finirvsfiniraWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“finir” and “finira” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,291
“finir” frequency rank
#7,322
“finira” frequency rank
8613
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature finir finira
Definition Achever, terminer, arriver à échéance, cesser, finaliser. Troisième personne du singulier du futur de finir.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set finir and finira apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
finir
6 ch
finira

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. finir (\fi.niʁ\) and finira (\fi.ni.ʁa\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “finir” sits inside “finira”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8613, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

finir is recorded at frequency rank #1,291, classified as averb, pronounced \fi.niʁ\. finira is at rank #7,322, tagged as averb, pronounced \fi.ni.ʁa\.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 8613, this pair ranks #419,438 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of finir vs finira

Shared letters: finr. Private to "finir": -. Private to "finira": a.

"finir" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "finira" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • finirffinir · fiinr · finirr · finnir · finri · fniir · ifnir
  • finiraffinira · fiinra · finiar · finirra · finnira · finria · fniira · ifnira

Frequency comparison

finir#1,291
finira#7,322

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "finir" and "finira" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\fi.niʁ\ versus \fi.ni.ʁa\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "finir" or "finira"?
"finir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,291 in our French list, against #7,322 for "finira". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering finir vs finira

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “finir” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list