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’ | baisse | I lower | |
| tu | baisses | you lower | |
| il / elle / on | baisse | he / she / it lowerson: we lower / one lowers | |
| nous | baissons | we lower | |
| vous | baissez | you lower | |
| ils / elles | baissent | they lower |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul baisse le volume de la radio.
Paul lowers the volume of the radio.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai baissé | I lowered | |
| tu | as baissé | you lowered | |
| il / elle / on | a baissé | he / she / it loweredon: we lowered / one lowered | |
| nous | avons baissé | we lowered | |
| vous | avez baissé | you lowered | |
| ils / elles | ont baissé | they lowered |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a baissé le volume de la radio.
Yesterday, Paul lowered the volume of the radio.
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’ | baissais | I used to lower | |
| tu | baissais | you used to lower | |
| il / elle / on | baissait | he / she / it used to loweron: we used to lower / one used to lower | |
| nous | baissions | we used to lower | |
| vous | baissiez | you used to lower | |
| ils / elles | baissaient | they used to lower |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul baissait le volume de la radio.
Back then, Paul used to lower the volume of the radio.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | baisserai | I will lower | |
| tu | baisseras | you will lower | |
| il / elle / on | baissera | he / she / it will loweron: we will lower / one will lower | |
| nous | baisserons | we will lower | |
| vous | baisserez | you will lower | |
| ils / elles | baisseront | they will lower |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul baissera le volume de la radio.
Later, Paul will lower the volume of the radio.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | baisserais | I would lower | |
| tu | baisserais | you would lower | |
| il / elle / on | baisserait | he / she / it would loweron: we would lower / one would lower | |
| nous | baisserions | we would lower | |
| vous | baisseriez | you would lower | |
| ils / elles | baisseraient | they would lower |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul baisserait le volume de la radio.
Paul would lower the volume of the radio.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | baisse | (that) I lower | |
| tu | baisses | (that) you lower | |
| il / elle / on | baisse | (that) he / she / it lowerson: (that) we lower / one lowers | |
| nous | baissions | (that) we lower | |
| vous | baissiez | (that) you lower | |
| ils / elles | baissent | (that) they lower |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul baisse le volume de la radio.
It is possible that Paul lowers the volume of the radio.
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 turn down (as a volume/setting)
- to go down, fall
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