French guides · Verb tables + audio
Choisir: finir’s pattern, and the words that follow it.
Choisir means “to choose”, and it is one of the cleanest members of the finir family — the -iss- shows up exactly where you would expect and nothing else moves. If you already know finir the table costs you nothing. What is worth ten seconds is the prepositions: French chooses to do something with de, and chooses between options with entre.
Présent — the -iss- in the plural
Singular chois- plus -is, -is, -it; plural inserts -iss-. The s of the stem is pronounced as a z between vowels, so je choisis is “shwa-ZEE”.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je choisis | I choose | |
| tu choisis | you choose | |
| il / elle choisit | he / she chooses | |
| nous choisissons | we choose | |
| vous choisissez | you choose | |
| ils / elles choisissent | they choose |
Choisir, finir, réussir, grandir, réfléchir, remplir, obéir. Learn one table and you have them all — and note that partir and dormir are not in this group despite the same infinitive ending.
Choisir de, choisir entre
Two constructions, both common, and neither matching English word for word.
| French | Means | |
|---|---|---|
| je choisis le poisson | I’ll have the fish | a thing — no preposition |
| j’ai choisi de partir | I chose to leave | de before an infinitive |
| choisir entre deux options | to choose between two options | entre |
| choisir parmi ces livres | to choose from these books | parmi for three or more |
| vous avez choisi ? | are you ready to order? | in a restaurant |
Entre is strictly between two things. Once there are three or more, French prefers parmi. English uses “between” fairly loosely for both; French does not.
Vous avez choisi ? is how a waiter asks whether you are ready to order — literally “have you chosen?”. The answer is usually oui, je vais prendre…
Passé composé — choisi
Regular -ir participle — drop the r — with avoir: j’ai choisi. It agrees with a preceding direct object: la robe que j’ai choisie.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’ai choisi | I chose / have chosen | |
| tu as choisi | you chose / have chosen | |
| il / elle a choisi | he / she chose / have chosen | |
| nous avons choisi | we chose / have chosen | |
| vous avez choisi | you chose / have chosen | |
| ils / elles ont choisi | they chose / have chosen |
Imparfait — the -iss- stays
From choisissons, so it runs through the tense: je choisissais.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je choisissais | I used to choose / was choosing | |
| tu choisissais | you used to choose / was choosing | |
| il / elle choisissait | he / she used to choose / was choosing | |
| nous choisissions | we used to choose / was choosing | |
| vous choisissiez | you used to choose / was choosing | |
| ils / elles choisissaient | they used to choose / was choosing |
Futur and conditionnel
The full infinitive as stem, and the -iss- disappears: je choisirai.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je choisirai | I will choose | |
| tu choisiras | you will choose | |
| il / elle choisira | he / she will choose | |
| nous choisirons | we will choose | |
| vous choisirez | you will choose | |
| ils / elles choisiront | they will choose |
Conditionnel — would choose
Je choisirais — the natural form for advice: à ta place, je choisirais celui-là.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je choisirais | I would choose | |
| tu choisirais | you would choose | |
| il / elle choisirait | he / she would choose | |
| nous choisirions | we would choose | |
| vous choisiriez | you would choose | |
| ils / elles choisiraient | they would choose |
Subjonctif — -iss- everywhere
Built from the ils stem, so every form carries it: que je choisisse.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je choisisse | (that) I choose | |
| tu choisisses | (that) you choose | |
| il / elle choisisse | (that) he / she choose | |
| nous choisissions | (that) we choose | |
| vous choisissiez | (that) you choose | |
| ils / elles choisissent | (that) they choose |
Impératif — pick one
Choisis ! keeping its s, and choisissez for a group.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| choisis ! | choose! (to one person you know) | |
| choisissons ! | let’s choose! | |
| choisissez ! | choose! (formal, or to a group) |
Plus-que-parfait — had chosen
J’avais choisi.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’avais choisi | I had chosen | |
| tu avais choisi | you had chosen | |
| il / elle avait choisi | he / she had chosen | |
| nous avions choisi | we had chosen | |
| vous aviez choisi | you had chosen | |
| ils / elles avaient choisi | they had chosen |
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Quick answers
Choisir, answered.
The questions that come up while you are learning the table.