aboutir

"To lead to" or "to succeed" — aboutir à describes where an effort, road, or negotiation ends up (un projet qui aboutit, une rue qui aboutit à la place). Used alone, ne pas aboutir means to fail or go nowhere.

• Les négociations ont enfin abouti. — The negotiations finally succeeded.
• Cette rue aboutit à une impasse. — This street leads to a dead end.
• Son projet n'a jamais abouti. — His project never came to anything.

Learners reach for réussir alone for "to succeed" and miss that aboutir specifically frames success as the endpoint of a process — you réussis un examen (a single act), but a negotiation or a plan aboutit (reaches its conclusion).

Often confused with réussir.