Lesson 9: -IR verbs. The verb aller. Futur proche

Part 1: Regular -IR verbs (the finir family)

The second big "regular" group. Smaller than -ER, but the members are high-frequency: finir, choisir, réussir, grandir, obéir, remplir, réfléchir.

The signature feature: in the plural, French inserts -iss- into the stem. That's the badge of the group — and the only way to tell these verbs apart from the other -IR group (we'll meet that one below).

Conjugating finir (to finish)

Person	Form	Pronunciation
je	finis	"fee-NEE"
tu	finis	"fee-NEE"
il / elle	finit	"fee-NEE"
nous	finissons	"fee-nee-SOHN"
vous	finissez	"fee-nee-SAY"
ils / elles	finissent	"fee-NEESS"

The endings: -is, -is, -it, -issons, -issez, -issent.

Pronunciation trap. All three singular forms sound identical: je finis = tu finis = il finit → "fee-NEE". The final -s and -t are silent (the CaReFuL rule from Lesson 1 doesn't cover s or t). In speech you tell the persons apart only by the pronoun in front.

Conjugating choisir (to choose)

Person	Form
je choisis	tu choisis
il choisit	nous choisissons
vous choisissez	ils choisissent

Other verbs in this family

Verb	Meaning	Example
réussir	to succeed, to pass (an exam)	Je réussis l'examen. — I pass the exam.
grandir	to grow up	Les enfants grandissent vite. — Kids grow up fast.
réfléchir	to think, to reflect	Nous réfléchissons. — We're thinking it over.
obéir (à)	to obey	Tu obéis à ta mère. — You obey your mother.
remplir	to fill	Il remplit le verre. — He fills the glass.
choisir	to choose	Vous choisissez ? — Are you choosing?

English-speaker hack: several of these have transparent English cognates — finir / finish, choisir / choice, réussir / "re-succeed", remplir / replenish. Lean on the family resemblance.

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Part 2: False friends — -IR verbs WITHOUT -iss-

Not every verb ending in -IR is regular. There's a second, irregular -IR group: partir, sortir, dormir, sentir, servir, courir, venir, tenir, ouvrir, offrir. They look the same in the infinitive but conjugate differently.

The test: if the nous form has no -iss-, the verb is not a regular -IR. It belongs to the irregular -IR family and you have to learn it separately.

Group	nous-form	Examples
Regular (finir)	nous finissons	choisir, réussir, grandir, remplir
Irregular (partir)	nous partons (no -iss-)	sortir, dormir, sentir, servir

Conjugation of partir (to leave) — useful in this lesson for travel:

je pars	tu pars	il part
nous partons	vous partez	ils partent

Trap. Je finis (regular) vs je pars (irregular). The singular looks similar, but the plural splits them: finissons vs partons. Same with sors, dors, sers — singular forms drop the last consonant of the stem.

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Part 3: The verb aller — the king of irregulars

Aller means "to go" (on foot, by car, by plane — French doesn't care, it's one verb). But it's the most irregular verb in French. Just learn it cold.

Person	Form	Pronunciation
je	vais	"vay"
tu	vas	"vah"
il / elle	va	"vah"
nous	allons	"ah-LOHN"
vous	allez	"ah-LAY"
ils / elles	vont	"vohn"

Memorize the rhythm: vais, vas, va — allons, allez, vont. The stem changes twice: v- in the singular and vont, all- in nous/vous. There's literally nothing of the infinitive "aller" left in the singular — it's that irregular.

English parallel: aller is doing what English to be does — completely suppletive (go / went / gone are three unrelated roots, same with aller / vais / irai). When a verb is this central, languages love to mangle it.

Aller + place

After aller you almost always see a preposition of place (see Part 5):

• Je vais à Paris. — I'm going to Paris.
• Nous allons au cinéma. — We're going to the movies.
• Ils vont en France. — They're going to France.

Aller for "how are you"

Remember from Lesson 1: Comment ça va ? — that's aller. Literally "How does it go?" Ça va bien = "It goes well." French uses aller, where English uses to be doing.

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Part 4: Futur proche — future tense, no homework

The easiest way to talk about the future in French: aller (in present tense) + infinitive. Used for imminent or planned actions. This is identical to the English "going to" future:

I am going to eat = Je vais manger.

Same logic, same structure, same use. If you can say "I'm going to do it" in English, you already speak futur proche.

The formula

[aller in present] + [infinitive of the action verb] = futur proche

Person	Example	Translation
je	je vais parler	I'm going to speak
tu	tu vas finir	you're going to finish
il / elle	elle va partir	she's going to leave
nous	nous allons manger	we're going to eat
vous	vous allez choisir	you're going to choose
ils / elles	ils vont voyager	they're going to travel

Negation

ne … pas wraps only aller, never the infinitive:

• Je ne vais pas travailler demain. — I'm not going to work tomorrow.
• Nous n'allons pas partir. — We're not going to leave.

The infinitive stays naked outside the ne … pas sandwich. English speakers sometimes try to put "pas" after the infinitive — don't. Aller is the only conjugated verb in the sentence; negation always grips the conjugated verb.

Present vs futur proche

Now (présent)	Soon (futur proche)
Je mange. — I'm eating.	Je vais manger. — I'm going to eat.
Tu choisis ? — Are you choosing?	Tu vas choisir ? — Are you going to choose?
Nous partons. — We're leaving.	Nous allons partir. — We're going to leave.

Futur proche time markers: bientôt (soon), demain (tomorrow), ce soir (tonight), la semaine prochaine (next week), dans deux heures (in two hours), tout à l'heure (later today).

Why "proche"? Proche means "near, close." There's also a futur simple (one-word future, like je parlerai) that comes in Lesson 27. For now, futur proche covers 80% of everyday future talk — including planned events years from now: Je vais me marier en 2030 is perfectly fine.

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Part 5: Place prepositions — à, en, au, aux

This is the headache of every beginner. The logic depends on gender and number of the country/place.

Cities — always à

• Je vais à Paris. — I'm going to Paris.
• Elle habite à Londres. — She lives in London.
• Nous allons à New York. — We're going to New York.

One preposition, no choices. À covers both "to" and "in" for cities — English splits them (to Paris / in Paris), French doesn't bother.

Countries — pick by gender

Country type	Gender	Preposition	Example
la France, l'Italie, la Russie, l'Espagne, la Chine	feminine (usually -e)	en	en France, en Italie
le Japon, le Canada, le Portugal, le Brésil, le Maroc	masculine	au	au Japon, au Canada
les États-Unis, les Pays-Bas, les Philippines	plural	aux	aux États-Unis
Cuba, Israël, Chypre (no article)	—	à	à Cuba
countries starting with a vowel — l'Iran, l'Irak	use en	en	en Iran, en Irak

The 90% rule: if a country ends in -e, it's feminine → use en. Exceptions to memorize: le Mexique, le Cambodge, le Mozambique, le Zimbabwe — masculine despite the -e.

The vowel override: any country starting with a vowel takes en, regardless of gender. L'Iran is masculine, but you still say en Iran (not "au Iran" — that vowel clash is forbidden). Same for en Afghanistan, en Angola.

Continents — always en (they're all feminine)

en Europe, en Asie, en Afrique, en Amérique, en Australie

Places in a city

Place	With preposition	Translation
le cinéma	au cinéma	to/at the movies
la gare	à la gare	to/at the train station
l'aéroport	à l'aéroport	to/at the airport
les toilettes	aux toilettes	to the restroom
la maison	à la maison	home, at home
le travail	au travail	to/at work
l'école	à l'école	to/at school

Contractions to memorize: à + le = au, à + les = aux. à + la and à + l' do not contract (the vowel makes contraction unnecessary). This is exactly the same logic as Lesson 3's du / de la / des.

"From" — preposition de

The mirror pair: "to" → "from."

To	From
à Paris	de Paris
en France	de France
au Japon	du Japon
aux États-Unis	des États-Unis

• Je viens de Russie. — I come from Russia.
• Il rentre du Canada. — He's coming back from Canada.
• Le train arrive des Pays-Bas. — The train arrives from the Netherlands.

Same contraction rule: de + le = du, de + les = des.

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