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FRENCH VERB

abuser

to go too far, to take liberties

  • Regular -er verb
  • Past participle: abusé
  • Present participle: abusant

Conjugation

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

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

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

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

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

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

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

Future

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

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

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

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

Present subjunctive

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

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

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

  1. tu go too far!
  2. nous go too far! (let’s)
  3. vous go too far! (plural, or formal)

How to use abuser

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

  1. Present

    Trois parts de gâteau ? Tu abuses, là.

    Three slices of cake? You're pushing it now.

  2. Past

    J'ai abusé du soleil, j'ai le dos tout rouge.

    I overdid the sun, my back is bright red.

  3. Imperfect

    Il abusait de la gentillesse de ses voisins.

    He took advantage of his neighbours' kindness.

  4. Future

    N'ayez pas peur, on n'abusera pas de votre temps.

    Don't worry, we won't take up too much of your time.

  5. Conditional

    Tu n'abuserais pas un peu, avec une quatrième bière ?

    Wouldn't you be pushing it a bit, with a fourth beer?

  6. Present subjunctive

    Je ne veux pas que les enfants abusent des écrans.

    I don't want the kids overdoing screens.

  7. Imperative

    N'abuse pas, c'est la troisième fois cette semaine.

    Don't push it, it's the third time this week.

Good to know

  • Tu abuses ! is you're pushing it!; abuser de quelque chose is to overdo it : il abuse du café; faut pas abuser means let's not overdo it.

Where you hear abuser

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

French · Fluency Level 1

  • Ils abusent, les gens, le samedi. People take liberties, on Saturdays.
  • Le monsieur a abusé, il a doublé tout le monde. The man went too far, he jumped the whole queue.
  • Faut pas abuser, elle est petite, cette boulangerie. Mustn't take liberties, it's a small bakery.
7
The Bakery Queue

Fluency Level 1 · Ils abusent.

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Verbs like this one

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