What is the conjugation of finir in French?
The conjugation of finir (Meaning: to finish in French) is: Je finis (I finish), tu finis (you finish), il, elle finit (he, she finishes), nous finissons (we finish), vous finissez (you finish) and ils, elles finissent (they finish). This page provides conjugation charts of finir in seven major verb tenses.
Finir is a regular -ir verb. This means that it’s endings when conjugated in the present tense are the same as all other regular -ir verbs. It’s present tents endings are: -is, -is, -it, -issons, -issez and -issent.
The past participle of finir is fini (finished) and the present participle of finissant (finishing).
This page covers the following verb tenses:
- Present tense (le présent)
- Compound past (passé composé)
- Imperfect (l’imparfait)
- Simple future (le futur simple)
- Conditional (le présent du conditionnel)
- Present subjunctive (le subjonctif)
- Imperative (l’impératif)
How to use the verb finir
Finir + noun
When followed by a noun, finir simply means “to finish”. For example:
- Sylvie finit son repas. Sylvie finishes her meal.
- Nous finissons le projet. We finish the project.
Finir de + infinitive = to finish an action
The construction finir de + infinitive is used to express the finishing of an action. For example:
- Marie finit de chanter. Marie finishes singing.
- Nous finissons de travailler. We finish working.
Finir par + inf = to end up
The construction finir par + infinitive is used to express “to end up”. For example:
- Thomas a fini par vendre les chaussures. Thomas ended up selling shoes.
Finir conjugation table
Finir conjugation charts
Present tense (le présent)
In the present tense, je finis can translate to both “I finish” and “I am finishing”.
| Je finis | I finish | Je finis mon travail vers dix-sept heures. | I finish my work around 5pm. |
| Tu finis | You finish (informal, singular) | Tu finis le roman en une semaine. | You finish the novel in one week. |
| Il, elle finit | He, she finishes | Elle finit son projet cette semaine. | She's finishing the project this week. |
| Nous finissons | We finish | Nous finissons toute la pizza. | We are finishing the entire pizza. |
| Vous finissez | You finish (formal, plural) | Vous finissez la bouteille de champagne. | You finish the bottle of champagne. |
| Ils, elles finissent | They finish | Ils finissent de travailler très tard. | They finish working very late. |
In the following video, online French teacher Alexa teaches the pronunciation of finir in the present tense.
Compound past (passé composé)
The French use the passé composé to express past actions which occurred a specific times. J’ai fini means “I finished”.
| J'ai fini | I finished | J'ai fini mon travail juste avant minuit. | I finished my work just before midnight. |
| Tu as fini | You finished (informal, singular) | Tu as finis ton repas avant les autres enfants. | You finished your meal before the other kids. |
| Il, elle a fini | He, she finished | Il a finit de manger avec les autres invités. | He finished eating before the other guests. |
| Nous avons fini | We finished | Nous avons fini le film avant vingt-deux heures. | We finished the movie before 10pm. |
| Vous avez fini | You finished (formal, plural) | Vous avez fini le projet bien en avance. | You have finished the project very early. |
| Ils, elles ont fini | They finished | Ils ont fini par se battre. | Then ended up fighting each other. |
Imperfect (l’imparfait)
In the imperfect tense, je finissais means “I was finishing” or “I used to finish”. The French use the imperfect to express past actions which occurred at unspecified times.
| Je finissais | I was finishing, used to finish | Je finissais mon travail quand le téléphone a sonné. | I was finishing my work when the phone rang. |
| Tu finissais | You were finishing, used to finish (informal, singular) | Quand j'étais a l'université je finissais d'étudier vers minuit. | When I was in university I used to finish studying around midnight. |
| Il, elle finissait | He, she was finishing, used to finish | Elle finissait le projet quand le patron est venu. | She was finishing the project when the boss came. |
| Nous finissions | We were finishing, used to finish | Nous finissions le repas quand le serveur est venu à la table. | We were finishing the meal when the waiter came to the table. |
| Vous finissiez | You were finishing, used to finish (formal, plural) | Vous finissiez le film quand quelqu'un a frappé à la porte. | You were finishing the movie when somebody knocked on the door. |
| Ils, elles finissaient | They were finishing, used to finish | Ils finissaient de travailler vers vingt-deux heures quand ils étaient plus jeunes. | They used to finish working around 8pm when they were younger. |
Simple future (le futur simple)
In the future tense (le futur simple), je finirai translates to “I will finish”.
| Je finirai | I will finish | Je finirai le roman ce week-end. | I'll finish the novel this weekend. |
| Tu finiras | You will finish (informal, singular) | J'espère que tu finiras ton repas! | I hope you'll finish your meal! |
| Il, elle finira | He, she will finish | Quand est-ce qu'il finira son travail? | When will he finish his work? |
| Nous finirons | We will finish | Nous finirons de travailler demain soir. | We'll finish working tomorrow evening. |
| Vous finirez | You will finish (formal, plural) | Quand est-ce que vous finirez de chanter? | When will you finish singing? |
| Ils, elles finiront | They will finish | Est-ce qu'ils finiront la bouteille de vin? | Will they finish the bottle of wine? |
Conditional (le présent du conditionnel)
The French use the conditional tense (le conditionnel) to express hypothetical actions.
| Je finirais | I would finish | Je finirais mon travail si j'avais assez de temps. | I'd finish my work if I had enough time. |
| Tu finirais | You would finish (informal, singular) | Tu finirais le repas si tu avais faim. | You'd finish the meal if you were hungry. |
| Il, elle finirait | He, she would fnish | Elle finirait le projet mais elle n'a pas assez de temps. | She'd finish the project but she doesn't have enough time. |
| Nous finirions | We would finish | Nous finirions les frites mais nous n'avons plus faim. | We'd finish the French fries but we're not hungry anymore. |
| Vous finiriez | You would finish (formal, plural) | Vous finiriez le projet si vous aviez plus d'argent. | You'd finish the project if you had more money. |
| Ils, elles finiraient | They would finish | Ils finiraient la pizza mais ils sont rassasiés. | They'd finish the meal but they're full. |
Present subjunctive (le subjonctif)
The French use the subjunctive mood to express wishes, emotions and doubts. Que je finisse translates to “that I finish”.
| que je finisse | that I finish | Il faut que je finisse mon travail. | I need to finish my work. |
| que tu finisses | that you finish (informal, singular) | Je doute que tu finisses le projet aujourd'hui. | I doubt you're finishing the project today. |
| qu'il, elle finisse | that he, she finishes | Je suis content qu'il finisse son repas. | I'm happy he's finishing his meal. |
| que nous finissions | that we finish | Il faut que nous finissions le plus rapidement possible. | We need to finish as quickly as possible. |
| que vous finissiez | that you finish (formal, plural) | J'exige que vous finissiez le projet tout de suite! | I demand that you finish the project right away! |
| qu'ils, elles finissent | that they finish | Je ne sais pas s'ils finissent la pizza. | I don't know if they're finishing the pizza. |
Imperative (l’impératif)
The French use the imperative mood for giving commands. “Finis!” translates to “finish!”.
| Finis! | Finish! (singular, informal) | Finis tes légumes! | Finish your vegetables! |
| Finissons! | Let's finish! | Finissons la pizza! | Let's finish the pizza! |
| Finissez! | Finish! (plural, formal) | Finissez le projet! | Finish the project! |
