How to Say Stop in French

Learn the verb for "to stop".

It is arrêter (ah-reh-tay). It is conjugated as follows: j'arrête - I stop tu arrêtes - you (singular familiar) stop il arrête - he stops nous arrêtons - we stop vous arrêtez - you (plural and/or unfamiliar) stop ils arrêtent - they stop.

Know what to look for on a stop sign.

Typically, you'll find one of the following options: Arrête Stop (sometimes anglicized in both Europe and Quebec).

Ask someone to stop doing something.

Try the following: "Ne faites pas ça" or "arrête ça" – literally, "don't do that", or stop that! Ça suffit ! – that's enough! Arrête ! (Note that if writing it, the punctuation point involves a space, which is French punctuation.) "Stop!" - said with a French intonation.

Use "halte" to put a stop to something.

For example: "It is time to put a stop to this conversation. " would be "il est temps de dire halte à cette conversation". "Halte" also describes a stopping place.

Know when to use "interrompre."

This is primarily used when you want to say stop when interrupting.

Express when something is enough.

Use the words "assez" or "suffisamment". Both of these words express the sentiment of there being enough and no need to add more.

Stop a thief.

There is a special term in French for this. It is "Au voleur !".