rabaisser — French conjugation

to lower

Frequency#849Regular

Indicative

Present (Présent) Regular

Use the présent for habits, what is true now, and what is about to happen soon. A single set of endings covers what English often splits into “I speak” and “I am speaking”.

Elle parle arabe et français.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jerabaisseI lower
turabaissesyou lower
il/ellerabaissehe/she/it lowers
nousrabaissonswe lower
vousrabaissezyou (pl.) lower
ils/ellesrabaissentthey lower

Simple past (Passé simple) Regular

The passé simple narrates completed past events in a literary or very formal style. In everyday conversation people use the passé composé instead, so you mostly meet this form in books and journalism.

Ils virent le roi s'approcher.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jerabaissaiI lowered
turabaissasyou lowered
il/ellerabaissahe/she/it lowered
nousrabaissâmeswe lowered
vousrabaissâtesyou (pl.) lowered
ils/ellesrabaissèrentthey lowered

Imperfect (Imparfait) Regular

The imparfait describes ongoing or repeated past actions and sets the background — how things were, what used to happen, weather, feelings. The passé composé, by contrast, marks single completed events.

Quand j'étais petit, j'allais souvent à la piscine.

PronounFrench
jerabaissais
turabaissais
il/ellerabaissait
nousrabaissions
vousrabaissiez
ils/ellesrabaissaient

Conditional (Conditionnel) Regular

The conditionnel is for polite questions and requests, “would”-type hypotheticals, and what someone said would happen. It is also the usual consequent clause in si + imparfait → conditionnel patterns.

Pourriez-vous répéter, s'il vous plaît ?

PronounFrenchEnglish
jerabaisseraisI would lower
turabaisseraisyou would lower
il/ellerabaisseraithe/she/it would lower
nousrabaisserionswe would lower
vousrabaisseriezyou (pl.) would lower
ils/ellesrabaisseraientthey would lower

Future (Futur) Regular

The futur is for future plans and objective predictions. In speech, aller + infinitive is often clearer for the immediate future, while the simple future is common for facts further ahead or in writing.

Demain, nous dînerons chez eux.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jerabaisseraiI will lower
turabaisserasyou will lower
il/ellerabaisserahe/she/it will lower
nousrabaisseronswe will lower
vousrabaisserezyou (pl.) will lower
ils/ellesrabaisserontthey will lower

Present perfect (Passé composé) Regular

The passé composé is the main spoken past for completed, bounded actions (often with a time adverb). Use avoir with most verbs; être is required for a fixed group of motion/inchange and all pronominal verbs, with participle agreement when necessary.

Elle est venue tôt, puis elle a téléphoné.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jej'ai rabaisséI have lowered
tutu as rabaisséyou have lowered
il/elleil/elle a rabaisséhe/she/it has lowered
nousnous avons rabaisséwe have lowered
vousvous avez rabaisséyou (pl.) have lowered
ils/ellesils/elles ont rabaisséthey have lowered

Pluperfect (Plus-que-parfait) Regular

The plus-que-parfait is the “earlier past”: one action was already over before another past moment. It answers “had already” when a story is anchored in a past time.

Déjà, il avait fini quand je suis arrivé.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jej'avais rabaisséI had lowered
tutu avais rabaisséyou had lowered
il/elleil/elle avait rabaisséhe/she/it had lowered
nousnous avions rabaisséwe had lowered
vousvous aviez rabaisséyou (pl.) had lowered
ils/ellesils/elles avaient rabaisséthey had lowered

Conditional perfect (Conditionnel passé) Regular

The conditionnel passé states what would have been true, plans that failed, and unreal past if-clauses (often with si + plus-que-parfait in the apodose).

J'aurais dit oui, mais c'était impossible.

PronounFrench
jej'aurais rabaissé
tutu aurais rabaissé
il/elleil/elle aurait rabaissé
nousnous aurions rabaissé
vousvous auriez rabaissé
ils/ellesils/elles auraient rabaissé

Future perfect (Futur antérieur) Regular

The futur antérieur marks an action that will be finished before a later future moment (by then I will have…). It can also suggest a conjecture about a recent past fact in formal or literary use.

D'ici samedi, j'aurai lu le rapport.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jej'aurai rabaisséI will have lowered
tutu auras rabaisséyou will have lowered
il/elleil/elle aura rabaisséhe/she/it will have lowered
nousnous aurons rabaisséwe will have lowered
vousvous aurez rabaisséyou (pl.) will have lowered
ils/ellesils/elles auront rabaisséthey will have lowered

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Regular

The present subjunctive appears in subordinate clauses after desire, doubt, fear, need, and many impersonals, usually when the subject of the subordinate is different. Learn common triggers: il faut que, je veux que, je doute que…

Il faut qu'il parte avant midi.

PronounFrench
jerabaisse
turabaisses
il/ellerabaisse
nousrabaissions
vousrabaissiez
ils/ellesrabaissent

Imperfect subjunctive (Subjonctif imparfait) Regular

The imparfait du subjonctif is a literary and formal past subjunctive. In modern speech, the present subjunctive usually replaces it for the same meaning.

Bien qu'il fût fatigué, il continua.

PronounFrench
jerabaissasse
turabaissasses
il/ellerabaissât
nousrabaissassions
vousrabaissassiez
ils/ellesrabaissassent

Other forms

Imperative (Impératif) Regular

The imperative is for direct orders and advice to tu, nous, and vous. For many -er verbs, the tu form drops the final -s of the present (parle!); negatives use the subjunctive-like forms in practice.

Fermons la porte, s'il vous plaît !

PronounFrench
turabaisse
nousrabaissons
vousrabaissez