French Verb Finir Conjugation

Finir Conjugation, Usage, and Examples

Finished with meal
Le repas est fini. (The meal is over.). Chaiwuth Wichitdho / EyeEm / Getty Images

The French verb finir means "to finish," "to end," or "to complete" and it is conjugated as a regular -ir verb. In this article you can learn how to conjugate finir in the present, present progressive, compound past, imperfect, simple future, near future indicative, the conditional, the present subjunctive, as well as the imperative and the gerund.

Conjugating Regular '-ir' Verbs

Regular verbs share conjugation patterns in person, number, tense, and mood. Finir is a regular -ir verb. This is the second largest category of regular French verbs, making it a little easier for French students to learn each new verb from this category.

To conjugate finir, and all other -ir verbs, remove the infinitive ending (-ir) to find the stem (also called the "radical"), which in this case is fin-. Then add the appropriate simple conjugation endings.

Other similar -ir verbs include abolir (to abolish)obéir  (to obey)établir (to establish), and réussir (to succeed).

Meanings of Finir

Finir means "to finish," but it can take on other meanings as well. There are also two synonyms that mean roughly the same thing: terminer and achever, although the latter is a little more dramatic.

  • Qui va finir ce travail ? Who is going to finish this work?
  • Nous finissons nos études cette semaine. We are completing our studies this week.
  • J'ai terminé mon repas. I finished my meal / food.

If you use finir with être when referring to a person, it means "dead" (literally or figuratively):

  • Il est fini. - He's a dead duck. / It's all over for him.

Finir and Prepositions

When we pair finir with certain prepositions, the meaning changes a little bit, though they all tend to imply a finish to something. 

Finir de with an infinitive means "to stop" or "to be done":

  • Tu as fini de nous déranger ? - Are you done bothering us?
  • Finis de te plaindre ! - Stop complaining!

Finir en means "to end in":

  • Il n'y a pas beaucoup de mots qui finissent en -de. - There aren't many words that end in -de.
  • Est-ce que cela finit en pointe ? - Does this make a point?

Finir par with an infinitive means "to end up ___-ing" or "to ___ in the end":

  • J'ai fini par déménager en Europe. - I ended up moving to Europe.
  • Il va finir par perdre sa famille. - He's going lose his family in the end.

En finir (avec / de) means "to be done with":

  • J'en ai fini avec Paul. - I'm done with Paul, I ended it with Paul.
  • Tu n'en finis jamais de te plaindre. - You never stop complaining.

Expressions With Finir

As you might expect, finir can be used in some rather useful idiomatic expressions. Here are a few that you can use to build your French vocabulary.

  • Finissons-en ! - Let's get it over with.
  • C'est fini ! - It's finished!
  • Elle a voulu en finir. She wanted to end it all.
  • des plaintes a n'en plus finir - endless / never-ending complaints
  • Et maintenant, fini de se croiser les bras ! And now let's see some action!
  • finir en queue de poisson  to fizzle out
  • Ça va mal finir. No good will come of it. / It will end in disaster
  • Tout est bien qui fini bien. All's well that ends well.
  • finir en beauté to end with a flourish / to finish brilliantly
  • finir en tragédie to end in tragedy 

Present Indicative

The indicative verb mood is the form of finir that you will use most often. These are the conjugations for the present indicative, or présent.

Je finis Je finis mes devoirs rapidement. I finish my homework quickly.
Tu finis Tu finis le travail sans aide. You finish the work without help.
Ils/Elles/On finit Elle finit d'étudier anglais. She stops studying English.
Nous finissons Nous finissons par rester à la maison. We end up staying at home.
Vous finissez Vous finissez de préparer le repas. You finish preparing the meal.
Ils/Elles finissent Elles finissent l'oeuvre d'art. They finish the work of art.

Present Progressive Indicative

The present progressive in French is formed with the present tense conjugation of the verb être (to be) + en train de + the infinitive verb (faire). However, the present progressive can also be expressed with the simple present indicative.

Je suis en train de finir Je suis en train de finir mes devoirs rapidement. I am finishing my homework quickly.
Tu es en train de finir Tu es en train de finir le travail sans aide. You are finishing the work without help.
Ils/Elles/On est en train de finir Elle est en train de finir d'étudier anglais. She is stopping studying English.
Nous sommes en train de finir Nous sommes en train de finir par rester à la maison. We are ending up staying at home.
Vous êtes en train de finir Vous êtes en train de finir de préparer le repas. You are finishing preparing the meal.
Ils/Elles sont en train de finir Elles sont en train de finir l'oeuvre d'art. They are finishing the work of art.

Compound Past Indicative

There are a few compound tenses and moods that you can use. The past tense passé composé is formed with the auxiliary verb avoir, and the past participle fini. Though finir is most often used with avoir in compound tenses as discussed, it can be used with être as well. This happens in the third person impersonal or with inanimate objects. For example, C'est fini ! (It's finished!) or L'été est fini. (Summer is over.)

Je ai fini J'ai fini mes devoirs rapidement. I finished my homework quickly.
Tu as fini Tu as fini le travail sans aide. You finished the work without help.
Ils/Elles/On a fini Elle a fini d'étudier anglais. She stopped studying English.
Nous avons fini Nous avons fini par rester à la maison. We ended up staying at home.
Vous avez fini Vous avez fini de préparer le repas. You finished preparing the meal.
Ils/Elles ont fini Elles ont fini l'oeuvre d'art. They finished the work of art.

Imperfect Indicative

The imperfect, called imparfait in French, is another past tense that is used to talk about ongoing events or repeated actions in the past. It can be translated to English as "was finishing" or "used to finish".

Je finissais Je finissais mes devoirs rapidement. I used to finish my homework quickly.
Tu finissais Tu finissais le travail sans aide. You used to finish the work without help.
Ils/Elles/On finissait Elle finissait d'étudier anglais. She used to stop studying English.
Nous finissions Nous finissions par rester à la maison. We used to end up staying at home.
Vous finissiez Vous finissiez de préparer le repas. You used to finish preparing the meal.
Ils/Elles finissaient Elles finissaient l'oeuvre d'art. They used to finish the work of art.

Simple Future Indicative

The future, or futur is easy to conjugate because the stem of the verb is the complete infinitive, finir.

Je finirai Je finirai mes devoirs rapidement. I will finish my homework quickly.
Tu finiras Tu finiras le travail sans aide. You will finish the work without help.
Ils/Elles/On finira Elle finirai d'étudier anglais. She will stop studying English.
Nous finirons Nous finirons par rester à la maison. We will end up staying at home.
Vous finirez Vous finirez de préparer le repas. You will finish preparing the meal.
Ils/Elles finiront Elles finiront l'oeuvre d'art. They will finish the work of art.

Near Future Indicative

In French, the near future is formed with the present tense conjugation of the verb aller (to go) + the infinitive (faire). It is the equivalent to the English "going to + verb." 

Je vais finir Je vais finir mes devoirs rapidement. I am going to finish my homework quickly.
Tu vas finir Tu vas finir le travail sans aide. You are going to finish the work without help.
Ils/Elles/On va finir Elle va finir d'étudier anglais. She is going to stop studying English.
Nous allons finir Nous allons finir par rester à la maison. We is going to end up staying at home.
Vous allez finir Vous allez finir de préparer le repas. You are going to finish preparing the meal.
Ils/Elles vont finir Elles vont finir l'oeuvre d'art. They are going to finish the work of art.

Conditional

The conditional mood in French can be translated to English as "would + verb."

Je finirais Je finirais mes devoirs rapidement si c'était plus facile. I would finish my homework quickly if it were easier.
Tu finirais Tu finirais le travail sans aide si tu avais le temps. You would finish the work without help if you had the help.
Ils/Elles/On finirait Elle finirait d'étudier anglais si elle voulait. She would stop studying English if she wanted to.
Nous finirions Nous finirions par rester à la maison si nous étions malades. We would end up staying at home if we were sick.
Vous finiriez Vous finiriez de préparer le repas, mais vous ne voulez pas. You would finish preparing the meal, but you don't want to.
Ils/Elles finiraient Elles finiraient l'oeuvre d'art, mais c'est très difficile. They would finish the work of art, but it is very difficult.

Present Subjunctive

The present subjunctive, or subjonctif présent can be used when the action of finishing is uncertain, but there are many different uses for the subjunctive mood.

Que je finisse Ma mère souhaite que je finisse mes devoirs rapidement. My mother hopes that I finish my homework quickly.
Que tu finisses Le patron exige que tu finisses le travail sans aide. The boss demands that you finish the work without help.
Qu'ils/Elles/On finisse Eric suggère qu'elle finisse d'étudier anglais. Eric suggests that she stop studying English.
Que nous finissions David souhaite que nous finissions par rester à la maison. David wishes that we end up staying home.
Que vous finissiez Anna conseille que vous finissiez de préparer le repas. Anna advises that you finish preparing the meal.
Qu'ils/Elles finissent Monique préfère qu'elles finissent l'oeuvre d'art. Marc prefers that they finish the work of art.

Imperative

A very useful and simple form of finir is the imperative verb mood. This is reserved for those times when you want to demand that someone "Finish!" When using it, skip the subject pronoun and leave it as, "Finis !" To form negative commands, simply place ne...pas around the positive command.

Positive commands

Tu finis ! Finis le travail sans aide ! Finish the work without help!
Nous finissons ! Finissons par rester à la maison! Let's end up staying home!
Vous finissez ! Finissez de prépare ! Finish preparing the meal!

Negative commands

Tu ne finis pas ! Ne finis pas le travail sans aide ! Don't finish the work without help!
Nous ne finissons pas ! Ne finissons pas par rester à la maison! Let's not end up staying home!
Vous ne finissez pas ! Ne finissez pas de prépare ! Don't finish preparing the meal!

Present Participle/Gerund

The present participle of finir is finissant. This is formed by adding -issant to the verb stem. In French the present participle can be used to form the gerund (usually preceded by the preposition en), which can be used to talk about simultaneous actions.

Present Participle/Gerund of Finir: finissant

Je mange en finissant mes devoirs. -> I eat while finishing my homework.

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Team, ThoughtCo. "French Verb Finir Conjugation." ThoughtCo, Dec. 6, 2021, thoughtco.com/finir-to-finish-1370327. Team, ThoughtCo. (2021, December 6). French Verb Finir Conjugation. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/finir-to-finish-1370327 Team, ThoughtCo. "French Verb Finir Conjugation." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/finir-to-finish-1370327 (accessed March 28, 2024).