Regular -ir Verbs Conjugation in the Present Tense

In this French grammar lesson we will learn about regular -ir verbs conjugation in the present tense. In this lesson you will learn about:

• how regular -ir verbs are conjugated in French,
• how regular -ir verbs are used in French,
• how regular -ir verbs are pronounced in French,
• how regular -ir verbs are used in sentences in French,
• how regular -ir verbs conjugation Anki files can be downloaded.

By the end of the lesson you will know all about regular -ir verbs conjugation in the present tense!

Regular -ir Verbs Conjugation Table

	new ending	choisir (to choose)
je	is	choisis
tu	is	choisis
il/elle/on	it	choisit
nous	issons	choisissons
vous	issez	choisissez
ils/elles	issent	choisissent

Regular -ir Verbs Conjugation Method

This section will show you how regular -ir verbs are conjugated. There is a three step method that will make everything very easy for you.

In order to conjugate verbs that end with –ir in the present tense one must:

1. Find the infintive (full verb)
2. Cut of the -ir ending
3. Add the new ending

In the conjugation table above you can see the verb choisir which means to “to choose” in English. We will take this verb and conjugate it in the “je” form using the three step method.

1. choisir

The full verb of “to choose” is choisir in French

2. chois

Once you cut of the ir ending all that is left is chois

3. choisis

When we add the new ending is the final conjugated form will be choisis

So when you wish to say “I choose” in French you get:

Je choisis

Usage of Regular -ir Verbs

French has three regular verb groups

• regular -er verbs
• regular -ir verbs
• regular -re verbs

The regular -ir verbs group is the second biggest group. Many French verbs fall in this group. Here is a list of common verbs that you are sure to encounter in day-to-day life:

choisir	to choose
finir	to finish
grandir	to grow up
investir	to invest
réfléchir	to think/to reflect
réussir	to succeed

Pronunciation of Regular -ir Verbs

In this section on regular -ir verbs conjugation we will focus on pronunciation. There are 4 important rules to take into account when we want to pronounce regular verbs that end with -ir in French.

1. The je, tu, il/elle/on form all have the same prononciation. This means that we do not pronounce the last letter in the is, and it endings. They are all silent.

réussir

Je réussis

Tu réussis

Il réussit

These VERBS are all pronounced in the same exact way. The last letter we hear is the “i“

2. In the ils/elles form we do not pronounce the ent ending.

réussir

Ils réussissent

The last letter we pronounce here is the “s“.

3. If the first letter of the verb is a vowel or an “h” then we must remove the first “e” in the je form and replace this with an apostrophe

J‘investis

Please note how it is NOT “je investis”. This would be wrong.

We don’t pronounce the “e” in “je” but immediately move onto the “i” sound of “investis”

4. If the first letter of the verb is a vowel or a “h” then we must perform a liason. This happens in the nous, vous, and ils/elles form. This means that the final “s” of nous, vous, and ils/elles will have a “z” sound.

investir

Nous investissons

Vous investissons

Ils investissent

Please note how the final “s” in all of the subject pronouns sounds like a “z”

Example Sentences with Regular -ir Verbs

The final section of this lesson on regular -ir verbs conjugation is about seeing it in action, so you can improve your understanding on how regular -ir verbs are used in practice. Here are some example sentences that show how regular -ir verbs are used French.

choisir

Je choisis Oberyn pour mon champion

I choose Oberyn as my champion

finir

À quelle heure finis-tu ton travail ?

What time do you finish work?

grandir

On sait qu’elle grandit vite.

We know that she is growing up fast

investir

C’est pourquoi nous investissons dans l’armée.

That is why we are investing in the military.

réfléchir

Un esprit actif montre que vous réfléchissez

An active mind shows you’re thinking

réussir

Je voudrais qu’ils réussissent tous.

I would like to see them all succeed.

Anki File for Regular -ir Verbs Conjugation

It is important to do the Anki excercises for this lesson, so that you can better remember what you just studied.

By downloading the Anki File for French A1, you can practice every French A1 lesson that is on Language Atlas.

You can also choose to just get the Anki File for French A1 Verbs. This only has the verbs for French A1.

If you don’t know why you should use Anki, or if you don’t know what Anki is, then please click here.

Anki can be downloaded from here.