L’infinitif Présent (Infinitive Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb démotiver

ByMichael Burns

Introduction to the verb démotiver

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The English translation of the French verb démotiver is “to demotivate.” It is pronounced as “day-mo-tee-vay.”

The word démotiver is made up of two parts: “dé,” which is a prefix denoting a reversal of action, and “motiver,” which means “to motivate.” Therefore, démotiver literally means to reverse the action of motivating.

In everyday French, démotiver is most often used in the L’infinitif Présent tense, which is the present tense infinitive form of the verb. This form is used to indicate the action of the verb in a general or abstract sense, without specifying a subject or time frame.

Here are three examples of démotiver in the L’infinitif Présent tense with their respective English translations:

  1. Ne pas se laisser démotiver par les obstacles.
    (Do not let yourself be demotivated by obstacles.)
  2. Les critiques ne vont pas démotiver nos efforts.
    (The criticisms will not demotivate our efforts.)
  3. Il est important de ne pas démotiver les étudiants en leur donnant des tâches trop difficiles.
    (It is important not to demotivate students by giving them tasks that are too difficult.)

Table of the L’infinitif Présent (Infinitive Present) Tense Conjugation of démotiver

Pronoun Conjugation Example Usage English Translation
je démotive Je démotive mes élèves. I demotivate my students.
tu démotives Tu démotives ton équipe. You demotivate your team.
il démotive Il démotive ses employés. He demotivates his employees.
elle démotive Elle démotive ses collègues. She demotivates her colleagues.
on démotive On démotive les étudiants. We demotivate the students.
nous démotivons Nous démotivons les recrues. We demotivate the recruits.
vous démotivez Vous démotivez les stagiaires. You demotivate the interns.
ils démotivent Ils démotivent les travailleurs. They demotivate the workers.
elles démotivent Elles démotivent les employées. They demotivate the employees.

Other Conjugations for Démotiver.

Le Present (Present Tense) Conjugation of the French Verb démotiver

Imparfait (Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb démotiver

Passé Simple (Simple Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb démotiver

Passé Composé (Present Perfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb démotiver

Futur Simple (Simple Future) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb démotiver 

Futur Proche (Near Future) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb démotiver

Plus-que-parfait (Pluperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb démotiver 

Passé Antérieur (Past Anterior) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb démotiver 

Futur Antérieur (Future Anterior) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb démotiver

Subjonctif Présent (Subjunctive Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb démotiver

Subjonctif Passé (Subjunctive Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb démotiver 

Subjonctif Imparfait (Subjunctive Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb démotiver 

Subjonctif Plus-que-parfait (Subjunctive Pluperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb démotiver

Conditionnel Présent (Conditional Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb démotiver

Conditionnel Passé (Conditional Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb démotiver 

L’impératif Présent (Imperative Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb démotiver

L’infinitif Présent (Infinitive Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb démotiver  (this article)

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Démotiver – About the French L’infinitif Présent (Infinitive Present) Tense

BEFORE you continue…. why not take a deep dive into all the French tenses with my article on Mastering French Tense Conjugation.
The French “l’infinitif présent” (Infinitive Present) tense is not a true verb tense in the same way that the present, past, or future tenses are. Instead, it’s the base form of a verb, and it has several important uses and interactions with other tenses.

Forming the Infinitive Present

To form the infinitive present of a verb, you typically take the unconjugated form of the verb (the form you’d find in a French dictionary) and remove the ending. For regular verbs, you remove the -er, -ir, or -re ending, and you’re left with the infinitive. For example:
   – Parler (to speak)
   – Finir (to finish)
   – Vendre (to sell)

Common Everyday Usage Patterns

As a Verb’s Dictionary Form

The most common use of the infinitive present is to represent a verb in its base form. It’s the form you would find in a dictionary or verb conjugation table.

After Modal Verbs

When you use modal verbs like “pouvoir” (can), “vouloir” (want), or “devoir” (must), the verb that follows is in its infinitive form. For example:
     – Je veux manger. (I want to eat.)
     – Il peut parler français. (He can speak French.)

As an Imperative

In informal commands, the infinitive is often used. For example:
     – Ferme la porte. (Close the door.)

In Infinitive Clauses

In complex sentences, especially after certain conjunctions, the infinitive is used to express actions that are separate from the main verb. For example:
     – J’ai besoin de manger avant de partir. (I need to eat before leaving.)

Interactions with Other Tenses

Present Tense

The infinitive present can be used with the present tense to express ongoing actions or habitual actions. For example:
     – J’aime manger des croissants. (I like eating croissants.)

Future Tense

When combined with the future tense of “aller,” the infinitive present can express future actions. For example:
     – Je vais manger au restaurant demain. (I am going to eat at the restaurant tomorrow.)

Conditional Tense

The infinitive present is often used with the conditional to express actions that would happen in a hypothetical situation. For example:

     – Il mangerait s’il avait faim. (He would eat if he were hungry.)

Passé Composé

When forming compound tenses like “passé composé,” the auxiliary verb (être or avoir) is conjugated, and the main verb remains in its infinitive form. For example:
     – J’ai mangé une pomme. (I ate an apple.)
     – Elle est partie. (She left.)

Imperfect Tense

The infinitive present can be combined with the imperfect tense to describe ongoing or habitual actions in the past. For example:
     – Quand j’étais enfant, j’aimais jouer. (When I was a child, I liked to play.)

Subjunctive and Conditional Moods

In some complex sentences, the infinitive can be used with the subjunctive and conditional moods, especially when expressing uncertainty, possibility, or doubt.

Summary

The infinitive present in French serves as the base form of a verb and is used in various contexts, including after modal verbs, in imperative commands, in infinitive clauses, and in combination with other tenses to convey a wide range of meanings and actions. Its flexibility makes it a fundamental part of French grammar.

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