Partir, Dormir and the Other -IR Verbs

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Not all -IR verbs follow the pattern covered in regular -IR verbs. A distinct subgroup, including partir, sortir, dormir, servir, sentir and mentir, has no -iss- at all and uses two different stems rather than one.

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Why these verbs are different

Take partir. Removing -ir gives the stem part-, and this full stem is used for the plural forms: nous partons, vous partez, ils partent.

But the singular forms go one step further: they drop the stem's final consonant as well. So part- becomes par-, and the singular forms are built from that shorter stem: je pars, tu pars, il part.

This is the defining feature of this subgroup: two stems, not one. A short stem, missing its final consonant, for the singular, and the full stem for the plural.

The four steps

1. Start with the infinitive: partir
2. Remove -ir to get the long stem: part-
3. Drop the final consonant of the long stem to get the short stem, used for je, tu, il/elle: par-
4. The long stem returns for nous, vous, ils/elles, and the present tense ending is added to each stem

Verbe 1 sur 2

partir

← Précédent ↻ Rejouer Suivant →

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Here are a few examples in context. The verb ending is highlighted in each sentence.

Je dors toujours dans le train.

Vous partez demain matin ?

Elles partent à Annecy pour les vacances.

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A second, simpler exception: verbs like ouvrir

A small group of -IR verbs, including ouvrir, offrir, couvrir and souffrir, breaks the pattern in a much simpler way: they conjugate with regular -ER endings in the present tense, despite ending in -ir.

ouvrir → j’ouvre, tu ouvres, il ouvre, nous ouvrons, vous ouvrez, ils ouvrent

The stem stays constant throughout (ouvr-) and takes exactly the same endings as a regular -ER verb like parler. There is no -iss- infix, no second stem for the singular, and none of the -s, -s, -t endings seen in the partir family above.

This is a small, closed group of verbs, mostly built from four roots and their compounds: ouvrir (to open), couvrir (to cover), offrir (to offer) and souffrir (to suffer), along with découvrir (to discover), rouvrir (to reopen), recouvrir (to re-cover) and entrouvrir (to half-open). All of them conjugate exactly like ouvrir above.

Other irregular -IR verbs, such as courir, mourir, fuir and tenir, each follow their own distinct pattern and are covered in separate pages.