aboyer

French edit

Etymology edit

From Old French abayer, abaüer, probably of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Latin baubari, Italian abbaiare.

Pronunciation edit

IPA^(key): /a.bwa.je/
Audio (file)

Verb edit

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 edit

To mark the target of the barking, the usual preposition is après; less common is contre, while à is dated.

Conjugation edit

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	compound	avoir + past participle
infinitive	simple	aboyer
present participle or gerund¹	simple	aboyant /a.bwa.jɑ̃/
present participle or gerund¹	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/
(simple tenses)	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
(compound tenses)	pluperfect²	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	~~nous~~	~~vous~~	–
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: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).