁje/	ressasseraient /ʁə.sa.sʁɛ/
(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	ressasse /ʁə.sas/	ressasses /ʁə.sas/	ressasse /ʁə.sas/	ressassions /ʁə.sa.sjɔ̃/	ressassiez /ʁə.sa.sje/	ressassent /ʁə.sas/
	imperfect2	ressassasse /ʁə.sa.sas/	ressassasses /ʁə.sa.sas/	ressassât /ʁə.sa.sa/	ressassassions /ʁə.sa.sa.sjɔ̃/	ressassassiez /ʁə.sa.sa.sje/	ressassassent /ʁə.sa.sas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	ressasse /ʁə.sas/	—	ressassons /ʁə.sa.sɔ̃/	ressassez /ʁə.sa.se/	—
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

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

Anagrams

• serrasses