basculer

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French baculer, from bas +‎ cul +‎ -er. The modern form (with the s pronounced) has been altered under influence of the noun bascule (“seesaw”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bas.ky.le/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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• Audio (France (Somain)):

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Verb

basculer

1. (intransitive) to topple, to tip over
2. (intransitive) to sway from side to side
3. (intransitive, figuratively, of a life or situation) to fall apart, to turn upsidedown
4. (transitive) to transfer (e.g. a call)
5. (transitive) to tip over, to tip up
6. (intransitive, computing) to fail over [with sur ‘onto a backup system’]

Conjugation

Conjugation of basculer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	basculer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	basculant /bas.ky.lɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		basculé /bas.ky.le/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	bascule /bas.kyl/	bascules /bas.kyl/	bascule /bas.kyl/	basculons /bas.ky.lɔ̃/	basculez /bas.ky.le/	basculent /bas.kyl/
	imperfect	basculais /bas.ky.lɛ/	basculais /bas.ky.lɛ/	basculait /bas.ky.lɛ/	basculions /bas.ky.ljɔ̃/	basculiez /bas.ky.lje/	basculaient /bas.ky.lɛ/
	past historic2	basculai /bas.ky.le/	basculas /bas.ky.la/	bascula /bas.ky.la/	basculâmes /bas.ky.lam/	basculâtes /bas.ky.lat/	basculèrent /bas.ky.lɛʁ/
	future	basculerai /bas.kyl.ʁe/	basculeras /bas.kyl.ʁa/	basculera /bas.kyl.ʁa/	basculerons /bas.kyl.ʁɔ̃/	basculerez /bas.kyl.ʁe/	basculeront /bas.kyl.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	basculerais /bas.kyl.ʁɛ/	basculerais /bas.kyl.ʁɛ/	basculerait /bas.kyl.ʁɛ/	basculerions /bas.ky.lə.ʁjɔ̃/	basculeriez /bas.ky.lə.ʁje/	basculeraient /bas.kyl.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	bascule /bas.kyl/	bascules /bas.kyl/	bascule /bas.kyl/	basculions /bas.ky.ljɔ̃/	basculiez /bas.ky.lje/	basculent /bas.kyl/
	imperfect2	basculasse /bas.ky.las/	basculasses /bas.ky.las/	basculât /bas.ky.la/	basculassions /bas.ky.la.sjɔ̃/	basculassiez /bas.ky.la.sje/	basculassent /bas.ky.las/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	bascule /bas.kyl/	—	basculons /bas.ky.lɔ̃/	basculez /bas.ky.le/	—
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).

Related terms

• basculable
• basculage
• bascule
• basculement

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• curables