How to Conjugate "Baigner" (to Bathe)

In French, baigner means "to bathe" someone else. It's used in a different context than laver (to wash) and mouiller (to wet, drench). For instance, you would use "baigner le chien" when you want to say "to bathe the dog."

This is a rather useful verb to learn and conjugating it to the present, past, and future tenses is relatively easy. The following lesson will guide you through the many forms of baigner.

Conjugating the French Verb Baigner

First of all, the pronunciation of baigner is not [bag-ner] as the 'GN' creates a softer sound. You can hear it in champagne and une baignoire (bathtub).

Once you get the pronunciation correct, you'll be happy to know that the conjugations of baigner follow the pattern of a regular -ER verb. This means that if you can conjugate common verbs like adorer (to adore) and déclarer (to declare), you can use those same endings in these verb forms.

To do this, simply pair the subject pronoun with the appropriate tense needed for your sentence. For instance, "I bathe" is "je baigne" and "we will bathe" is "nous baignerons."

Subject	Present	Future	Imperfect
je	baigne	baignerai	baignais
tu	baignes	baigneras	baignais
il	baigne	baignera	baignait
nous	baignons	baignerons	baignions
vous	baignez	baignerez	baigniez
ils	baignent	baigneront	baignaient

What is the Present Participle of Baigner

The present participle of baigner is baignant. Notice how this transformation is done by replacing the -er ending with -ant, which is equivalent to the English -ing.

Baigner's Past Participle and Passé Composé

The past participle of this verb is baigné. It is used along with an auxiliary verb to create the common past tense of passé composé. The auxiliary verb avoir needs to be conjugated, though the past participle remains the same no matter which subject pronoun you use.

As an example, "I bathed" is "j'ai baigné." Similarly, "we bathed" is "nous avons baigné."

More Useful Conjugations of Baigner

There are a few other verb forms you may need from time to time. Of these, the subjunctive and conditional are most common and each implies a level of uncertainty to the action. For the conditional, the action of bathing may or may not happen depending on the circumstances.

You may not use or see the passé simple or the imperfect subjunctive very often. These are often reserved for formal French writing, though you should be able to recognize their association with baigner.

Subject	Subjunctive	Conditional	Passé Simple	Imperfect Subjunctive
je	baigne	baignerais	baignai	baignasse
tu	baignes	baignerais	baignas	baignasses
il	baigne	baignerait	baigna	baignât
nous	baignions	baignerions	baignâmes	baignassions
vous	baigniez	baigneriez	baignâtes	baignassiez
ils	baignent	baigneraient	baignèrent	baignassent

One last conjugation is important to note for baigner. The imperative is used in direct requests and demands and there is no need to use the subject pronoun. For these instances, simplify "nous baignons" to "baignons."

	Imperative
(tu)	baigne
(nous)	baignons
(vous)	baignez