Paul finit sixième.

Paul finishes sixth.

Breakdown of Paul finit sixième.

• Paul: Paul
• finir: to finish
• sixième: sixth

Questions & Answers about Paul finit sixième.

What does finit mean here?

Here, finit is the 3rd person singular present of finir.

So Paul finit sixième literally means something like Paul finishes sixth or Paul comes in sixth.

In this kind of sentence, finir often means to finish in a certain position in a race, competition, ranking, etc.

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Why is it sixième and not six?

Because French uses an ordinal number here, not a cardinal number.

• six = six
• sixième = sixth

When you talk about someone’s position in a ranking, race, or competition, you use the ordinal:

• Paul finit sixième = Paul finishes sixth

Using six would not express the idea of 6th place.

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Why does sixième come after the verb?