Passé Simple of Regular -ir and -re Verbs

After regular -er verbs, the second most important passé simple pattern is the one used by regular -ir and -re verbs. The endings are: -is, -is, -it, -îmes, -îtes, -irent. Note the circumflex on -îmes and -îtes, which mirrors the -âmes/-âtes of -er verbs and reflects the same historical loss of an -s- in Old French.

This pattern covers two large verb groups:

1. Regular -ir verbs of the second group — verbs like finir, choisir, réussir, obéir, grandir that take the -iss- infix in the present plural (nous finissons, vous finissez).
2. Regular -re verbs of the third group — verbs like vendre, attendre, répondre, perdre, descendre.

A small set of -ir verbs from the third group (without the -iss- infix) — partir, sortir, dormir, sentir, mentir, servir — also follow this passé simple pattern, even though they conjugate differently in the present.

This page gives the full paradigms with IPA, the homophone trap with the present tense, and example sentences from natural literary French. The trap is unique in the French verb system and deserves close attention: the 3sg passé simple of -ir verbs is identical to the 3sg present in both spelling and pronunciation.

The full paradigm: finir

The model for -ir verbs is finir (to finish). Drop the -ir and add the passé simple endings:

The 1sg, 2sg, and 3sg forms are all pronounced /fi.ni/ — the -s of finis and the -t of finit are silent. This means that without the subject pronoun, the three forms are audibly identical. In writing, the spelling distinguishes them.

The 3pl finirent is /fi.niʁ/ with a clear final /ʁ/, distinguishing it from the imparfait finissaient /fi.ni.sɛ/.

The circumflex on finîmes and finîtes is mandatory. The forms used to be finismes, finistes in Old French; the -s- dropped and left a circumflex.

The full paradigm: vendre

For -re verbs, the model is vendre (to sell). Drop the -re and add the same endings:

Same pattern, same circumflex marks, same homophony in 1sg–3sg.

The unique homophone trap: il finit

Here is a feature of French that has no analogue in any other tense. The 3sg passé simple of regular -ir verbs is spelled identically to the 3sg present:

Same letters, same sound. The only thing that distinguishes them is context.

In the first sentence, the time adverb toujours (always) and the context of habitual action push the verb into the present. In the second, the conjoined passé simple sortit makes clear that finit is also passé simple — past, completed.

The disambiguation is rarely difficult in extended literary text because the surrounding tense (everything else in passé simple and imparfait) signals the past. But for an isolated sentence, the form is genuinely ambiguous, and you have to read the wider context.

This homophony does not exist for -er verbs (the present is il parle, the passé simple is il parla) or for -re verbs (the present is il vend, the passé simple is il vendit — different spellings). It is specific to -ir verbs.

Common -ir verbs in passé simple

Here are frequent -ir verbs from both the second group and the third group that follow this pattern:

A note on ouvrir, offrir, souffrir: these verbs are formally third-group with present-tense forms in -e (j'ouvre) but their passé simple is regular in -i. Their past participles end in -ert (ouvert, offert, souffert) — but their passé simple is in -it, like finir.

Common -re verbs in passé simple

The -re group is smaller than the -ir group but contains many high-frequency verbs:

Verbs that look -re or -ir but follow other patterns

Not every -re and -ir verb takes the -i-stem. A handful of high-frequency verbs follow the -u- stem pattern instead, or have genuinely irregular passé simple forms. The most important to know:

The rule of thumb: if the past participle ends in -u (bu, cru, lu, vécu, connu), the passé simple takes u-stem endings (-us, -us, -ut, -ûmes, -ûtes, -urent). If the past participle ends in -i (fini, choisi, parti) or in -it/-is (dit, écrit, mis, pris), the passé simple takes -i-stem endings (-is, -is, -it, -îmes, -îtes, -irent).

The -ins family (venir, tenir and compounds) is its own pattern; see the overview page.

A worked literary passage

Quand le ministre finit son discours, les députés applaudirent poliment, puis se levèrent pour quitter la salle. Le président attendit que tout le monde soit sorti, puis il rangea ses notes et descendit l'escalier en silence. Dehors, il faisait nuit. Il choisit de rentrer à pied.

When the minister finished his speech, the deputies applauded politely, then stood up to leave the room. The president waited until everyone was out, then put away his notes and walked down the stairs in silence. Outside, it was dark. He chose to walk home.

The passé simple verbs: finit, applaudirent, se levèrent, attendit, rangea, descendit, choisit. Note the mix — finit and choisit are -ir verbs (-i-stem); applaudirent is -ir second group; se levèrent and rangea are -er; attendit and descendit are -re. The single imparfait faisait describes the durative state of darkness.

This is a typical literary passage. To read it fluently, you need to recognize each verb form, identify it as passé simple or imparfait, and decode its aspectual function. Practice with passages like this — Camus, Maupassant, Mauriac, Modiano — and the recognition becomes automatic within a few weeks.

Comparison with English

English has a single simple past tense for all this work: he finished, he chose, he answered. The literary/spoken split that French maintains is invisible in English. When translating, render the French passé simple as English simple past in nearly every case:

In contrast, the imparfait usually maps to English past progressive (was finishing, was choosing) or used to (used to finish, used to choose), or to a stative simple past for description (it was, the room felt). The same aspectual contrast English makes between he was finishing and he finished is the contrast French makes between imparfait and passé simple — just with one extra French choice (passé simple vs. passé composé) layered on top.

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Confusing 3sg passé simple il finit with 3sg present il finit.

Mistake 2: Forgetting the circumflex on -îmes/-îtes.

Mistake 3: Applying -i-stem endings to -u-stem verbs.

Mistake 4: Misreading -irent as imparfait.

Mistake 5: Confusing partit (passé simple) with participle parti.

Mistake 6: Using passé simple in casual writing.

Key takeaways

Regular -ir and -re verbs form the passé simple with the endings -is, -is, -it, -îmes, -îtes, -irent. Note the circumflex on -îmes/-îtes — mandatory in writing.

The unique pitfall in this pattern is the 3sg homophone with the present tense: il finit can mean either "he finishes" (present) or "he finished" (passé simple). Both are spelled and pronounced identically. Context disambiguates — surrounding tense, time adverbs, and discourse cues tell you which is meant. Within a literary narrative passage, default to passé simple.

Not every -re or -ir verb takes the -i-stem. Verbs whose past participle ends in -u (lu, bu, cru, vécu, connu) take the u-stem pattern instead (il lut, il but, il crut, il vécut, il connut). Verbs in the venir/tenir family use the -ins pattern (il vint, il tint). And a handful of irregulars (il fit, il vit, il dit, il prit, il mit) have their own forms.

Together with the regular -er pattern, this -i-stem pattern handles the vast majority of verb forms you'll meet in a French novel. Memorize the endings, train your eye on the homophone trap, and you can read literary French confidently.