- ir verbs
Regular – ir verbs in the Present,
Past, and Future Tenses
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- ir verbs: Present Tense
The majority of all –ir verbs in French, in the Present
Tense, have the same endings for je, tu, il (elle, on), nous,
vous, ils (elles).
Je
-is
Tu
-is
Il
-it
Nous
-issons
Vous
-issez
Ils
-issent
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- ir verbs: Present Tense
To form your verb (to conjugate the verb) in the Present Tense, take off the –ir
for je, tu, il/elle, nous, vous, and Ils/elles and simply add those endings.
Je
Tu
Il
Nous
Vous
Ils
finis
finis
finit
finissons
finissez
finissent
(I finish/am finished)
(You finish/are finished)
(He finishes/is finished)
(We finish/are finished)
(They/You finish/are finished)
(They are finished)
Verbs that are similar in their conjugation
Choisir (to choose), établir (to establish) grandir (to grow/grow up),
grossir (to gain weight), maigrir (to lose weight),
mincir (to get slimmer), obéir (to obey),
réagir (to react), réussir (à), (to succeed)
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- ir verbs: Present Tense
There are some commonly used verbs in the French language,
however, that are exceptions to this rule…
Ouvrir
Partir
Sortir
Dormir
Je/J’
ouvre
pars
sors
dors
Tu
ouvres
pars
sors
dors
Il/Elle
ouvre
part
sort
dort
Nous
ouvrons
partons
sortons
dormons
Vous
ouvrez
partez
sortez
dormez
Ils/Elles
ouvrent
partent
sortent
dorment
Verbs that are similar in their conjugation (like –er verbs)
Ouvrir: Couvrir (to cover), découvrir (to discover), offrir (to offer),
souffrir (to suffer)
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- ir verbs: Present Tense
Let's try some exercises
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How is the Past Indefinite (Passé Composé
in French) tense formed?
The Past Indefinite tense (Passé Composé in French) is a compound tense of verb.
This means that there will be two parts to the verbs, or a mix of two different verbs.
If you know the Present (le Présent in French) tense of the verbs avoir (to have)
and être (to be), you are half way there 
Just in case you need a reminder, here are the verbs avoir and être in their Present
tense.
avoir (to have)
J’ai
Tu as
Il a
Nous avons
Vous avez
Ils ont
Please note:
The verb être, when used
as the helping verb for
the Past Indefinite,
translates as ‘to have’.
Example:
Je suis allé(e)…
I have gone…
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être (to be)
Je suis
Tu es
Elle est
Nous sommes
Vous êtes
Ils sont
How is the Past Indefinite (Passé Composé
in French) tense formed?
As mentioned, the Past Indefinite (le Passé Composé) is a compound tense…so you need
to add something to either the verb avoir or the verb être to complete the formation of
the Past Indefinite tense.
What is added is known as the Past Participle (le participe passé in French).
The past participle is used for every subject pronoun for the verb in question (je, tu, il, elle,
on, nous, vous, ils, elles). For all verbs that use avoir as the helping verb, the past participle
never changes.
Here is an example: the verb Finir (to finish) in the Past Indefinite tense would be…
The verb Finir is
one of the 99.9%
of verbs that are
conjugated with the
verb Avoir, which
you’ll see on the right.
J’ai fini
Tu as fini
Il a fini
Nous avons fini
Vous avez fini
Ils ont fini
I finished
You finished
He finished
We finished
They/you finished
They finished
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To form the Past
Participle for –ir verbs
…drop the
-er, and add –i
How is the Past Indefinite (Passé Composé
in French) tense formed?
So you now know that there are two verbs that team up to form the Past
Indefinite (le Passé Composé) tense of each verb in French.
But now you need to know which –ir verbs will use être.
Verb
Past Participle
Devenir
Revenir
Sortir
Venir
Mourir
Partir
*devenu (e)
*revenu (e)
sorti (e)
*venu (e)
*mort (e)
parti (e)
* exception to the rule for Past Participle
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How is the Past Indefinite (Passé Composé
in French) tense formed?
We will use the verb Venir (to come) as an example, as it one of
the verbs that is conjugated with the helping verb être…
Venir
Je suis venu (e)
Tu es venu (e)
Il est venu
Elle est venu (e)
Nous sommes venu(e)s
Vous êtes venu(e)(s)
Ils sont venus
Elles sont venus
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- ir verbs: Past Tense
Let's try some exercises
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- Er verbs: Future Tense
The Future Tense (le Futur Proche) is a compound tense…and the helping verb is always
the verb Aller (to go) in the Present Tense.
All you do, to indicate an action in the future, is use the Present Tense of the verb Aller
and the immediately add the verb for the action you wish to express in the future.
Take a look at this example, using the verb Parler (to talk):
Mourir (to die)
Aller + Verb
Je
Tu
Il
Nous
Vous
Ils
vais
vas
va
allons
allez
vont
mourir
mourir
mourir
mourir
mourir
mourir
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(I am going to talk)
(You are going to talk)
(He is going to talk)
(We are going to talk)
(They/You are going to talk)
(They are going to talk)
- ir verbs: Past Tense
Let's try an exercise using Futur Proche
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