abstenir

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Catalan

Verb

abstenir

  1. only used in s'... abstenir, syntactic variant of abstenir-se, infinitive of abstenir-se

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French abstenir, borrowed from Latin abstinēre (with conjugation adapted to French tenir), from abs + teneō.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ap.stə.niʁ/
  • Audio(file)

Verb

abstenir

  1. (takes a reflexive pronoun) to abstain

Conjugation

This is a verb in a group of -ir verbs. All verbs ending in -tenir, such as contenir and détenir, are conjugated this way. Such verbs are the only verbs whose the past historic and subjunctive imperfect endings do not start in one of these thematic vowels (-a-, -i-, -u-).

Conjugation of abstenir (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple abstenir
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple abstenant
/ap.stə.nɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle abstenu
/ap.stə.ny/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present abstiens
/ap.stjɛ̃/ 		abstiens
/ap.stjɛ̃/ 		abstient
/ap.stjɛ̃/ 		abstenons
/ap.stə.nɔ̃/ 		abstenez
/ap.stə.ne/ 		abstiennent
/ap.stjɛn/
imperfect abstenais
/ap.stə.nɛ/ 		abstenais
/ap.stə.nɛ/ 		abstenait
/ap.stə.nɛ/ 		abstenions
/ap.stə.njɔ̃/ 		absteniez
/ap.stə.nje/ 		abstenaient
/ap.stə.nɛ/
past historic2 abstins
/ap.stɛ̃/ 		abstins
/ap.stɛ̃/ 		abstint
/ap.stɛ̃/ 		abstînmes
/ap.stɛ̃m/ 		abstîntes
/ap.stɛ̃t/ 		abstinrent
/ap.stɛ̃ʁ/
future abstiendrai
/ap.stjɛ̃.dʁe/ 		abstiendras
/ap.stjɛ̃.dʁa/ 		abstiendra
/ap.stjɛ̃.dʁa/ 		abstiendrons
/ap.stjɛ̃.dʁɔ̃/ 		abstiendrez
/ap.stjɛ̃.dʁe/ 		abstiendront
/ap.stjɛ̃.dʁɔ̃/
conditional abstiendrais
/ap.stjɛ̃.dʁɛ/ 		abstiendrais
/ap.stjɛ̃.dʁɛ/ 		abstiendrait
/ap.stjɛ̃.dʁɛ/ 		abstiendrions
/ap.stjɛ̃.dʁi.jɔ̃/ 		abstiendriez
/ap.stjɛ̃.dʁi.je/ 		abstiendraient
/ap.stjɛ̃.dʁɛ/
(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 abstienne
/ap.stjɛn/ 		abstiennes
/ap.stjɛn/ 		abstienne
/ap.stjɛn/ 		abstenions
/ap.stə.njɔ̃/ 		absteniez
/ap.stə.nje/ 		abstiennent
/ap.stjɛn/
imperfect2 abstinsse
/ap.stɛ̃s/ 		abstinsses
/ap.stɛ̃s/ 		abstînt
/ap.stɛ̃/ 		abstinssions
/ap.stɛ̃.sjɔ̃/ 		abstinssiez
/ap.stɛ̃.sje/ 		abstinssent
/ap.stɛ̃s/
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — abstiens
/ap.stjɛ̃/ 		— abstenons
/ap.stə.nɔ̃/ 		abstenez
/ap.stə.ne/ 		—
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 , Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

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Further reading

Anagrams

Old French

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin abstineō, abstinēre, with conjugation adapted to tenir.

Verb

abstenir

  1. to abstain from; to not participate in

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has a stressed present stem abstien distinct from the unstressed stem absten, as well as other irregularities. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of abstenir (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)
simple compound
infinitive abstenir avoir abstenu
gerund en abstenant gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle abstenant
past participle abstenu
person singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative jo tu il nos vos il
simple
tenses 		present abstieng, abstien abstiens abstient abstenons abstenez abstienent
imperfect abstenoie, absteneie abstenoies, absteneies abstenoit, absteneit absteniiens, absteniens absteniiez, absteniez abstenoient, absteneient
preterite abstin abstenis abstint abstenimes abstenistes abstindrent, abstinrent
future abstendrai abstendras abstendra abstendrons abstendroiz, abstendreiz, abstendrez abstendront
conditional abstendroie, abstendreie abstendroies, abstendreies abstendroit, abstendreit abstendriiens, abstendriens abstendriiez, abstendriez abstendroient, abstendreient
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 abstiegne abstiegnes abstiegne abstiegniens, abstiegnons abstiegniez abstiegnent
imperfect abstenisse abstenisses abstenist abstenissons, abstenissiens abstenissoiz, abstenissez, abstenissiez abstenissent
compound
tenses 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nos vos –
— abstien — abstenons abstenez —

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