French Regular -IR Verbs

There are five main kinds of verbs in French: regular -ER, -IR, -RE; stem-changing; and irregular. Once you've learned the rules of conjugation for each of the first three kinds of verbs, you should have no problem conjugating regular verbs in each of those categories. Regular -IR verbs are the second largest category of French verbs- see the next page for a list of some common -IR verbs.

The verb form that ends in -IR is called the infinitive (in English, the infinitive is the verb preceded by the word "to"), and -IR is the infinitive ending. The verb with the infinitive ending removed is called the stem or radical. To conjugate -IR verbs, remove the infinitive ending to find the stem and add the endings in the table below.

French regular -IR verb conjugations
To conjugate an -IR verb in the present tense, remove the infinitive ending and then add the appropriate endings. For example, here are the present tense conjugations for the regular -IR verbs choisir (to choose), finir (to finish), and réussir (to succeed):
Pronoun	Ending	choisir > chois-	finir > fin-	réussir > réuss-
je	-is	choisis	finis	réussis
tu	-is	choisis	finis	réussis
il	-it	choisit	finit	réussit
nous	-issons	choisissons	finissons	réussissons
vous	-issez	choisissez	finissez	réussissez
ils	-issent	choisissent	finissent	réussissent
Regular -IR verbs share conjugation patterns in all tenses and moods.

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