abîmer — French conjugation

to damage; to ruin

Frequency#321Regular

Indicative

Present (Présent) Regular

Use the présent for habits, what is true now, and what is about to happen soon. A single set of endings covers what English often splits into “I speak” and “I am speaking”.

Elle parle arabe et français.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jeabîmeI damage
tuabîmesyou damage
il/elleabîmehe/she/it damages
nousabîmonswe damage
vousabîmezyou (pl.) damage
ils/ellesabîmentthey damage

Simple past (Passé simple) Regular

The passé simple narrates completed past events in a literary or very formal style. In everyday conversation people use the passé composé instead, so you mostly meet this form in books and journalism.

Ils virent le roi s'approcher.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jeabîmaiI damaged
tuabîmasyou damaged
il/elleabîmahe/she/it damaged
nousabîmâmeswe damaged
vousabîmâtesyou (pl.) damaged
ils/ellesabîmèrentthey damaged

Imperfect (Imparfait) Regular

The imparfait describes ongoing or repeated past actions and sets the background — how things were, what used to happen, weather, feelings. The passé composé, by contrast, marks single completed events.

Quand j'étais petit, j'allais souvent à la piscine.

PronounFrench
jeabîmais
tuabîmais
il/elleabîmait
nousabîmions
vousabîmiez
ils/ellesabîmaient

Conditional (Conditionnel) Regular

The conditionnel is for polite questions and requests, “would”-type hypotheticals, and what someone said would happen. It is also the usual consequent clause in si + imparfait → conditionnel patterns.

Pourriez-vous répéter, s'il vous plaît ?

PronounFrenchEnglish
jeabîmeraisI would damage
tuabîmeraisyou would damage
il/elleabîmeraithe/she/it would damage
nousabîmerionswe would damage
vousabîmeriezyou (pl.) would damage
ils/ellesabîmeraientthey would damage

Future (Futur) Regular

The futur is for future plans and objective predictions. In speech, aller + infinitive is often clearer for the immediate future, while the simple future is common for facts further ahead or in writing.

Demain, nous dînerons chez eux.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jeabîmeraiI will damage
tuabîmerasyou will damage
il/elleabîmerahe/she/it will damage
nousabîmeronswe will damage
vousabîmerezyou (pl.) will damage
ils/ellesabîmerontthey will damage

Present perfect (Passé composé) Regular

The passé composé is the main spoken past for completed, bounded actions (often with a time adverb). Use avoir with most verbs; être is required for a fixed group of motion/inchange and all pronominal verbs, with participle agreement when necessary.

Elle est venue tôt, puis elle a téléphoné.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jej'ai abîméI have damaged
tutu as abîméyou have damaged
il/elleil/elle a abîméhe/she/it has damaged
nousnous avons abîméwe have damaged
vousvous avez abîméyou (pl.) have damaged
ils/ellesils/elles ont abîméthey have damaged

Pluperfect (Plus-que-parfait) Regular

The plus-que-parfait is the “earlier past”: one action was already over before another past moment. It answers “had already” when a story is anchored in a past time.

Déjà, il avait fini quand je suis arrivé.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jej'avais abîméI had damaged
tutu avais abîméyou had damaged
il/elleil/elle avait abîméhe/she/it had damaged
nousnous avions abîméwe had damaged
vousvous aviez abîméyou (pl.) had damaged
ils/ellesils/elles avaient abîméthey had damaged

Conditional perfect (Conditionnel passé) Regular

The conditionnel passé states what would have been true, plans that failed, and unreal past if-clauses (often with si + plus-que-parfait in the apodose).

J'aurais dit oui, mais c'était impossible.

PronounFrench
jej'aurais abîmé
tutu aurais abîmé
il/elleil/elle aurait abîmé
nousnous aurions abîmé
vousvous auriez abîmé
ils/ellesils/elles auraient abîmé

Future perfect (Futur antérieur) Regular

The futur antérieur marks an action that will be finished before a later future moment (by then I will have…). It can also suggest a conjecture about a recent past fact in formal or literary use.

D'ici samedi, j'aurai lu le rapport.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jej'aurai abîméI will have damaged
tutu auras abîméyou will have damaged
il/elleil/elle aura abîméhe/she/it will have damaged
nousnous aurons abîméwe will have damaged
vousvous aurez abîméyou (pl.) will have damaged
ils/ellesils/elles auront abîméthey will have damaged

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Regular

The present subjunctive appears in subordinate clauses after desire, doubt, fear, need, and many impersonals, usually when the subject of the subordinate is different. Learn common triggers: il faut que, je veux que, je doute que…

Il faut qu'il parte avant midi.

PronounFrench
jeabîme
tuabîmes
il/elleabîme
nousabîmions
vousabîmiez
ils/ellesabîment

Imperfect subjunctive (Subjonctif imparfait) Regular

The imparfait du subjonctif is a literary and formal past subjunctive. In modern speech, the present subjunctive usually replaces it for the same meaning.

Bien qu'il fût fatigué, il continua.

PronounFrench
jeabîmasse
tuabîmasses
il/elleabîmât
nousabîmassions
vousabîmassiez
ils/ellesabîmassent

Other forms

Imperative (Impératif) Regular

The imperative is for direct orders and advice to tu, nous, and vous. For many -er verbs, the tu form drops the final -s of the present (parle!); negatives use the subjunctive-like forms in practice.

Fermons la porte, s'il vous plaît !

PronounFrench
tuabîme
nousabîmons
vousabîmez