37 Regular -Ir Verbs in French and How to Use Them

If you’re serious about learning French, you need to learn how to conjugate verbs.

Once you master conjugating them, you can start watching French movies, reading French novels, and even speaking French! 

So today I’m going to break down one entire group of French verbs for you: regular -ir verbs.

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Common -Ir Verbs in French

abolir	to abolish
accomplir	to accomplish, to achieve
affaiblir	to weaken
agir sur	to act on
applaudir	to applaud
bâtir	to build
décrire	to describe
définir	to define
envahir	to invade
établir	to establish, to set up
finir par	to end up
fournir	to provide, to supply
garantir	to guarantee
grossir	to gain weight
investir	to invest
maigrir	to lose weight
partir	to leave
prévenir	to warn, to prevent
réagir	to react
répartir	to distribute
réussir	to succeed
réussir à	to manage to, to succeed in
réussir dans	to succeed in
subir	to undergo, to suffer
venir	to come

Conjugation of -Ir Verbs in The Past, Present and Future 

Present Tense

For all regular present tense verbs, there are basic endings you tack on to the stem, based on who’s performing the action described by the verb.

Let’s use the verb bâtir (to build) as an example:

The stem for any regular -ir verb will be the infinitive (bâtir), with the –ir removed. That leaves us with the stem:

bât-

Now that we have the stem, we add our present tense endings based on who’s performing the action described by the verb:

Pronouns	Endings
Je (I)	-is
Tu (you)	-is
Il/Elle (he/she)	-it
Nous (we)	-issons
Vous (you formal)	-issez
Ils/elles (they)	-issent

So we get the following:

English	French Present Tense
I build	Je bâtis
You build	Tu bâtis
He/She builds	Il/Elle bâtit
We build	Nous bâtissons
You build	Vous bâtissez
They build	Ils/Elles bâtissent

And that will work for all of the regular -ir verbs.

Imperative Mood

Imperative mood is used to give commands to people. Let’s use the example of abolir (to abolish) to show the three different forms of the imperative mood:

There are the tu, nous and vous forms of the imperative mood. Depending on who you’re commanding or expressing a wish to, you will use one of these forms. Only, you won’t use the pronoun. Think of the English imperative: “Sit down!” “Make me coffee!” “Leave!”

It’s the same idea, but with different conjugations depending on who you’re talking to:

Endings

(tu) -is
(nous) -issons
(vous) -issez

Notice that they’re the same as the present tense. So if we conjugate abolir, we get:

Abolis les chapeaux rouges ! (Abolish red hats!)

Abolissons les légumes verts ! (Let’s abolish green vegetables!)

Abolissez les devoirs ! (Abolish homework!)

This will work with any regular -ir verbs.

Perfect Tense

Since the perfect tense is a compound tense—first made up of avoir or être conjugated to the subject in the present tense, plus what we like to call the “past participle,”—it’s important to know both how to conjugate avoir and être, as well as what the past participles are for each verb.

Let’s use guérir (to cure/heal) as an example:

With any regular -ir verb, you start with the stem (by removing the -ir part) to find the past participle:

So guérir becomes guér- 

Then, you add the ending for the past participle (which is the same no matter what your regular -ir verb is): –i

Which makes your past participle: guéri 

Then, whether you’re using the past participle for the perfect tense, or another compound tense, you place the past participle after the conjugated verb, like so:

English	French Perfect Tense
I healed	J'ai guéri
You healed	Tu as guéri
He/She healed	Il/Elle a guéri
We healed	Nous avons guéri
You healed	Vous avez guéri
They healed	Ils/Elles ont guéri

You can also think of this as simply cutting off the -r on the infinitive in order to get your past participle!

Imperfect Tense

The imperfect is used to describe past events that spanned a longer period of time, are related to emotion, or happened before another past event.

We’ll use the verb grossir (to gain weight) as an example.

You start by conjugating the nous form of the verb (you find the stem by removing the -ir and then add –issons).

This leaves us with grossissons.

So now that you have the nous form, you cut off the -ons part, which leaves us with grossiss- 

Endings

Then, you add the imperfect ending:

Pronouns	Endings
Je (I)	-ais
Tu (you)	-ais
Il/Elle (he/she)	-ait
Nous (we)	-ions
Vous (you formal)	-iez
Ils/elles (they)	-aient

Mix it all together with our stem grossiss-, and you get:

English	French Imperfect Tense
I was putting on weight	Je grossissais
You were putting on weight	Tu grossissais
He/She was putting on weight	Il/Elle grossissait
We were putting on weight	Nous grossissions
You were putting on weight	Vous grossissiez
They were putting on weight	Ils/Elles grossissaient

Again, this will work every time with regular -ir verbs.

Future

The future tense is used to talk about events that will happen in the future and is the easiest to conjugate. In fact, it doesn’t matter if the verb in question is a regular -ir verb or regular -er verb, it’s the same method:

Let’s use maigrir (to lose weight) as an example:

Now you need to find the stem. With regular -ir and -er verbs, the stem is the infinitive.

Endings

Then, you add the future endings:

Pronouns	Endings
Je (I)	-ai
Tu (you)	-as
Il/Elle (he/she)	-a
Nous (we)	-ons
Vous (you formal)	-ez
Ils/elles (they)	-ont

Throw it all together and you get:

English	French Future Tense
I will lose weight	Je maigrirai
You will lose weight	Tu maigriras
He will lose weight	Il maigrira
We will lose weight	Nous maigrirons
You all will lose weight	Vous maigrirez
They will lose weight

Where and How to Study Regular -Ir Verbs in French

There are tons of fun ways to study -ir verbs in French, here are some of them:

• Quizlet: If you haven’t already been using Quizlet to challenge your knowledge and whirl yourself up into a flashcard frenzy, then you’re missing out big time. Here’s a link to a great list of regular -ir verbs. If you need to work on vocabulary and definitions, then this a great place to try out flashcards, play games and practice your spelling!

• Languageguide.org: Languageguide.org is exactly what it sounds like, another great resource that will guide you through language learning. It has access to good French reading material, vocabulary and grammar modules. For our purposes, here’s a great activity to practice conjugating regular -ir verbs, if that’s where you find the struggle to be real.

• Conjuguemos: Let me level with you, conjugation may be where the struggles lie. Conjuguemos is a great resource to have bookmarked throughout your life as a Francophile. Whatever your trouble may be—subjunctive, past tense, future, compound tenses galore—there are customizable conjugation activities for each. The site also includes vocabulary practice and more grammar than we can handle. To see how you fair with those -ir verbs, here’s a link to their turf.

• Index cards. Yes, there are some of us who really do enjoy caressing note cards and color coding our vocabulary words! For -ir verbs, or any type of verbs, there’s a great system to study with nothing more than a pack of index cards and some colored markers. You’ll need to make three piles of index cards:

First pile: the infinitives of regular -ir verbs on one side, and their definitions on the back.

Second pile: the names of all the tenses you know so far (present, future, perfect, imperfect, subjunctive, etc.)

Third pile: pronouns, including je, tu, il/elle, nous, vous, ils/elles.

Then shuffle them up, pick one from each pile and do the appropriate conjugation. If you picked choisir from one pile, present tense from the second and je from the third pile, then your answer would be je choisis. 

Don’t let anyone tell you that flashcards aren’t amazing and magical!

12 Regular French -Ir Verbs

Here are twelve of the most commonly used regular -ir verbs in French. Each word links to every which way to conjugate the verb. 

1. agir

Definition: to act

Parfois, il agit sans réfléchir. (Sometimes, he acts without thinking.)

Conjugated in Present Tense:

Stem: ag-

J’agis
Tu agis
Il/Elle agit
Nous agissons
Vous agissez
Ils/Elles agissent

2. choisir

Definition: to choose

J’ai choisi une belle chemise pour toi. (I chose a nice shirt for you.)

Conjugated in Present Tense:

Stem: chois-

Je choisis
Tu choisis
Il/Elle choisit
Nous choisissons
Vous choisissez
Ils/Elles choisissent 

3. finir

Definition: to finish

Quand je finis mes devoirs, je vais regarder Netflix jusqu’à deux heures du matin. (When I finish my homework, I’m going to watch Netflix until two in the morning).

Conjugated in Present Tense:

Stem: fin-

Je finis
Tu finis
Il/Elle finit
Nous finissons
Vous finissez
Ils/Elles finissent 

4. grandir

Definition: to grow up

Peter Pan ne grandit jamais ! (Peter Pan never grows up!)

Conjugated in Present Tense:

Stem: grand-

Je grandis
Tu grandis
Il/Elle grandit
Nous grandissons
Vous grandissez
Ils/Elles grandissent

5. nourrir

Definition: to feed

Nourris ton serpent ! Il y a trois souris dans le frigidaire pour lui.* (Feed your snake! There are three mice in the fridge for her.)

* The above conjugation is the imperative, which was covered in the overview of tenses above!

Conjugated in Present Tense:

Stem: nourr-

Je nourris
Tu nourris
Il/Elle nourrit
Nous nourrissons
Vous nourrissez
Ils/Elles nourrissent

6. obéir

Definition: to obey

Si tu obéis à ta mère, tout ira bien . (If you obey your mother, all will go well).

Conjugated in Present Tense:

Stem: obé-

Je obéis
Tu obéis
Il/Elle obéit
Nous obéissons
Vous obéissez
Ils/Elles obéissent 

7. punir

Definition: to punish

Le prof a puni les élèves qui avaient lancé des œufs. (The teacher punished the students who had thrown eggs.)

Conjugated in Present Tense:

Stem: pun-

Je punis
Tu punis
Il/Elle punit
Nous punissons
Vous punissez
Ils/Elles punissent

8. réfléchir

Definition: to think, reflect

Réfléchis ! Il faut trouver un bon cadeau pour maman !* (Think! We must find a good gift for mom!)

* The above conjugation is the imperative, which was covered in the overview of tenses above!

Conjugated in Present Tense:

Stem: réfléch-

Je réfléchis
Tu réfléchis
Il/Elle réfléchit
Nous réfléchissons
Vous réfléchissez
Ils/Elles réfléchissent

9. remplir

Definition: to fill

Chaque vendredi, nous remplissons la piscine avec de la gélatine. (Each Friday, we fill the pool with gelatin).

Conjugated in Present Tense:

Stem: rempl-

Je remplis
Tu remplis
Il/Elle remplit
Nous remplissons
Vous remplissez
Ils/Elles remplissent

10. réunir

Definition: to reunite

L’organisation de la fête réunit les membres de la famille. (The organization of the party reunites the family members.)

Conjugated in Present Tense:

Stem: réun-

Je réunis
Tu réunis
Il/Elle réunit
Nous réunissons
Vous réunissez
Ils/Elles réunissent

11. rougir

Definition: to blush

Quand elle voit Jacques au parc, elle rougit ! (When she sees Jacques at the park, she blushes!)

Conjugated in Present Tense:

Stem: roug-

Je rougis
Tu rougis
Il/Elle rougit
Nous rougissons
Vous rougissez
Ils/Elles rougissent

12. vieillir  

Definition: to grow old

Si tu bois ce verre d’eau magique, tu ne vieilliras jamais ! (If you drink this magical water, you will never grow old!)

Conjugated in Present Tense:

Stem: vieill-

Je vieillis
Tu vieillis
Il/Elle vieillit
Nous vieillissons
Vous vieillissez
Ils/Elles vieillissent

 

Think you’re ready for irregular verbs after all of that? They’re the real fun ones. No pressure though.

No matter what speed you’re working at, mastering the art of regular -ir verbs brings you one step closer to Proust, or eating stinky French cheeses, or even binging on French TV. Whatever your cup of tea may be. Or should I say champagne? Oh whatever, bonne chance ! 

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)