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FRENCH VERB

abandonner

to give up

  • #374 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Past participle: abandonné
  • Present participle: abandonnant

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

  1. je I give up
  2. tu you give up
  3. il, elle, on he/she gives up
  4. nous we give up
  5. vous you give up
  6. ils, elles they give up

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

  1. je I gave up
  2. tu you gave up
  3. il, elle, on he/she gave up
  4. nous we gave up
  5. vous you gave up
  6. ils, elles they gave up

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. je I used to give up
  2. tu you used to give up
  3. il, elle, on he/she used to give up
  4. nous we used to give up
  5. vous you used to give up
  6. ils, elles they used to give up

Future

Futur simple · plans; in speech, “je vais parler” is just as common

  1. je I will give up
  2. tu you will give up
  3. il, elle, on he/she will give up
  4. nous we will give up
  5. vous you will give up
  6. ils, elles they will give up

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

  1. je I would give up
  2. tu you would give up
  3. il, elle, on he/she would give up
  4. nous we would give up
  5. vous you would give up
  6. ils, elles they would give up

Present subjunctive

Subjonctif présent · wishes, doubts, “il faut que …”

  1. je (that) I give up
  2. tu (that) you give up
  3. il, elle, on (that) he/she give up
  4. nous (that) we give up
  5. vous (that) you give up
  6. ils, elles (that) they give up

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

  1. tu give up!
  2. nous give up! (let’s)
  3. vous give up! (plural, or formal)

How to use abandonner

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    J'abandonne, ce puzzle est trop dur pour moi.

    I give up, this puzzle is too hard for me.

  2. Past

    Elle a abandonné ses études pour voyager.

    She dropped out of her studies to travel.

  3. Imperfect

    Il abandonnait chaque sport au bout d'un mois.

    He gave up every sport after a month.

  4. Future

    On n'abandonnera pas avant d'avoir trouvé le chat.

    We won't give up before we've found the cat.

  5. Conditional

    À ta place, je n'abandonnerais pas si près du but.

    In your shoes, I wouldn't give up so close to the goal.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Je ne veux pas que tu abandonnes la guitare.

    I don't want you to give up the guitar.

  7. Imperative

    N'abandonnez pas vos bagages sans surveillance.

    Don't leave your luggage unattended.

Good to know

  • Abandonner is also to leave a pet or a place behind : abandonner un chien.

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: regular -er verb.