How do you conjugate finir in the present tense?

Je finis, tu finis, il finit, nous finissons, vous finissez, ils finissent. The -iss- appears only in the plural, and it is one of the few French endings you can actually hear, which makes the singular and plural easy to tell apart in speech.

What's the difference between finir de and finir par?

Finir de plus an infinitive means to finish doing something: j'ai fini de lire. Finir par plus an infinitive means to end up doing something, usually after a delay: j'ai fini par lire ce livre. The prepositions are not interchangeable.

Why is je suis fini wrong?

Because finir takes avoir in compound tenses, so the correct form is j'ai fini. Je suis fini treats fini as an adjective and means I'm done for or I'm ruined, which is not what you want to announce at the end of a task.

Is finir a regular verb?

Yes, and it is the model for its whole class. Choisir, réussir, grandir, obéir, remplir, and several hundred others follow it exactly. Partir, sortir, dormir, and venir look similar but have no -iss-, so they belong to different patterns.

What does en finir avec mean?

To be done with something once and for all: j'en ai fini avec ce projet. The en is part of the expression and does not replace any earlier noun. The imperative form finissons-en means let's get this over with.

French grammar · Beginner

Finir in French: Conjugation, Finir De, and Finir Par

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

Finir means to finish, and it is the model verb for the regular -ir conjugation: an -iss- appears in the plural (nous finissons) and throughout the imperfect. Two constructions decide its meaning: finir de plus an infinitive is completing an action, while finir par plus an infinitive is ending up doing something.

J'ai fini de travailler, mais j'ai fini par tout recommencer.

I finished working, but I ended up starting it all over again.

What it is

Finir is the verb every -ir conjugation table is built around. Its endings are entirely predictable, and the only thing to keep an eye on is the -iss- that appears whenever the ending begins with a vowel other than i. Beyond the conjugation, the verb changes meaning depending on whether de or par follows it.

Je finis mon livre ce soir. — I'm finishing my book this evening.

How to spot it

Look for -iss- to tell the plural from the singular. Je finis and nous finissons differ by that syllable alone, and it is audible, unlike most French endings.

Je finis dans dix minutes. — I finish in ten minutes.
Nous finissons le projet vendredi. — We're finishing the project on Friday.
Ils finissaient toujours en retard. — They always used to finish late.
Le film finit mal. — The film ends badly.

Finir can be transitive (finir son assiette) or intransitive (le film finit tard). Either way it takes avoir in compound tenses.

Finir Quick Reference

Finir and its constructions

Structure	Meaning	Example
finir + direct object	to finish something	Finis ta soupe. — Finish your soup.
finir (no object)	to come to an end	Le cours finit à midi. — The class ends at noon.
finir de + infinitive	to finish doing something	J'ai fini de lire. — I've finished reading.
finir par + infinitive	to end up doing something	Il a fini par accepter. — He ended up accepting.
en finir avec	to have done with	J'en ai fini avec lui. — I'm done with him.
finir en / finir par + noun	to end in or with	Ça finit par un mariage. — It ends with a wedding.
c'est fini	it's over	Entre nous, c'est fini. — It's over between us.

Common Finir Examples in French

Finir in each of its main uses:

Finishing Something

Finis tes devoirs avant de sortir.: Finish your homework before you go out.
Elle a fini son rapport hier soir.: She finished her report last night.
Nous finissons la peinture demain.: We're finishing the painting tomorrow.
Tu as fini ton assiette ?: Have you finished your plate?

With a direct object, finir is straightforwardly transitive and behaves like any other -ir verb.

Coming to an End

Le concert finit vers minuit.: The concert ends around midnight.
Les vacances finissent dimanche.: The holidays end on Sunday.
Ça va mal finir.: This is going to end badly.
L'histoire finit bien.: The story has a happy ending.

Used this way, finir needs no object at all, and bien or mal often follows to say how it turned out.

Finir De: Completing an Action

J'ai fini de manger.: I've finished eating.
Elle vient de finir de ranger.: She's just finished tidying up.
Quand tu auras fini de parler, on décidera.: When you've finished talking, we'll decide.
Il n'a pas fini de se plaindre.: He hasn't finished complaining.

De is obligatory before the infinitive. Finir manger, on the model of English finish eating, is not French.

Finir Par: Ending Up

Il a fini par accepter.: He ended up accepting.
Elle finira par comprendre.: She'll understand eventually.
On a fini par prendre le train.: We ended up taking the train.
Tu finiras par te blesser.: You'll end up hurting yourself.

Finir par implies delay, resistance, or a series of attempts before the outcome finally arrives.

How Finir Works

Four points on the conjugation and the constructions that change the verb's meaning.

The -iss- Marks the Plural

Regular -ir verbs add -iss- before any ending that starts with something other than i. That gives nous finissons, vous finissez, ils finissent in the present, and it runs through the whole imperfect and subjunctive.

Nous finissons, ils finissent, je finissais.

We finish, they finish, I used to finish.

Singular fini-, plural finiss-.

The Future Uses the Whole Infinitive

Like every regular verb, finir builds its future and conditional on the complete infinitive with the endings attached: je finirai, je finirais. No -iss- appears in either.

Je finirai avant toi.

I'll finish before you.

finir + ai, as, a, ons, ez, ont.

De for Completion, Par for Outcome

Finir de says the activity stopped. Finir par says something eventually came about, often after resistance. The prepositions are not interchangeable and change the sentence completely.

J'ai fini de discuter et j'ai fini par céder.

I stopped arguing and I ended up giving in.

de = stopped, par = eventually did.

Je Suis Fini Says Something Else Entirely

Finir takes avoir, always. Je suis fini uses fini as an adjective describing the speaker, and it means I'm done for, ruined. To report completing something, say j'ai fini.

J'ai fini, mais je suis épuisé.

I've finished, but I'm exhausted.

j'ai fini = done. je suis fini = doomed.

Common Mistakes with Finir

Incorrect: Nous finons le travail ce soir. — We're finishing the work this evening.

Correct: Nous finissons le travail ce soir. — We're finishing the work this evening.

Regular -ir verbs insert -iss- in the plural of the present. Finons follows the -er pattern, which finir does not belong to.

Incorrect: J'ai fini manger. — I've finished eating.

Correct: J'ai fini de manger. — I've finished eating.

Finir needs de before an infinitive. English finish eating puts two verbs side by side, and French never does that after finir.

Incorrect: Je suis fini, on peut partir. — I've finished, we can go.

Correct: J'ai fini, on peut partir. — I've finished, we can go.

Finir takes avoir. Je suis fini uses fini as an adjective and means I'm ruined, which is a memorable thing to say by accident.

Incorrect: Il a fini d'accepter notre offre. — He ended up accepting our offer.

Correct: Il a fini par accepter notre offre. — He ended up accepting our offer.

Finir de would mean he stopped accepting it, which makes no sense. Eventually doing something after some resistance is finir par.

Finir Conjugated

Finir is the pattern verb for its whole group, so learning this table gives you several hundred other verbs at the same time.

The Four Everyday Tenses

Note where the -iss- appears and where it does not: it is in every plural present form and every imperfect form, but nowhere in the future.

Pronoun	Présent	Passé composé	Imparfait	Futur
je / j'	finis	ai fini	finissais	finirai
tu	finis	as fini	finissais	finiras
il / elle / on	finit	a fini	finissait	finira
nous	finissons	avons fini	finissions	finirons
vous	finissez	avez fini	finissiez	finirez
ils / elles	finissent	ont fini	finissaient	finiront

Je finis and il finit sound identical; only the written t separates them.

Subjunctive, Conditional, Imperative

The subjunctive keeps the -iss- throughout, including in the singular, which is what distinguishes que je finisse from je finis.

Pronoun	Subjonctif	Conditionnel	Impératif
je	finisse	finirais	—
tu	finisses	finirais	finis
il / elle / on	finisse	finirait	—
nous	finissions	finirions	finissons
vous	finissiez	finiriez	finissez
ils / elles	finissent	finiraient	—

Il faut que je finisse is the shape you will meet most: finir after il faut que.

Other Verbs on the Same Pattern

Several hundred verbs conjugate exactly like finir, including many built from adjectives: grandir from grand, rougir from rouge, vieillir from vieux.

Pronoun	choisir	réussir	grandir
je	choisis	réussis	grandis
tu	choisis	réussis	grandis
il / elle / on	choisit	réussit	grandit
nous	choisissons	réussissons	grandissons
vous	choisissez	réussissez	grandissez
ils / elles	choisissent	réussissent	grandissent

Not every -ir verb belongs here. Partir, dormir, sortir, and venir have no -iss- at all and follow different patterns.

Finir in Fixed Expressions

A handful of set phrases account for much of the verb's everyday use, and none of them is guessable from finir alone.

En finir avec

En finir avec means to be done with something for good. The en is fixed and does not replace anything in the sentence.

Il faut en finir avec ces excuses.: We need to have done with these excuses.
J'en ai fini avec ce travail.: I'm finished with that job.
Finissons-en.: Let's get it over with.

Finissons-en, with the en attached behind the imperative, is a very common way to say let's wrap this up.

Describing how something ends

Finir plus an adverb or par plus a noun tells you the manner or the final element rather than the action.

La soirée a fini en beauté.: The evening ended on a high note.
Le film finit par un mariage.: The film ends with a wedding.
Ça a mal fini.: It ended badly.
Les mots qui finissent en -tion sont féminins.: Words ending in -tion are feminine.

For a manner, French uses finir bien, finir mal, or finir en beauté. For the last item in a sequence, it uses par.

Everyday phrases

Several expressions built on finir are worth learning as blocks, including one that uses fini as a bare adjective.

C'est fini, n'en parlons plus.: It's over, let's not talk about it again.
Des réunions à n'en plus finir.: Endless meetings.
Pour finir, je voudrais vous remercier.: To finish, I'd like to thank you.
Tout est bien qui finit bien.: All's well that ends well.

À n'en plus finir keeps its ne even though the sentence has no other negation: it means going on and on.

Finir FAQs

How do you conjugate finir in the present tense?: Je finis, tu finis, il finit, nous finissons, vous finissez, ils finissent. The -iss- appears only in the plural, and it is one of the few French endings you can actually hear, which makes the singular and plural easy to tell apart in speech.
What's the difference between finir de and finir par?: Finir de plus an infinitive means to finish doing something: j'ai fini de lire. Finir par plus an infinitive means to end up doing something, usually after a delay: j'ai fini par lire ce livre. The prepositions are not interchangeable.
Why is je suis fini wrong?: Because finir takes avoir in compound tenses, so the correct form is j'ai fini. Je suis fini treats fini as an adjective and means I'm done for or I'm ruined, which is not what you want to announce at the end of a task.
Is finir a regular verb?: Yes, and it is the model for its whole class. Choisir, réussir, grandir, obéir, remplir, and several hundred others follow it exactly. Partir, sortir, dormir, and venir look similar but have no -iss-, so they belong to different patterns.
What does en finir avec mean?: To be done with something once and for all: j'en ai fini avec ce projet. The en is part of the expression and does not replace any earlier noun. The imperative form finissons-en means let's get this over with.