Regular -ir Verbs
The second category of regular French verbs is -ir verbs. To conjugate, drop the -ir to find the “stem” or “root”. Add endings to the root based on the subject and tense.
French Grammar • Travel -ir Verb Formation  Formation des verbes en -ir | ||
|---|---|---|
| pronoun | ending | verb |
| je | -is | finis |
| tu | -is | finis |
| il/elle | -it | finit |
| nous | -issons | finissons |
| vous | -issez | finissez |
| ils/elles | -issent | finissent |
Possessive Adjectives
Formation
| French Grammar • Travel Possessive Adjectives Les adjectifs possessifs | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Person | Second Person | Third Person | ||||
| Singular | mon, ma, mes | my | ton, ta, tes | your | son, sa, ses | his, her |
| Plural | notre, notre, nos | our | votre, votre, vos | your | leur, leur, leurs | their |
Usage
As you can probably tell from their name, possessive adjective are used to express possession of an object.
- C’est mon livre. – It’s my book.
In English the possessive adjective agrees with the subject (his sister, her brother). But in French, possessive adjectives act like all other adjectives: they must agree with the noun they modify.
| French Grammar • Travel Possesive Adjective Usage Utilisation des adjectifs possessifs | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine Noun le livre | Feminine Noun la voiture | ||
| le livre de Marc the book of Marc | son livre his book | la voiture de Marc the car of Marc | sa voiture his car |
| les livres de Marc the books of Marc | ses livres his books | les voitures de Marc the cars of Marc | ses voitures his cars |
| le livre de Marie the book of Marie | son livre her book | la voiture de Marie the car of Marie | sa voiture her car |
| les livres de Marie the books of Marie | ses livres her books | les voitures de Marie the cars of Marie | ses voitures her cars |
Whether the third person singular possessive adjectives son, sa and ses are his or her is indicated by context.
- Elle lit son livre. – She reads her book.
Liaison and Adjective Changes
Liaison occurs when mon, ton, and son are followed by a vowel.
- Il est monnami. – He is my friend.
- Il est tonnami. – He is your friend.
- Il est sonnami. – He is his/her friend.
Liaison also occurs with all plural forms, since they all end in s.
- Ils sont meszamis. – They are my friends.
- Ils sont noszamis. – They are our friends.
Mon, ton, and son are used before a feminine singular noun that starts with a vowel or silent h. Elision (to m’, t’, or s’) does not occur.
- Elle est monnamie. – She is my friend.
Travel
| French Vocabulary • Travel Travel Voyage | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| General | Vehicles | ||
| l’aéroport (m) | Airport | l’auto (f) | car |
| le billet | ticket (for train, airplane) | l’avion (m) | Airplane |
| la poste | post office | l’autobus (m) | bus |
| la station | station | le bateau | Boat |
| le métro | subway, underground | le train | train |
| les bagages | baggage | le taxi | taxi |
| le ticket | ticket (for bus, métro) | la voiture | car |
| la valise | suitcase | ||
| Hotels | |||
| Room | la chambre | ||
| free room | chambre de libre | ||