diminuent

Diminuent is the third-person plural present indicative form of the French verb diminuer, meaning to diminish or to reduce. It appears in sentences where a plural subject is causing a decrease or becoming smaller in the present tense, for example: "Les coûts diminuent" (the costs are decreasing). The form corresponds to ils/elles diminuent.

Etymology and grammar: diminuer derives from Latin diminuere, meaning to lessen. In French, diminuer is conjugated in the present tense as: je diminue, tu dimumes, il diminue, nous diminuons, vous diminuez, ils diminuent. The present participle of diminuer is diminuant, and the past participle is diminué. Diminuent thus reflects the standard third-person plural ending for -er verbs in the present tense.

Usage: Diminuent is widely used in formal and informal French to describe declines in quantities, prices, frequencies, or intensities occurring in the present moment or as a general statement of a current trend. It is common in journalism, economics, statistics, and daily discourse when reporting how numbers or conditions are shrinking.

Related terms: The noun form diminution denotes a diminution or reduction, and the adjective diminutif refers to something small or diminutive. The root diminuer is related to diminuent’s semantic field of decreasing magnitude.

Examples: "Les stocks diminuent rapidement." "Les effectifs diminuent de jour en jour." These phrases illustrate ongoing reduction described by the verb form diminuer and its present tense variant diminuent.