All about finir

Finir is one of the most common French verbs. It is a regular -ir verb that sometimes causes difficulty for French students in the passé composé.

Finir means "to finish" or "to complete":

   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.


Finir and auxiliary verbs

Finir normally requires avoir in compound tenses and moods:

   Nous avons fini le travail.
   We finished the work.

   Oui, je l'ai fini.
   Yes, I finished it.

Finir can be used with être in the third person impersonal or with inanimate objects:

   C'est fini !
   It's finished!

   L'été est fini.
   Summer is over.

But if you use it with a person, it means "dead" (literally or figuratively):

   Il est fini.
   He's a dead duck, It's all over for him.


Finir with prepositions

Finir de plus 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 it end in a point?

Finir par plus 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


Conjugations

Present tense
   je finis
   tu finis
   il finit
   nous finissons
   vous finissez
   ils finissent

All tenses and moods