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 reduce.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | diminue | I reduce | |
| tu | diminues | you reduce | |
| il / elle / on | diminue | he / she / it reduceson: we reduce / one reduces | |
| nous | diminuons | we reduce | |
| vous | diminuez | you reduce | |
| ils / elles | diminuent | they reduce |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul diminue la quantité de sel dans la soupe.
Paul reduces the amount of salt in the soup.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai diminué | I reduced | |
| tu | as diminué | you reduced | |
| il / elle / on | a diminué | he / she / it reducedon: we reduced / one reduced | |
| nous | avons diminué | we reduced | |
| vous | avez diminué | you reduced | |
| ils / elles | ont diminué | they reduced |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a diminué la quantité de sel dans la soupe.
Yesterday, Paul reduced the amount of salt in the soup.
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’ | diminuais | I used to reduce | |
| tu | diminuais | you used to reduce | |
| il / elle / on | diminuait | he / she / it used to reduceon: we used to reduce / one used to reduce | |
| nous | diminuions | we used to reduce | |
| vous | diminuiez | you used to reduce | |
| ils / elles | diminuaient | they used to reduce |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul diminuait la quantité de sel dans la soupe.
Back then, Paul used to reduce the amount of salt in the soup.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | diminuerai | I will reduce | |
| tu | diminueras | you will reduce | |
| il / elle / on | diminuera | he / she / it will reduceon: we will reduce / one will reduce | |
| nous | diminuerons | we will reduce | |
| vous | diminuerez | you will reduce | |
| ils / elles | diminueront | they will reduce |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul diminuera la quantité de sel dans la soupe.
Later, Paul will reduce the amount of salt in the soup.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | diminuerais | I would reduce | |
| tu | diminuerais | you would reduce | |
| il / elle / on | diminuerait | he / she / it would reduceon: we would reduce / one would reduce | |
| nous | diminuerions | we would reduce | |
| vous | diminueriez | you would reduce | |
| ils / elles | diminueraient | they would reduce |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul diminuerait la quantité de sel dans la soupe.
Paul would reduce the amount of salt in the soup.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | diminue | (that) I reduce | |
| tu | diminues | (that) you reduce | |
| il / elle / on | diminue | (that) he / she / it reduceson: (that) we reduce / one reduces | |
| nous | diminuions | (that) we reduce | |
| vous | diminuiez | (that) you reduce | |
| ils / elles | diminuent | (that) they reduce |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul diminue la quantité de sel dans la soupe.
It is possible that Paul reduces the amount of salt in the soup.
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 diminish
- to decrease
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