IR - Ending verbs

II Group Verbs
The present tense: regular -ir (second conjugation) verbs - Easy Learning Grammar French
•If an infinitive ends in -ir, it means the verb belongs to the second conjugation,

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 finish) fin-
choisir (to choose) chois-
remplir (to fill, to fill in) rempl-

•Now add the correct ending, depending on whether you are referring to je, tu, il, elle, on, nous,
vous, ils or elles.
 Add to stem, e.g.
Pronoun Ending Meanings
fin-
I finish
je (j’) -is je finis
I am finishing
you finish
tu -is tu finis
you are finishing
il il finit he/it
finishes
elle -it elle finit
she/it is
finishing Je changes to j’ in front of a
we finish word starting with a vowel,
nous -issons nous finissons
we are finishing or a semi vowel.
you finish
vous -issez vous finissez
you are finishing
ils ils finissent they finish
-issent
elles elles finissent they are finishing

Examples:
1. Le cours finit à onze heures. (The lesson finishes at eleven o’clock.)
2. Je finis mes devoirs. (I’m finishing my homework.)
 IR verbs
Accomplir – to accomplish
Avertir – to warn
Bénir – to bless
Choisir – to choose
Convertir – to convert
Définir – to define
Etablir – to establish
Finir – to finish
Nourrir – to feed
Obéir – to obey
Punir – to punish
Réfléchir – to reflect/think
Remplir – to fill
Réussir – to succeed
Vieillir – to grow old
Irregular IR verbs:

1. Some -ir verbs behave like -er verbs. To conjugate them, you drop the -ir ending, like you would with .
a regular verb like finir. Then you add, well, the regular -er verb endings: -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, and -ent!
Here’s the complete conjugation of one such verb, ouvrir (to open).Other verbs of this type include découvrir
(to discover), offrir (to offer), and souffrir (to suffer).

j’ouvre nous ouvrons

tu ouvres vous ouvrez
il/elle ouvre ils/elles ouvrent

Common verbs
couvrir to cover
cueillir to pick
offrir to offer
ouvrir to open
souffrir to suffer
2. The French verbs venir and tenir
Finally, you meet a special group of verbs: venir (to come), tenir (to hold), and all their siblings (called compound verbs
because they are formed with a prefix + venir or tenir). Such verbs include: se souvenir (to remember), devenir (to
become), revenir (to come back), appartenir (to belong), and soutenir (to support).

To conjugate these irregular -ir verbs, drop the -enir of the infinitive and replace it with -iens, -iens, -ient, -enons, -enez, or
-iennent. The following tables give you the complete present tense conjugation of venir and tenir.
The je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles forms have the same stem (-ien + ending), whereas the nous and vous forms have the
same stem as the infinitive (-en).

Venir
Eg:
je viens nous venons Obtenir
tu viens vous venez
J’obtiens
il/elle/on vient ils/elles viennent
Tu obtiens
Il obtient
Elle obtient
Tenir Nous obtenons
je tiens nous tenons Vous obtenez
Ils obtiennent
tu tiens vous tenez
Elles obtiennent
Il/elle/on tient ils/elles tiennent
Common Verbs

abstenir (s’) to abstain

advenir to happen that
appartenir to belong
contenir to contain
convenir to suit
détenir to detain
devenir to become
entretenir to maintain, support
intervenir to intervene
maintenir to maintain
obtenir to obtain
parvenir to reach, achieve
prévenir to warn, prevent
provenir to come from
retenir to retain
revenir to come back
soutenir to support
souvenir (se) to remember
tenir to hold
venir to come