Perfect tense of -ir verbs
Key points
- For -ir verbs the past participle is formed by removing the –r from the infinitive: e.g. fini
- As with -er verbs, the perfect tense of -ir verbs in French is also made up of the present tense of the verb avoir, e.g. j'ai fini , tu as fini etc.
The perfect tense in French is formed differently according to what group a verb belongs to (e.g. -ir, -re, irregular ). For most verbs ending -ir the past participle is formed by simply removing the -r from the infinitive . The verb finir which means to finish conjugates as follows in the perfect:
| finir to finish | ||
|---|---|---|
| j’ | ai fini | |
| tu | as fini | |
| il / elle | a fini | |
| nous | avons fini | |
| vous | avez fini | |
| ils / elles | ont fini | |
Here are some examples:
Est-ce que tu as fini tes devoirs?
Have you finished your homework?
Elle a choisi une jolie robe rose
She chose a pretty pink dress
Vos enfants ont grandi
Your children have grown
Les voleurs ont saisi les bijoux
The thieves siezed the jewels