How to Conjugate Maigrir (to Lose Weight, Become Thin)

You've lost weight and are excited to tell everyone...in French. What do you do? Use the verb maigrir, which means "to lose weight" or "become thin." The trick is that you need to conjugate maigrir in order to say "lost weight" or "am losing weight." A quick French lesson will show you how that's done.

Conjugations of the French Verb Maigrir

French verbs are a little tricky because there are more words to memorize than there are in English. That's because the verb ending changes with each subject pronoun as well as each tense. However, they do become easier with each new conjugation you learn.

Maigrir is a regular -ir verb and it follows a relatively common verb conjugation pattern. If you've worked with words like finir (to finish), choisir (to choose), or many other verbs that end in -ir, then this should look familiar.

Using the tables below, pair the subject pronoun of your sentence with the appropriate tense. For instance, "I am losing weight" in the first person of present tense is je maigris, while the future "we will lose weight" is nous maigrirons. You can use the example sentences to make memorizing of these conjugations a little easier.

Present Indicative

Je	maigris	Je maigris	I am on a diet.
Tu	maigris	Toi, tu maigris aussi?	You're on a diet, too?
Il/Elle/On	maigrit	Sa barbe le maigrit.	His beard makes him look thinner.
Nous	maigrissons	Nous maigrissons ensemble. C'est plus facile comme ça.	We are dieting together. It's easier that way.
Vous	maigrissez	Vous maigrissez un peu chaque jour.	You are getting thinner every day.
Ils/Elles	maigrissent	Mes économies maigrissent à vue d'œil.	My savings are disappearing by the minute.

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 maigrir, it is formed with the auxiliary verb avoir and the past participle maigri​.

J'	ai maigri	Je n'ai pas maigri beacoup.	I didn't lose much weight.
Tu	as maigri	Tu as maigri trop vite. Ce n'est pas bon.	You lost weight too fast. That's not good.
Il/Elle/On	a maigri	Elle a beaucoup maigri du visage.	Her face got a lot thinner.
Nous	avons maigri	Nous avons maigri 3kg depuis la semaine dernière.	We lost 3kg since last week.
Vous	avez maigri	Vous n'avez rien maigri.	You didn't lose any weight.
Ils/Elles	ont maigri	Les gens qui ont maigri grâce à ma méthode sont en très bonne santé.	People who lost weight thanks to my method are very healthy.

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 maigrir can be translated to English as "was slimming down" or "used to slim down," although it can sometimes also be translated as the simple "lost weight" or "slimmed down," depending on the context.

Je	maigrissais	Je maigrissais d'une façon inquiétante.	I was losing weight in a worrisome way.
Tu	maigrissais	Si tu maigrissais, je ne te parlerais plus.	If you lost weight, I wouldn't talk to you anymore.
Il/Elle/On	maigrissait	Et si on maigrissait sans faire de régimes?	And if we started losing weight without dieting?
Nous	maigrissions	Nous maigrissions pour être moins, pour nous effacer progressivement. Mais on a appris à s'aimer depuis.	We were losing weight so there is less of us, to progressively erase ourselves. But we have since learned to love ourselves.
Vous	maigrissiez	Vous maigrissiez devant nos yeux.	You were slimming down in front of our eyes.
Ils/Elles	maigrissaient	Nous étions si tristes qu'elles maigrissaient.	We were so sad that they were dieting.

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	maigrirai	Je ne maigrirai plus jamais.	Never again will I get on a diet.
Tu	maigriras	J'espère que tu ne maigriras pas.	I hope you won't lose your weight.
Il/Elle/On	maigrira	Elle maigrira quand elle voudra.	She'll lose weight when she wants.
Nous	maigrirons	Nous maigrirons seulement si c'est nécessaire pour notre santé.	We will only get on a diet if it's necessary for our health.
Vous	maigrirez	Vous maigrirez et vous reprendrez tout.	You'll diet and you'll gain it all back.
Ils/Elles	maigriront	Pour vous soutenir, ils maigriront avec vous.	To support you, they will get on a diet with you.

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 (maigrir).

Je	vais maigrir	Je ne pense pas que je vais maigrir. Je suis parfaite comme ça.	I don't think I'm going to lose weight. I'm perfect as I am.
Tu	vas maigrir	Pourquoi vas-tu maigrir? Simplement fais de l'exercice.	Why are you going on a diet? Simply exercise.
Il/Elle/On	va maigrir	Elle ne va pas maigrir. Elle s'aime suffisamment.	She's not going on a diet. She likes herself enough.
Nous	allons maigrir	Nous allons maigrir avec la diète keto.	We are going to lose weight with the keto diet.
Vous	allez maigrir	Vous allez maigrir à cause des modèles dans les magazines?	You are going to lose weight because of the models in magazines?
Ils/Elles	vont maigrir	Elles vont maigrir? Mais pourquoi? Leurs corps sont parfaits!	They are going to lose weight? But why? Their bodies are perfect!

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	maigrirais	Je ne maigrirais jamais, car toute ma famille est comme ça.	I could never lose weight; my whole family is this way.
Tu	maigrirais	Si tu mangais moins, tu maigrirais.	If you ate less, you would lose weight.
Il/Elle/On	maigrirait	Et si on arrêtait le lait? On maigrirait. Ou pas.	And if we quit milk? We'd start losing weight. Or not.
Nous	maigririons	Nous maigririons seulement si le médecin l'ordonait.	We would get on a diet only if the doctor prescribed it.
Vous	maigririez	Si vous étiez plus contents, vous maigririez plus simplement.	If you were more content, you would lose weight more easily.
Ils/Elles	maigriraient	S'ils les aimaient inconditionellement, elles ne maigriraient pas.	If they loved them unconditionally, they wouldn't be on a diet.

Present Subjunctive

The subjunctive mood conjugation of maigrir, which comes in after the expression que + person, looks very much like the present indicative and past imperfect.

Que je	maigrisse	Tu veux que je maigrisse? Ben non, merci.	You want me to lose weight? Well, no, thank you.
Que tu	maigrisses	Il faut que tu ne maigrisses plus.	It is important that you stop losing weight.
Qu'il/elle/on	maigrisse	Je ne veux pas qu'elle maigrisse plus.	I don't want her to lose any more weight.
Que nous	maigrissions	Il est naturel que nous maigrissions avec cet nourriture.	It's natural that we would lose weight on this food.
Que vous	maigrissiez	Il aime mieux que vous ne maigrissiez pas.	He prefers that you don't lose weight.
Qu'ils/elles	maigrissent	Je vais empêcher qu'ils maigrissent.	I am going to prevent them from going on a diet.

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	maigris!	Maigris en mangeant bien!	Lose weight but eat healthy too!
Nous	maigrissons!	L'été s'approche, maigrissons!	The summer is coming, let's lose weight!
Vous	maigrissez!	Votre santé est en danger. Maigrissez!	Your health is in danger. Lose weight!

Negative Commands

Tu	ne maigris pas!	Ne maigris plus!	Stop losing weight!
Nous	ne maigrissons pas!	Ne maigrissons plus jamais!	Let's never get on a diet again!
Vous	ne maigrissez pas!	Ne maigrissez pas tous seuls!	Don't try to lose weight alone!

Present Participle/Gerund

Present participle of maigrir is maigrissant and as such it can be used as an adjective, a noun, or a gerund (usually preceded by the preposition en). Use gerunds specifically when you want to talk about simultaneous actions.

Present Participle/Gerund of Maigrir

maigrissant

En maigrissant, il a perdu beaucoup de ses cheveux.

While losing weight, he lost a lot of his hair.