Posted by Chester Morton / Friday 10 February 2017 / No comments
The regular IR verbs in the present tense in French
Here is the
conjugation of regular French verbs with infi nitives ending in -ir.
Present
Tense of choisir (to
choose, to select)
je
choisis nous
choisissons
tu
choisis vous choisissez
il/elle/on
choisit ils/elles
choisissent
Elles choisissent toujours des cours
difficiles. They always pick difficult classes.
—Tu ne choisis pas les mêmes? —Don’t
you choose the same ones?
Vous choisissez vos amis avec soin. You
select your friends carefully.
Plural
Forms of Regular -ir Verbs
Note
the pronunciation and spelling of the plural forms of regular -ir verbs,
in which -iss- [ees] is added between the verb stem (chois-) and
the personal endings. Thus, regular -ir verbs have four different spoken
forms.
je/tu/il/elle/on
choisis/choisit [shwah-zee]
nous
choisissons [shwah-zee-sOn]
vous
choisissez [shwah-zee-say]
ils/elles
choisissent [shwah-zees]
•
Other regular -ir verbs include:
agir
to act
finir
(de), fi nir par (_ inf.) to fi nish; to end up (by
doing)
réfléchir
(à) to refl ect (on), to consider
remplir
to fi ll (up); to fi ll out
réussir
(à) to succeed (in); to manage (to)
Ma mère agit toujours raisonnablement. My
mother always acts reasonably. Ils remplissent les formulaires. They
fill out the forms.
Tu
réussis à contacter notre prof? Are
you managing to contact our professor?
Vous finissez bientôt? Will
you be fi nished soon?
•
The verb réfl échir (to refl ect on, contemplate) requires à before
a noun.
Nous réfléchissons aux questions. We are thinking about the questions.
—Moi, je réfléchis à l’avenir. —Me, I am contemplating the future.
À
contracts with the definite articles le and les to
form au and aux. La and l’ do not contract with à.
The verb réussir
is used with à before an infi nitive and before a noun in the
expression réussir à un examen (to pass an exam).
Je
réussis à terminer mon projet I
am managing to finish my project.
D’habitude, ils réussissent à leurs
examens Usually, they pass
their exams.
• Finir
is followed by the preposition de before an infi nitive. Finir
par _ infinitive means to end up (by) doing something.
Tu
finis de travailler à trois heures?
Do
you
finish work(ing)
at three o’clock?
Nous
finissons souvent par parler avec le patron.
We
often end up talking with the boss.
• Many
verbs that describe physical change or transformation are regular -ir verbs.
blanchir (to
bleach, whiten) pâlir (to grow pale)
brunir (to
tan; to brown) ralentir (to slow down)
élargir (to
widen, broaden) rétrécir (to shrink, grow smaller)
grandir (to
grow up) rougir (to blush, grow red)
grossir (to
gain weight) salir (to get dirty)
jaunir (to
yellow) vieillir (to grow old, age)
maigrir (to
lose weight)
Nous
ralentissons devant l’école. We slow down in front of the school.
Roméo
rougit en présence de Juliette. Romeo
blushes when he’s with Juliette.
Les
enfants grandissent vite! Children grow up fast!
Je
vieillis dans ce boulot! I am growing old in this job!
