Absoudre means “to absolve” — to release someone from a sin, a fault, or legal responsibility. It belongs to religious and legal French, and it is one of the few verbs that is genuinely defective: two of its tenses do not exist.
| Infinitive | absoudre |
|---|---|
| English | to absolve, to clear of blame |
| Verb group | 3rd group (irregular) |
| Auxiliary | avoir |
| Past participle | absous |
| Present participle | absolvant |
| j' | absous | I absolve |
|---|---|---|
| tu | absous | you absolve |
| il/elle/on | absout | he/she absolves |
| nous | absolvons | we absolve |
| vous | absolvez | you absolve |
| ils/elles | absolvent | they absolve |
| j' | absolvais | I used to absolve |
|---|---|---|
| tu | absolvais | you used to absolve |
| il/elle/on | absolvait | he/she used to absolve |
| nous | absolvions | we used to absolve |
| vous | absolviez | you used to absolve |
| ils/elles | absolvaient | they used to absolve |
| j' | ai absous | I have absolved |
|---|---|---|
| tu | as absous | you have absolved |
| il/elle/on | a absous | he/she has absolved |
| nous | avons absous | we have absolved |
| vous | avez absous | you have absolved |
| ils/elles | ont absous | they have absolved |
| j' | absoudrai | I will absolve |
|---|---|---|
| tu | absoudras | you will absolve |
| il/elle/on | absoudra | he/she will absolve |
| nous | absoudrons | we will absolve |
| vous | absoudrez | you will absolve |
| ils/elles | absoudront | they will absolve |
| j' | avais absous | I had absolved |
|---|---|---|
| tu | avais absous | you had absolved |
| il/elle/on | avait absous | he/she had absolved |
| nous | avions absous | we had absolved |
| vous | aviez absous | you had absolved |
| ils/elles | avaient absous | they had absolved |
| j' | aurai absous | I will have absolved |
|---|---|---|
| tu | auras absous | you will have absolved |
| il/elle/on | aura absous | he/she will have absolved |
| nous | aurons absous | we will have absolved |
| vous | aurez absous | you will have absolved |
| ils/elles | auront absous | they will have absolved |
| j' | absolve | (that) I absolve |
|---|---|---|
| tu | absolves | (that) you absolve |
| il/elle/on | absolve | (that) he/she absolve |
| nous | absolvions | (that) we absolve |
| vous | absolviez | (that) you absolve |
| ils/elles | absolvent | (that) they absolve |
| j' | aie absous | (that) I have absolved |
|---|---|---|
| tu | aies absous | (that) you have absolved |
| il/elle/on | ait absous | (that) he/she has absolved |
| nous | ayons absous | (that) we have absolved |
| vous | ayez absous | (that) you have absolved |
| ils/elles | aient absous | (that) they have absolved |
| j' | absoudrais | I would absolve |
|---|---|---|
| tu | absoudrais | you would absolve |
| il/elle/on | absoudrait | he/she would absolve |
| nous | absoudrions | we would absolve |
| vous | absoudriez | you would absolve |
| ils/elles | absoudraient | they would absolve |
| j' | aurais absous | I would have absolved |
|---|---|---|
| tu | aurais absous | you would have absolved |
| il/elle/on | aurait absous | he/she would have absolved |
| nous | aurions absous | we would have absolved |
| vous | auriez absous | you would have absolved |
| ils/elles | auraient absous | they would have absolved |
| (tu) | absous | absolve |
|---|---|---|
| (nous) | absolvons | let's absolve |
| (vous) | absolvez | absolve |
| Infinitif | absoudre | to absolve |
|---|---|---|
| Participe présent | absolvant | absolving |
| Participe passé | absous | absolved |
| Infinitif passé | avoir absous | to have absolved |
| Participe passé composé | ayant absous | having absolved |
| j' | eus absous | I had absolved |
|---|---|---|
| tu | eus absous | you had absolved |
| il/elle/on | eut absous | he/she had absolved |
| nous | eûmes absous | we had absolved |
| vous | eûtes absous | you had absolved |
| ils/elles | eurent absous | they had absolved |
| j' | eusse absous | (that) I had absolved |
|---|---|---|
| tu | eusses absous | (that) you had absolved |
| il/elle/on | eût absous | (that) he/she had absolved |
| nous | eussions absous | (that) we had absolved |
| vous | eussiez absous | (that) you had absolved |
| ils/elles | eussent absous | (that) they had absolved |
This verb is defective. It has no passé simple, subjonctif imparfait. Those tenses are omitted rather than filled with invented forms.
You will meet absoudre in three places: the confessional, where a priest absolves a penitent; the courtroom, where a court clears someone of blame; and figurative writing, where a person's conduct is or is not excused. It is not a conversational verb. What makes it worth a page is that it is irregular in an unusual way and that most conjugation tables print forms for it that no French speaker uses.
Absoudre has two stems. The singular present drops down to absou- (j'absous, tu absous, il absout), while the plural switches to absolv- (nous absolvons, vous absolvez, ils absolvent). That absolv- stem carries the imparfait (j'absolvais), the present participle (absolvant) and the whole subjunctive (que j'absolve). The future and conditional are built regularly on the infinitive (j'absoudrai, j'absoudrais). Absoudre is also defective: it has no passé simple and no subjonctif imparfait, so forms like “il absolut” do not exist. Its past participle is the odd pair absous in the masculine and absoute in the feminine — note that the s disappears rather than doubling.
Regularising the past participle
✗ Le tribunal l'a absoudu.
✓ Le tribunal l'a absous. — The court cleared him.
Verbs in -oudre do not take -u in the participle the way vendre takes vendu. Absoudre gives absous, which looks like the present tense j'absous. Résoudre behaves the same way with résolu, so the family is not even internally consistent — absous has to be learned on its own.
Losing the -lv- stem in the plural
✗ Nous absoudons nos erreurs trop vite.
✓ Nous absolvons nos erreurs trop vite. — We forgive our own mistakes too quickly.
The infinitive's -oudre is not the stem. Everywhere the ending is pronounced — nous, vous, ils, the imparfait, the subjunctive — absoudre uses absolv-. Only the three singular present forms and the future keep a d or nothing at all.
Forgetting that the feminine drops the s
✗ Elle a été absous par le tribunal.
✓ Elle a été absoute par le tribunal. — She was cleared by the court.
The masculine participle already ends in s, so learners assume the feminine adds an e to it. It does not: absous becomes absoute, with the s replaced by a t. The same pattern shows up in dissous / dissoute.