74
Venes 75
Venes
The present tense: regular -ir (second conjugation) verbs lf an infinitive ends in -ir, it means the verb belongs to the second conjugation, for example, finir, choisir, remplir.
)
The stem of -ir verbs in the present tense is formed by taking the infinitive,,
and chopping off -ir.
)
Infinitive
Stem (without -ir)
finir (to
fin-
finish)
choisir (to choose)
chois-
rempfir (to fill, to fill in)
rempl-
D
Now add the correct ending, depending on whether you are referring to
For more informotion on Pronouns, see page 42.
Here are the present tense endings for -ir verbs: Pronoun
Ending
Add to stem, e.g. fin-
Meanings
ie 0')
-ts
ie finis
I finish
tu
-t5
tu finis
I am finishing you finish you are finishing
il
-it
elle on
il finit
he/she/itlone
finit on finit
finishes
we finish we are finishing you finish you are finishing
elle
he/she/it/one finishing
nous
-tssons
nous finissons
vous
-tssez
vous finissez
ils
-issent
ils finissent elles finissent
elles
Le cours finit i onze heures. Je finis mes devoirs.
is
they finish they are finishing
The lesson finishes at eleven o'clock, l'm finishing my homework.
For further explanation of grammatical terms, please see pages viii-xii.
D The nous and vous forms of -ir verbs have an extra (two syllobles) tu filnis vous
tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils or elles,
+
j' in front of a word starting with a vowel, most words starting with h, and the French word y.
je changes to
l
filnilssez
syllable.
(three syllables)
Key points -i, u"toniiJ,i""'r"lona conjugation and form
y'
Verbs ending in
y'
their present tense stem by losing the -ir from the infinitive. The present tense endings for -ir verbs are:
y'
-ls, -is, -it, -issons, -issez, -issent. Remember the extra syllable in the nous and vous forms.