Conjugation of the French Verb Grossir (to Gain Weight)

How would you say "to gain weight" in French? For this, we use the verb grossir, which can also mean "to become fat." That's easy enough, but to use it properly in sentences, the verb needs to be conjugated. This lesson will show you how to do so in the simplest and most common forms.

Grossir can take on other meanings besides the literal weight-related one. Depending on the context, grossir also means "to swell," "to magnify," "to enlarge," or "to exaggerate." Besides, you might be interested in studying the verb maigrir, meaning "to lose weight," which is actually conjugated in the same way as grossir.

Conjugating the French Verb Grossir

When we want to say "gained weight" or "is gaining weight" in French, a verb conjugation is required. Since grossir is a regular -IR verb, this is relatively easy, especially if you've already had a few conjugation lessons. That's because grossir follows a common pattern.

Any French conjugation begins by identifying the verb stem and for grossir, that is gross-. With that, we then add a new ending for each tense of the verb as well as each subject pronoun within the tense. For instance, "I am gaining weight" is je grossis, while "we will become fat" is nous grossirons.

It's actually quite simple, and practicing these in context will help you memorize all the words.

Present Indicative

Je	grossis	Je fait de l'exercice et je grossis quand même.	I exercise but I am still gaining weight.
Tu	grossis	Tu grossis les faits.	You are overstating the facts.
*Il/Elle/On*	grossit	Cet industrie grossit.	This industry is expanding.
*Nous*	grossissons	Nous grossissons à vue d'œil. Aujourd'hui déjà, un enfant sur cinq est trop gros.	We (as a society) are putting on weight unchecked; today, already one in five children is too fat.
*Vous*	grossissez	Une fois que vous êtes devenu gros, vous grossissez encore plus.	Once you are big, it is easy to get even bigger. (success-wise)
*Ils/Elles*	grossissent	Mes tomates grossissent incroyablement bien.	My tomatoes are growing incredibly well.

Compound Past Indicative

The passé composé is a past tense that can be translated as the simple past or the present perfect. For the verb grossir, it is formed with the auxiliary verb avoir and the past participle grossi.

J’	ai grossi	Après avoir débuté ce travail, j'ai grossi continuellement.	After starting this job, I kept putting on weight.
Tu	as grossi	Tu as grossi relativement vite.	You put on weight in a relatively short period.
*Il/Elle/On*	a grossi	La ville a grossi rapidement.	The town grew quickly.
*Nous*	avons grossi	Nous avons grossi nos rangs de 10 nouveaux gendarmes.	We added 10 new police officers.
*Vous*	avez grossi	Il est fondamental de comprendre pourquoi vous avez grossi au fil des ans.	It is of primary importance that you understand why you put on weight over the years.
*Ils/Elles*	ont grossi	Les bateaux de pêche ont grossi et il nous fallait faire entrer plus d'eau.	The fishing boats got bigger and we needed to get more water to come in.

Imperfect Indicative

The imperfect tense is another form of a past tense, but it is used to talk about ongoing or repeated actions in the past. L'imparfait of the verb grossir can be translated to English as "was gaining weight," "would gain weight," or "used to gain weight," although it can sometimes also be translated as the simple "gained weight," depending on the context.

Je	grossissais	Au plus je devenais célèbre, au plus je grossissais.	The more I became famous, the more I gained weight.
Tu	grossissais	Que se passerait-il si tu grossissais?	What would happen if you gained weight?
*Il/Elle/On*	grossissait	Elle mangeait, mais pourtant elle ne grossissait pas.	She ate, yet she wasn't putting on weight.
*Nous*	grossissions	Il semble tout à fait logique que nous grossissions plus en hiver.	It seems completely logical that we would gain more weight in winter.
*Vous*	grossissiez	Ils ont peur que vous ne grossissiez pas.	They are afraid you won't gain weight.
*Ils/Elles*	grossissaient	Plus tard, ils grossissaient leurs millions dans les affaires.	Later, they would grow their millions in the business.

Simple Future Indicative

To talk about the future in English, in most cases we simply add the modal verb "will." In French, however, the future tense is formed by adding different endings to the infinitive.

Je	grossirai	La phrase "moins je mangerai, moins je grossirai," n'est pas toujours vraie.	The expression, "the less I eat, the less I gain weight," isn't always true.
Tu	grossiras	Si tu fais de l'exercice, tu ne grossiras pas.	If you exercise, you won't gain weight.
*Il/Elle/On*	grossira	Son affaire grossira sans problèmes.	His business will grow without issues.
*Nous*	grossirons	Je crois que nous grossirons cette année notre dette publique.	I think we will grow our public debt this year.
*Vous*	grossirez	Si vous brûlez les calories que vous absorbez, vous ne grossirez pas.	If you burn the calories that you take in, you won't gain weight.
*Ils/Elles*	grossiront	L'année prochaine, 161 000 enfants grossiront les rangs de l'enseignement public.	Next year, 161,000 more students will be included in the public education system.

Near Future Indicative

Another form of a future tense is the near future, the futur proche, which is the equivalent of the English "going to + verb." In French, the near future is formed with the present tense conjugation of the verb aller (to go) + the infinitive (grossir).

Je	vais grossir	Je ne vais pas grossir assez comme ça.	I am not going to gain enough weight like this.
Tu	vas grossir	Tu vas grossir si tu manges ce gâteau.	You are going to gain weight if you eat this cake.
*Il/Elle/On*	va grossir	Le pourcentage de réussite aux examens de l'état va grossir.	The success rate on state exams is going to rise.
*Nous*	allons grossir	Nous n'allons jamais grossir.	We are never going to gain weight.
*Vous*	allez grossir	Vous allez grossir les rangs de ceux qui ont connu le mauvais et le seul côté de la guerre.	You are going to join those who knew the ugly and only side of war.
*Ils/Elles*	vont grossir	Si vous faites de musculation, vos muscles vont grossir.	If you work out, your muscles are going to get bigger.

Conditional

The conditional mood in French is equivalent to the English "would + verb." Notice that the endings it adds to the infinitive are very similar to those in the imperfect indicative.

Je	grossirais	Je grossirais si je voulais.	I could gain weight if I wanted to.
Tu	grossirais	Tu grossirais les rangs de nos participants si tu venais.	You would be helping us grow the number of our participants if you came.
*Il/Elle/On*	grossirait	Elle grossirait son industrie en faisant cela.	She would grow her industry by doing that.
*Nous*	grossirions	Nous grossirions notre conseil si nous pouvions.	We would expand our board if we could.
*Vous*	grossiriez	Vous grossiriez votre portefeuille si vous continuiez à épargner autant que vous le pouviez.	You would grow your portfolio/wallet if you continued to save as much as you could.
*Ils/Elles*	grossiraient	Elles grossiraient leur compte bancaire si elles pouvaient travailler plus.	They would grow their bank account if they could work more.

Present Subjunctive

The subjunctive mood conjugation of grossir, which comes in after the expression que + person, adds the same endings as the present indicative and past imperfect of regular -er verbs, but as with all regular -ir verbs, the stem has an additional ss added to it and grossi is changed to grossiss-.

*Que je*	grossisse	Il est nécessaire que je grossisse.	I need to gain weight.
*Que tu*	grossisses	Je veux que tu grossisses notre production.	I want you to increase our production.
*Qu'il/elle/on*	grossisse	Il est possible que cela grossisse dans l'oreille moyenne.	It may grow in the inner ear.
*Que nous*	grossissions	Il exige que nous grossissions le volume de prêts du Fonds.	He requires us to increase the Fund lending.
*Que vous*	grossissiez	Il est essentiel que vous grossissiez le groupe de vos souivants.	It is essential for you to grow your following.
*Qu'ils/elles*	grossissent	Elle a donné l'ordre qu'ils grossissent le texte pour les plus agés.	She ordered them to enlarge the text for the elderly.

Imperative

The imperative mood is used to express demands, requests, direct exclamations, or to give commands, both positive and negative. They have the same verb form, but the negative commands include ne...pas, ne...plus, or ne...jamais around the verb.

Positive Commands

Tu	grossis!	Grossis ton affaire!	Grow your business!
*Nous*	grossissons!	Grossissons notre budget!	Let's grow our budget!
*Vous*	grossissez!	Grossissez votre impact!	Grow your impact!

Negative Commands

Tu	ne grossis pas!	Ne grossis plus tes dépenses!	Don't overgrow your expenses!
*Nous*	ne grossissons pas!	Ne grossissons pas! Ce n'est pas bon pour la santé.	Let's not gain weight! It's not healthy.
*Vous*	ne grossissez pas!	Ne grossissez pas les rangs de nos adversaires!	Don't add to the number of our opponents!

Present Participle/Gerund

One of the uses of the present participle is to form the gerund (usually preceded by the preposition en), which can be used to talk about simultaneous actions. Otherwise, present participle is also used as a verb, adjective, or a noun.

Present Participle/Gerund of Grossir: grossissant

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Team, ThoughtCo. "How to Conjugate the French Verb Grossir." ThoughtCo, Dec. 6, 2021, thoughtco.com/grossir-to-gain-weight-become-fat-1370389. Team, ThoughtCo. (2021, December 6). How to Conjugate the French Verb Grossir. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/grossir-to-gain-weight-become-fat-1370389 Team, ThoughtCo. "How to Conjugate the French Verb Grossir." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/grossir-to-gain-weight-become-fat-1370389 (accessed April 19, 2024).