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 slow down.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ralentis | I slow down | |
| tu | ralentis | you slow down | |
| il / elle / on | ralentit | he / she / it slows downon: we slow down / one slows down | |
| nous | ralentissons | we slow down | |
| vous | ralentissez | you slow down | |
| ils / elles | ralentissent | they slow down |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Le conducteur ralentit à l'approche du village.
The driver slows down on approaching the village.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai ralenti | I slowed down | |
| tu | as ralenti | you slowed down | |
| il / elle / on | a ralenti | he / she / it slowed downon: we slowed down / one slowed down | |
| nous | avons ralenti | we slowed down | |
| vous | avez ralenti | you slowed down | |
| ils / elles | ont ralenti | they slowed down |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, le conducteur a ralenti à l'approche du village.
Yesterday, the driver slowed down on approaching the village.
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’ | ralentissais | I used to slow down | |
| tu | ralentissais | you used to slow down | |
| il / elle / on | ralentissait | he / she / it used to slow downon: we used to slow down / one used to slow down | |
| nous | ralentissions | we used to slow down | |
| vous | ralentissiez | you used to slow down | |
| ils / elles | ralentissaient | they used to slow down |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, le conducteur ralentissait à l'approche du village.
Back then, the driver used to slow down on approaching the village.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ralentirai | I will slow down | |
| tu | ralentiras | you will slow down | |
| il / elle / on | ralentira | he / she / it will slow downon: we will slow down / one will slow down | |
| nous | ralentirons | we will slow down | |
| vous | ralentirez | you will slow down | |
| ils / elles | ralentiront | they will slow down |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, le conducteur ralentira à l'approche du village.
Later, the driver will slow down on approaching the village.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ralentirais | I would slow down | |
| tu | ralentirais | you would slow down | |
| il / elle / on | ralentirait | he / she / it would slow downon: we would slow down / one would slow down | |
| nous | ralentirions | we would slow down | |
| vous | ralentiriez | you would slow down | |
| ils / elles | ralentiraient | they would slow down |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Le conducteur ralentirait à l'approche du village.
The driver would slow down on approaching the village.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ralentisse | (that) I slow down | |
| tu | ralentisses | (that) you slow down | |
| il / elle / on | ralentisse | (that) he / she / it slows downon: (that) we slow down / one slows down | |
| nous | ralentissions | (that) we slow down | |
| vous | ralentissiez | (that) you slow down | |
| ils / elles | ralentissent | (that) they slow down |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que le conducteur ralentisse à l'approche du village.
It is possible that the driver slows down on approaching the village.
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 slow down
- to abate
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