Conjugations
All six tenses and their examples are shown below. Use the links above to jump to a tense. English translations use the meaning “to lower.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | abaisse | I lower | |
| tu | abaisses | you lower | |
| il / elle / on | abaisse | he / she / it lowerson: we lower / one lowers | |
| nous | abaissons | we lower | |
| vous | abaissez | you lower | |
| ils / elles | abaissent | they lower |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul abaisse le store de la fenêtre.
Paul lowers the window blind.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai abaissé | I lowered | |
| tu | as abaissé | you lowered | |
| il / elle / on | a abaissé | he / she / it loweredon: we lowered / one lowered | |
| nous | avons abaissé | we lowered | |
| vous | avez abaissé | you lowered | |
| ils / elles | ont abaissé | they lowered |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a abaissé le store de la fenêtre.
Yesterday, Paul lowered the window blind.
The passé composé uses avoir. The table shows the unmarked participle; agreement with a preceding direct object is outside this reference.
Back to tense navigation ↑Imperfect Imparfait
Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | abaissais | I used to lower | |
| tu | abaissais | you used to lower | |
| il / elle / on | abaissait | he / she / it used to loweron: we used to lower / one used to lower | |
| nous | abaissions | we used to lower | |
| vous | abaissiez | you used to lower | |
| ils / elles | abaissaient | they used to lower |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul abaissait le store de la fenêtre.
Back then, Paul used to lower the window blind.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | abaisserai | I will lower | |
| tu | abaisseras | you will lower | |
| il / elle / on | abaissera | he / she / it will loweron: we will lower / one will lower | |
| nous | abaisserons | we will lower | |
| vous | abaisserez | you will lower | |
| ils / elles | abaisseront | they will lower |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul abaissera le store de la fenêtre.
Later, Paul will lower the window blind.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | abaisserais | I would lower | |
| tu | abaisserais | you would lower | |
| il / elle / on | abaisserait | he / she / it would loweron: we would lower / one would lower | |
| nous | abaisserions | we would lower | |
| vous | abaisseriez | you would lower | |
| ils / elles | abaisseraient | they would lower |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul abaisserait le store de la fenêtre.
Paul would lower the window blind.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | abaisse | (that) I lower | |
| tu | abaisses | (that) you lower | |
| il / elle / on | abaisse | (that) he / she / it lowerson: (that) we lower / one lowers | |
| nous | abaissions | (that) we lower | |
| vous | abaissiez | (that) you lower | |
| ils / elles | abaissent | (that) they lower |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul abaisse le store de la fenêtre.
It is possible that Paul lowers the window blind.
French forms omit the subject. Use j’ before a vowel sound. Vous is polite singular or plural “you”; on often means “we,” or the general “one.” English wording depends on the context: passé composé can also use “have,” and the imperfect can describe an ongoing action. Subjunctive translations here follow “it is possible that.”
Meaning & usage
- to lower; to reduce; to bring down
- to roll out (the dough)
English glosses are a starting point. The meaning of a verb can change with context, a preposition, or se. Read the full dictionary entry ↗
Meanings and simple conjugation forms adapted from English Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki.org / Wiktextract. Passé composé forms combine the source auxiliary and past participle. Frequency scores from wordfreq 3.1.1 by Robyn Speer and contributors. Adapted data is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Entry source · Sources, download & limitations