abêtir

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French

Etymology

From a- +‎ bête +‎ -ir.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /a.bɛ.tiʁ/, /a.be.tiʁ/
  • Audio(file)

Verb

abêtir

  1. (transitive, intransitive, 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 , Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

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