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 downplay.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | minimise | I downplay | |
| tu | minimises | you downplay | |
| il / elle / on | minimise | he / she / it downplayson: we downplay / one downplays | |
| nous | minimisons | we downplay | |
| vous | minimisez | you downplay | |
| ils / elles | minimisent | they downplay |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul minimise les difficultés du projet.
Paul downplays the project's difficulties.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai minimisé | I downplayed | |
| tu | as minimisé | you downplayed | |
| il / elle / on | a minimisé | he / she / it downplayedon: we downplayed / one downplayed | |
| nous | avons minimisé | we downplayed | |
| vous | avez minimisé | you downplayed | |
| ils / elles | ont minimisé | they downplayed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a minimisé les difficultés du projet.
Yesterday, Paul downplayed the project's difficulties.
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’ | minimisais | I used to downplay | |
| tu | minimisais | you used to downplay | |
| il / elle / on | minimisait | he / she / it used to downplayon: we used to downplay / one used to downplay | |
| nous | minimisions | we used to downplay | |
| vous | minimisiez | you used to downplay | |
| ils / elles | minimisaient | they used to downplay |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul minimisait les difficultés du projet.
Back then, Paul used to downplay the project's difficulties.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | minimiserai | I will downplay | |
| tu | minimiseras | you will downplay | |
| il / elle / on | minimisera | he / she / it will downplayon: we will downplay / one will downplay | |
| nous | minimiserons | we will downplay | |
| vous | minimiserez | you will downplay | |
| ils / elles | minimiseront | they will downplay |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul minimisera les difficultés du projet.
Later, Paul will downplay the project's difficulties.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | minimiserais | I would downplay | |
| tu | minimiserais | you would downplay | |
| il / elle / on | minimiserait | he / she / it would downplayon: we would downplay / one would downplay | |
| nous | minimiserions | we would downplay | |
| vous | minimiseriez | you would downplay | |
| ils / elles | minimiseraient | they would downplay |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul minimiserait les difficultés du projet.
Paul would downplay the project's difficulties.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | minimise | (that) I downplay | |
| tu | minimises | (that) you downplay | |
| il / elle / on | minimise | (that) he / she / it downplayson: (that) we downplay / one downplays | |
| nous | minimisions | (that) we downplay | |
| vous | minimisiez | (that) you downplay | |
| ils / elles | minimisent | (that) they downplay |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul minimise les difficultés du projet.
It is possible that Paul downplays the project's difficulties.
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 lessen the importance of in the mind of people; to belittle, downplay, understate.
- To reduce the effect of; to minimize.
- To minimize the file size or dimension of.
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