-IR Verbs in French
When conjugating verbs in French, we have to follow specific rules. The first step to follow is to identify which group the verb you’re conjugating belongs to.
Types of verbs in French
Verbs in French are divided into categories depending on their ending. The categories are as follows:
- The first category belongs to -ER Verbs: verbs whose infinitive form ends in -ER.
- The second category belongs to -IR Verbs: verbs whose infinitive form ends in -IR.
- The third category belongs to all of the other verbs that don’t fit into any of the first two categories. These verbs are called irregular verbs and both their radical and their endings change when conjugating them in different tenses.
The verbs ending in -IR
Most verbs ending in -IR belong to the second category, however there are some outlier verbs that even though they end in -IR in their infinitive form, they belong to the third category as both their endings and their radicals change when conjugating them.
For this lesson we will be looking at the -IR verbs belonging to the second category.
How to identify which -IR verbs are regular and which are irregular:
To identify the -IR verbs that belong to the second group, you have to look at their simple present form and see if it ends in -issons at the first person plural. If it does, then the verb belongs to the second category.
How to conjugate regular -IR verbs in French
To conjugate a regular -IR verb, you must first identify its subject. Once you have found the subject, you can replace the -ir by the appropriate ending.
The verb finir (to finish) is the model of all second group verbs.
-IR Verb conjugation in present tense:
Pronouns | Présent |
Je (I) | fini |
Tu (you) | finis |
Il/elle/on (He/she/ it/ we) | finit |
Nous (we) | finissons |
Vous (you) | finissez |
Ils/elles (they) | finissent |
-IR Verb conjugation in L'imparfait and Passé composé:
-IR Verb conjugation in the future tense (futur proche and futur simple):
Free Printable Practice Worksheets: -IR Verb Conjugation
Now that you have learned about the conjugation of the -ir verbs, you can test your knowledge with the following worksheets.
