Conjugation patterns
Verbs in -ire

Verbs in -ire

Verbs in -ire are relatively divided in their conjugation. In general, the plural of the present indicative, the imperfect subjunctive, the present subjunctive, the past simple and the imperfect subjunctive have a sound s [z] between the root and the ending. An example with the verb "produire" (to produce):

produisant
nous produisons
je produisais
que tu produises
il produisit
que je produisisse

For verbs rire (to laugh) and sourire (to smile) on the other hand, there is not this s sound which causes a doubling of the i to the imperfect indicative and to the present subjunctive. This is not really an exception since the endings are regular but it is unusual to have two i's in this way.

je riais, nous riions
que je souris, que vous souriiez

To écrire (to write) and its derivatives : circonscrire (to circumscribe), décrire (to describe), inscrire (to inscribe), prescrire (to prescribe), proscrire (to proscribe), retranscrire (to retranscribe), souscrire (to subscribe), transcrire (to transcribe), a v appears in its conjugation at the same time as for "rire" :

nous écrivons
que je souscrive

Let us finally note that lire (to read), élire (to elect), réélire (to re-elect) and relire (to read again) have a simple past tense and an imperfect past tense of the subjunctive where the i changes into u while keeping the sound s sound [z] in its conjugation.

je lus
que je lise
que je lusse