Learn irregular -IR verb conjugations in the simple past tense of the indicative

Le passé simple (littéraire) de l'indicatif
Regular -IR pattern:
Drop the final ir from the infinitive form and use the following endings:
Je -is
Tu -is
Il -it
Nous -îmes
Vous -îtes
Ils -irent
[-us endings] [-ins endings]
Je -us -ins
Tu -us -ins
Il -ut -int
Nous -ûmes -înmes
Vous -ûtes -întes
Ils -urent -inrent
All verbs that take the -us endings have irregular stems except verbs that end in courir.
All verbs that take the -ins endings have irregular stems.

Example conjugation:
finir
Je fin
Tu fin
Il fin
Nous fin
Vous fin
Ils fin
courir
venir
[-us endings] [-ins endings]
Je cour v
Tu cour v
Il cour v
Nous cour v
Vous cour v
Ils cour v
All verbs that take the -us endings have irregular stems except verbs that end in courir.
All verbs that take the -ins endings have irregular stems.
Pattern legend:
Person is regular
Person is irregular
Person cannot be conjugated
Person has a new stem




NEW PATTERNS
'-ÉRIR' PATTERN
Description:
Use the base stem 'conqu-' dropping the final '-érir' from the infinitive conquérir.
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
acquérir
conquérir
enquérir
reconquérir
requérir
CONQUÉRIR
to conquer
Je is > is
Tu is > is
Il it > it
Nous îmes > îmes
Vous îtes > îtes
Ils irent > irent
'-CEVOIR' PATTERN [-us endings]
Description:
Use the base stem 'entraperç-' replacing the final '-cevoir' with 'ç' in the infinitive entrapercevoir and follow the '-us' pattern (found at the top of the page).
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
apercevoir
concevoir
décevoir
entr'apercevoir
entrapercevoir
entre-apercevoir
percevoir
recevoir
ENTRAPERCEVOIR
J' is > us
Tu is > us
Il it > ut
Nous îmes > ûmes
Vous îtes > ûtes
Ils irent > urent
'-ENIR' PATTERN [-ins endings]
Description:
Use the base stem 'cont-' dropping the final '-enir' from the infinitive contenir and follow the '-ins' pattern (found at the top of the page).
Endings' pattern:
-ins, -ins, -int, -înmes, -întes, -inrent
Verbs:
abstenir
appartenir
circonvenir
contenir
contrevenir
convenir
détenir
devenir
disconvenir
entretenir
intervenir
maintenir
obtenir
obvenir
parvenir
prévenir
provenir
redevenir
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CONTENIR
to contain, to include; to hold back, to suppress
Je is > ins
Tu is > ins
Il it > int
Nous îmes > înmes
Vous îtes > întes
Ils irent > inrent
'-EOIR' PATTERN
Description:
Use the base stem 'ass-' dropping the final '-eoir' from the infinitive asseoir.
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
asseoir
rasseoir
surseoir
ASSEOIR
J' is > is
Tu is > is
Il it > it
Nous îmes > îmes
Vous îtes > îtes
Ils irent > irent
'-OIR' PATTERN
Description:
Use the base stem 'prév-' dropping the final '-oir' from the infinitive prévoir.
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
assoir
entrevoir
prévoir
rassoir
revoir
sursoir
voir
PRÉVOIR
to foresee
Je is > is
Tu is > is
Il it > it
Nous îmes > îmes
Vous îtes > îtes
Ils irent > irent
'-OIR' PATTERN [-us endings]
Description:
Use the base stem 'voul-' dropping the final '-oir' from the infinitive vouloir and follow the '-us' pattern (found at the top of the page).
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
équivaloir
choir
déchoir
pourvoir
prévaloir
valoir
vouloir
VOULOIR
to want
Je is > us
Tu is > us
Il it > ut
Nous îmes > ûmes
Vous îtes > ûtes
Ils irent > urent
'-OUVOIR' PATTERN [-us endings]
Description:
Use the base stem 'prom-' dropping the final '-ouvoir' from the infinitive promouvoir and follow the '-us' pattern (found at the top of the page).
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
émouvoir
mouvoir
pouvoir
promouvoir
PROMOUVOIR
to promote
Je is > us
Tu is > us
Il it > ut
Nous îmes > ûmes
Vous îtes > ûtes
Ils irent > urent
'-US' PATTERN [-us endings]
Description:
Follow the regular '-us' pattern (found at the top of the page) instead of the regular endings.
Endings' pattern:
-us, -us, -ut, -ûmes, -ûtes, -urent
Verbs:
accourir
concourir
courir
discourir
encourir
mourir
parcourir
recourir
secourir
MOURIR
[être] to die
Je is > us
Tu is > us
Il it > ut
Nous îmes > ûmes
Vous îtes > ûtes
Ils irent > urent

ORTHOGRAPHIC CHANGES
Remove i add ï
Description:
Keep the tréma accent on the 'i'.
Endings' pattern:
-ïs, -ïs, -ït, -ïmes, -ïtes, -ïrent
Verbs:
amuïr
entre-haïr
entrehaïr
haïr
ouïr
ENTRE-HAÏR
J' entre-ha > entre-ha
Tu entre-ha > entre-ha
Il entre-ha > entre-ha
Nous entre-ha > entre-ha
Vous entre-ha > entre-ha
Ils entre-ha > entre-ha




COMPLETELY IRREGULAR
AVOIR (unique)
Description:
Irregular verb
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Applicable verbs:
avoir
AVOIR
to have
J' is > us
Tu is > us
Il it > ut
Nous îmes > ûmes
Vous îtes > ûtes
Ils irent > urent
SAVOIR (unique)
Description:
Irregular verb
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Applicable verbs:
savoir
SAVOIR
to know (facts and how to do things)
Je is > us
Tu is > us
Il it > ut
Nous îmes > ûmes
Vous îtes > ûtes
Ils irent > urent
DEVOIR (unique)
Description:
Irregular verb
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Applicable verbs:
devoir
DEVOIR
to have to (obligation); to owe
Je is > us
Tu is > us
Il it > ut
Nous îmes > ûmes
Vous îtes > ûtes
Ils irent > urent

CANCELED CONJUGATIONS
-ENIR [-ins endings], only il
Description:
Use the base stem 'adv-' dropping the final '-enir' from the infinitive advenir, follow the '-ins' pattern (found at the top of the page) and only conjugate the il form.
Endings' pattern:
, , -int, , ,
Verbs:
advenir
ADVENIR
J' > -
Tu > -
Il adv > adv
Nous > -
Vous > -
Ils > -
-OIR [-us endings], only il, irreg. [for: il]
Description:
Use the base stem 'éch-' dropping the final '-oir' from the infinitive échoir, follow the '-us' pattern (found at the top of the page) and only conjugate the il form.
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
échoir
ÉCHOIR
J' > -
Tu > -
Il >
Nous > -
Vous > -
Ils > -
Only il, irreg. [for: il] [-us endings]
Description:
Use the base stem 'fall-' dropping the final '-oir' from the infinitive falloir, follow the '-us' pattern (found at the top of the page) and only conjugate the il form.
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
FALLOIR
Je > -
Tu > -
Il >
Nous > -
Vous > -
Ils > -
PLEUVOIR
Je > -
Tu > -
Il >
Nous > -
Vous > -
Ils > -




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-ER
-IR
-RE


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  ├ Participles
  ├ Indicative
    ├ Present ( -ER | -IR | -RE )
    └ Simple Past ( -ER | -IR | -RE )
  ├ Subjunctive
  ├ Conditional
  └ Imperative
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