abêtir

French

Etymology

    From a- +‎ bête +‎ -ir.

    Pronunciation

    Verb

    abêtir

    1. (ambitransitive, ergative) to dumb down, render dumb, dim-witted; to deaden the mind of
    2. (reflexive, ergative) to become dim-witted and foolish

    Usage notes

    • Abrutir is a close synonym, but unlike that term abêtir implies a slower, progressive process, which abrutir does not necessarily do.

    Conjugation

    This is a regular verb of the second conjugation, like finir, choisir, and most other verbs with infinitives ending in -ir. One salient feature of this conjugation is the repeated appearance of the infix -iss-.

    Conjugation of abêtir (see also Appendix:French verbs)
    infinitive simple abêtir
    compound avoir + past participle
    present participle or gerund1 simple abêtissant
    /a.bɛ.ti.sɑ̃/ or /a.be.ti.sɑ̃/
    compound ayant + past participle
    past participle abêti
    /a.bɛ.ti/ or /a.be.ti/
    singular plural
    first second third first second third
    indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
    (simple
    tenses)         		present abêtis
    /a.bɛ.ti/ or /a.be.ti/     		abêtis
    /a.bɛ.ti/ or /a.be.ti/     		abêtit
    /a.bɛ.ti/ or /a.be.ti/     		abêtissons
    /a.bɛ.ti.sɔ̃/ or /a.be.ti.sɔ̃/     		abêtissez
    /a.bɛ.ti.se/ or /a.be.ti.se/     		abêtissent
    /a.bɛ.tis/ or /a.be.tis/
    imperfect abêtissais
    /a.bɛ.ti.sɛ/ or /a.be.ti.sɛ/     		abêtissais
    /a.bɛ.ti.sɛ/ or /a.be.ti.sɛ/     		abêtissait
    /a.bɛ.ti.sɛ/ or /a.be.ti.sɛ/     		abêtissions
    /a.bɛ.ti.sjɔ̃/ or /a.be.ti.sjɔ̃/     		abêtissiez
    /a.bɛ.ti.sje/ or /a.be.ti.sje/     		abêtissaient
    /a.bɛ.ti.sɛ/ or /a.be.ti.sɛ/
    past historic2 abêtis
    /a.bɛ.ti/ or /a.be.ti/     		abêtis
    /a.bɛ.ti/ or /a.be.ti/     		abêtit
    /a.bɛ.ti/ or /a.be.ti/     		abêtîmes
    /a.bɛ.tim/ or /a.be.tim/     		abêtîtes
    /a.bɛ.tit/ or /a.be.tit/     		abêtirent
    /a.bɛ.tiʁ/ or /a.be.tiʁ/
    future abêtirai
    /a.bɛ.ti.ʁe/ or /a.be.ti.ʁe/     		abêtiras
    /a.bɛ.ti.ʁa/ or /a.be.ti.ʁa/     		abêtira
    /a.bɛ.ti.ʁa/ or /a.be.ti.ʁa/     		abêtirons
    /a.bɛ.ti.ʁɔ̃/ or /a.be.ti.ʁɔ̃/     		abêtirez
    /a.bɛ.ti.ʁe/ or /a.be.ti.ʁe/     		abêtiront
    /a.bɛ.ti.ʁɔ̃/ or /a.be.ti.ʁɔ̃/
    conditional abêtirais
    /a.bɛ.ti.ʁɛ/ or /a.be.ti.ʁɛ/     		abêtirais
    /a.bɛ.ti.ʁɛ/ or /a.be.ti.ʁɛ/     		abêtirait
    /a.bɛ.ti.ʁɛ/ or /a.be.ti.ʁɛ/     		abêtirions
    /a.bɛ.ti.ʁjɔ̃/ or /a.be.ti.ʁjɔ̃/     		abêtiriez
    /a.bɛ.ti.ʁje/ or /a.be.ti.ʁje/     		abêtiraient
    /a.bɛ.ti.ʁɛ/ or /a.be.ti.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 abêtisse
    /a.bɛ.tis/ or /a.be.tis/     		abêtisses
    /a.bɛ.tis/ or /a.be.tis/     		abêtisse
    /a.bɛ.tis/ or /a.be.tis/     		abêtissions
    /a.bɛ.ti.sjɔ̃/ or /a.be.ti.sjɔ̃/     		abêtissiez
    /a.bɛ.ti.sje/ or /a.be.ti.sje/     		abêtissent
    /a.bɛ.tis/ or /a.be.tis/
    imperfect2 abêtisse
    /a.bɛ.tis/ or /a.be.tis/     		abêtisses
    /a.bɛ.tis/ or /a.be.tis/     		abêtît
    /a.bɛ.ti/ or /a.be.ti/     		abêtissions
    /a.bɛ.ti.sjɔ̃/ or /a.be.ti.sjɔ̃/     		abêtissiez
    /a.bɛ.ti.sje/ or /a.be.ti.sje/     		abêtissent
    /a.bɛ.tis/ or /a.be.tis/
    (compound
    tenses)         		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
    pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
    imperative – tu – nous vous –
    simple — abêtis
    /a.bɛ.ti/ or /a.be.ti/     		— abêtissons
    /a.bɛ.ti.sɔ̃/ or /a.be.ti.sɔ̃/     		abêtissez
    /a.bɛ.ti.se/ or /a.be.ti.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).

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