aboyer
French
Etymology
From Old French abayer, abaüer, probably of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Latin baubari, Italian abbaiare.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /a.bwa.je/
Audio (file)
Verb
aboyer
- (intransitive, of a dog) to bark
- (intransitive) to scream at or inveigh against somebody
- (transitive, usually derogatory) to scream or yell in short bouts; to bark
- Il aboie des ordres sans s'arrêter pour respirer
- He barks orders without pausing to breathe.
Usage notes
- To mark the target of the barking, the usual preposition is après; less common is contre, while à is dated.
Conjugation
This verb is part of a large group of -er verbs that conjugate like noyer or ennuyer. These verbs always replace the 'y' with an 'i' before a silent 'e'.
Conjugation of aboyer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | aboyer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | aboyant /a.bwa.jɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | aboyé /a.bwa.je/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | aboie /a.bwa/ | aboies /a.bwa/ | aboie /a.bwa/ | aboyons /a.bwa.jɔ̃/ | aboyez /a.bwa.je/ | aboient /a.bwa/ |
| imperfect | aboyais /a.bwa.jɛ/ | aboyais /a.bwa.jɛ/ | aboyait /a.bwa.jɛ/ | aboyions /a.bwaj.jɔ̃/ | aboyiez /a.bwaj.je/ | aboyaient /a.bwa.jɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | aboyai /a.bwa.je/ | aboyas /a.bwa.ja/ | aboya /a.bwa.ja/ | aboyâmes /a.bwa.jam/ | aboyâtes /a.bwa.jat/ | aboyèrent /a.bwa.jɛʁ/ | |
| future | aboierai /a.bwa.ʁe/ | aboieras /a.bwa.ʁa/ | aboiera /a.bwa.ʁa/ | aboierons /a.bwa.ʁɔ̃/ | aboierez /a.bwa.ʁe/ | aboieront /a.bwa.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | aboierais /a.bwa.ʁɛ/ | aboierais /a.bwa.ʁɛ/ | aboierait /a.bwa.ʁɛ/ | aboierions /a.bwa.ʁjɔ̃/ | aboieriez /a.bwa.ʁje/ | aboieraient /a.bwa.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 | aboie /a.bwa/ | aboies /a.bwa/ | aboie /a.bwa/ | aboyions /a.bwaj.jɔ̃/ | aboyiez /a.bwaj.je/ | aboient /a.bwa/ |
| imperfect2 | aboyasse /a.bwa.jas/ | aboyasses /a.bwa.jas/ | aboyât /a.bwa.ja/ | aboyassions /a.bwa.ja.sjɔ̃/ | aboyassiez /a.bwa.ja.sje/ | aboyassent /a.bwa.jas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | aboie /a.bwa/ | — | aboyons /a.bwa.jɔ̃/ | aboyez /a.bwa.je/ | — | |
| 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:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Derived terms
- aboyeur
- chien qui aboie ne mord pas
- les chiens aboient, la caravane passe
Further reading
- “aboyer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.