baisser

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French baissier, from Vulgar Latin *bassiāre, from Late Latin bassus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɛ.se/ ~ /be.se/
• (Quebec) IPA^(key): /bɛ.se/, /bɛː.se/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

baisser

1. to lower
2. to turn down (as a volume/setting)
3. to go down, fall
4. to fail
5. (reflexive) to lower oneself; to bend over

Conjugation

Conjugation of baisser (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	baisser
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	baissant /bɛ.sɑ̃/ or /be.sɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		baissé /bɛ.se/ or /be.se/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	baisse /bɛs/	baisses /bɛs/	baisse /bɛs/	baissons /bɛ.sɔ̃/ or /be.sɔ̃/	baissez /bɛ.se/ or /be.se/	baissent /bɛs/
	imperfect	baissais /bɛ.sɛ/ or /be.sɛ/	baissais /bɛ.sɛ/ or /be.sɛ/	baissait /bɛ.sɛ/ or /be.sɛ/	baissions /bɛ.sjɔ̃/ or /be.sjɔ̃/	baissiez /bɛ.sje/ or /be.sje/	baissaient /bɛ.sɛ/ or /be.sɛ/
	past historic2	baissai /bɛ.se/ or /be.se/	baissas /bɛ.sa/ or /be.sa/	baissa /bɛ.sa/ or /be.sa/	baissâmes /bɛ.sam/ or /be.sam/	baissâtes /bɛ.sat/ or /be.sat/	baissèrent /bɛ.sɛʁ/ or /be.sɛʁ/
	future	baisserai /bɛ.sʁe/ or /be.sʁe/	baisseras /bɛ.sʁa/ or /be.sʁa/	baissera /bɛ.sʁa/ or /be.sʁa/	baisserons /bɛ.sʁɔ̃/ or /be.sʁɔ̃/	baisserez /bɛ.sʁe/ or /be.sʁe/	baisseront /bɛ.sʁɔ̃/ or /be.sʁɔ̃/
	conditional	baisserais /bɛ.sʁɛ/ or /be.sʁɛ/	baisserais /bɛ.sʁɛ/ or /be.sʁɛ/	baisserait /bɛ.sʁɛ/ or /be.sʁɛ/	baisserions /bɛ.sə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /be.sə.ʁjɔ̃/	baisseriez /bɛ.sə.ʁje/ or /be.sə.ʁje/	baisseraient /bɛ.sʁɛ/ or /be.sʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	baisse /bɛs/	baisses /bɛs/	baisse /bɛs/	baissions /bɛ.sjɔ̃/ or /be.sjɔ̃/	baissiez /bɛ.sje/ or /be.sje/	baissent /bɛs/
	imperfect2	baissasse /bɛ.sas/ or /be.sas/	baissasses /bɛ.sas/ or /be.sas/	baissât /bɛ.sa/ or /be.sa/	baissassions /bɛ.sa.sjɔ̃/ or /be.sa.sjɔ̃/	baissassiez /bɛ.sa.sje/ or /be.sa.sje/	baissassent /bɛ.sas/ or /be.sas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	baisse /bɛs/	—	baissons /bɛ.sɔ̃/ or /be.sɔ̃/	baissez /bɛ.se/ or /be.se/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Conjugation of se baisser (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	se baisser
	compound	s'être + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	se baissant /sə bɛ.sɑ̃/ or /sə be.sɑ̃/
	compound	ayant or étant + past participle
past participle		baissé /bɛ.se/ or /be.se/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	me baisse /mə bɛs/	te baisses /tə bɛs/	se baisse /sə bɛs/	nous baissons /nu bɛ.sɔ̃/ or /nu be.sɔ̃/	vous baissez /vu bɛ.se/ or /vu be.se/	se baissent /sə bɛs/
	imperfect	me baissais /mə bɛ.sɛ/ or /mə be.sɛ/	te baissais /tə bɛ.sɛ/ or /tə be.sɛ/	se baissait /sə bɛ.sɛ/ or /sə be.sɛ/	nous baissions /nu bɛ.sjɔ̃/ or /nu be.sjɔ̃/	vous baissiez /vu bɛ.sje/ or /vu be.sje/	se baissaient /sə bɛ.sɛ/ or /sə be.sɛ/
	past historic2	me baissai /mə bɛ.se/ or /mə be.se/	te baissas /tə bɛ.sa/ or /tə be.sa/	se baissa /sə bɛ.sa/ or /sə be.sa/	nous baissâmes /nu bɛ.sam/ or /nu be.sam/	vous baissâtes /vu bɛ.sat/ or /vu be.sat/	se baissèrent /sə bɛ.sɛʁ/ or /sə be.sɛʁ/
	future	me baisserai /mə bɛ.sʁe/ or /mə be.sʁe/	te baisseras /tə bɛ.sʁa/ or /tə be.sʁa/	se baissera /sə bɛ.sʁa/ or /sə be.sʁa/	nous baisserons /nu bɛ.sʁɔ̃/ or /nu be.sʁɔ̃/	vous baisserez /vu bɛ.sʁe/ or /vu be.sʁe/	se baisseront /sə bɛ.sʁɔ̃/ or /sə be.sʁɔ̃/
	conditional	me baisserais /mə bɛ.sʁɛ/ or /mə be.sʁɛ/	te baisserais /tə bɛ.sʁɛ/ or /tə be.sʁɛ/	se baisserait /sə bɛ.sʁɛ/ or /sə be.sʁɛ/	nous baisserions /nu bɛ.sə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /nu be.sə.ʁjɔ̃/	vous baisseriez /vu bɛ.sə.ʁje/ or /vu be.sə.ʁje/	se baisseraient /sə bɛ.sʁɛ/ or /sə be.sʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of s'être + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of s'être + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of s'être + past participle
	future perfect	future of s'être + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of s'être + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	me baisse /mə bɛs/	te baisses /tə bɛs/	se baisse /sə bɛs/	nous baissions /nu bɛ.sjɔ̃/ or /nu be.sjɔ̃/	vous baissiez /vu bɛ.sje/ or /vu be.sje/	se baissent /sə bɛs/
	imperfect2	me baissasse /mə bɛ.sas/ or /mə be.sas/	te baissasses /tə bɛ.sas/ or /tə be.sas/	se baissât /sə bɛ.sa/ or /sə be.sa/	nous baissassions /nu bɛ.sa.sjɔ̃/ or /nu be.sa.sjɔ̃/	vous baissassiez /vu bɛ.sa.sje/ or /vu be.sa.sje/	se baissassent /sə bɛ.sas/ or /sə be.sas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of s'être + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of s'être + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	baisse-toi /bɛs.twa/	—	baissons-nous /bɛ.sɔ̃.nu/ or /be.sɔ̃.nu/	baissez-vous /bɛ.se.vu/ or /be.se.vu/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of s'être + past participle	—	simple imperative of s'être + past participle	simple imperative of s'être + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• baisser de rideau
• baisser d’un ton
• baisser la garde
• baisser le rideau
• baisser les bras
• baisser sa garde
• tête baissée

 

Related terms

• bas

See also

• baiser

Further reading

• “baisser”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• baisers
• braises

Old French

Verb

baisser

1. Alternative form of baissier

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-ss, *-sss, *-sst are modified to s, s, st. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of baisser (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		baisser			avoir baissé
gerund		en baissant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		baissant
past participle		baissé
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	bais	baisses	baisse	baissons	baissez	baissent
	imperfect	baissoie, baisseie, baissoe, baisseve	baissoies, baisseies, baissoes, baisseves	baissoit, baisseit, baissot, baisseve	baissiiens, baissiens	baissiiez, baissiez	baissoient, baisseient, baissoent, baissevent
	preterite	baissai	baissas	baissa	baissames	baissastes	baisserent
	future	baisserai	baisseras	baissera	baisserons	baisseroiz, baissereiz, baisserez	baisseront
	conditional	baisseroie, baissereie	baisseroies, baissereies	baisseroit, baissereit	baisseriiens, baisseriens	baisseriiez, baisseriez	baisseroient, baissereient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	bais	bais	baist	baissons	baissez	baissent
	imperfect	baissasse	baissasses	baissast	baississons, baississiens	baississoiz, baississez, baississiez	baissassent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	baisse	—	baissons	baissez	—

Swedish

Noun

baisser

1. indefinite plural of baisse