The key French irregular verbs are être, avoir, aller and faire, followed by pouvoir, vouloir, devoir, savoir, prendre, venir, dire, voir, mettre and partir. Only four verbs end in -ont in the ils form (ils sont, ont, vont, font), and only three common verbs end in -es with vous (vous êtes, faites, dites).
The present tense: reference table
The six forms are, in order: je, tu, il / elle / on, nous, vous, ils / elles. Before a vowel, je becomes j’: j’ai.
| Verb | je | tu | il | nous | vous | ils |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| être (to be) | suis | es | est | sommes | êtes | sont |
| avoir (to have) | ai | as | a | avons | avez | ont |
| aller (to go) | vais | vas | va | allons | allez | vont |
| faire (to do, make) | fais | fais | fait | faisons | faites | font |
| pouvoir (can) | peux | peux | peut | pouvons | pouvez | peuvent |
| vouloir (to want) | veux | veux | veut | voulons | voulez | veulent |
| devoir (must) | dois | dois | doit | devons | devez | doivent |
| savoir (to know) | sais | sais | sait | savons | savez | savent |
| prendre (to take) | prends | prends | prend | prenons | prenez | prennent |
| venir (to come) | viens | viens | vient | venons | venez | viennent |
| dire (to say) | dis | dis | dit | disons | dites | disent |
| voir (to see) | vois | vois | voit | voyons | voyez | voient |
| mettre (to put) | mets | mets | met | mettons | mettez | mettent |
| partir (to leave) | pars | pars | part | partons | partez | partent |
| boire (to drink) | bois | bois | boit | buvons | buvez | boivent |
| lire (to read) | lis | lis | lit | lisons | lisez | lisent |
| écrire (to write) | écris | écris | écrit | écrivons | écrivez | écrivent |
Two pronunciation points. In nous faisons, the ai is said like the e of le: “fuh-ZON”. And listen for the liaison: ils ont has a z sound (“eel-ZON”), ils sont an s sound (“eel-SON”). Pupils who hear the difference stop mixing up “they have” and “they are”.
The hidden patterns
- Only four -ont verbs. ils sont, ils ont, ils vont, ils font: être, avoir, aller, faire (and verbs built on faire, like refaire). Every other verb ends in -ent in the ils form, and that -ent is silent.
- Only three common -es verbs. vous êtes, vous faites, vous dites. Everything else ends in -ez: “vous faisez” and “vous disez” are wrong.
- The singular sounds the same. je peux, tu peux, il peut are all “puh”; je fais, tu fais, il fait are all “feh”. Written endings are -s, -s, -t (or -x, -x, -t for pouvoir and vouloir).
- The boot pattern. Many verbs have one stem for je, tu, il and ils, and another for nous and vous: il boit, ils boivent, but nous buvons; il veut, ils veulent, but nous voulons. The ils form sounds like the singular plus a consonant: “il peut” (puh), “ils peuvent” (puhv).
- Families share their forms. Learn one, get several: prendre gives apprendre and comprendre; venir gives devenir, revenir and tenir; mettre gives promettre and permettre; partir works like sortir and dormir (je sors, je dors).
- Aller is the only truly irregular -er verb. Other -er verbs only change their spelling to keep a sound: nous mangeons, nous commençons, j’achète, j’appelle. They are regular for pupils in all other respects.
The passé composé: participles and être verbs
Most French past tenses at GCSE are built with avoir or être and a past participle. The irregular participles fall into three sound groups.
| Infinitive | Participle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| avoir | eu | j’ai eu |
| être | été | j’ai été |
| faire | fait | j’ai fait |
| dire | dit | j’ai dit |
| écrire | écrit | j’ai écrit |
| prendre | pris | j’ai pris |
| mettre | mis | j’ai mis |
| voir | vu | j’ai vu |
| lire | lu | j’ai lu |
| boire | bu | j’ai bu |
| pouvoir | pu | j’ai pu |
| vouloir | voulu | j’ai voulu |
| devoir | dû | j’ai dû |
| savoir | su | j’ai su |
| venir | venu | je suis venu |
| naître | né | je suis né |
| mourir | mort | il est mort |
Note the circumflex on dû: it only appears in the masculine singular, to distinguish it from du (due, dus, dues have none).
Around fifteen verbs of movement or change of state take être: aller, venir, arriver, partir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, naître, mourir, rester, tomber, retourner, passer, plus their compounds (devenir, revenir, rentrer) and all reflexive verbs. UK pupils often learn them with the mnemonic MRS VANDERTRAMP.
- With être, the participle agrees. Elle est allée, ils sont partis, elles sont venues.
- With a direct object, some take avoir. Je suis sorti (I went out), but J’ai sorti la poubelle (I took the bin out). The same goes for monter, descendre, rentrer, passer and retourner.
Future and subjunctive
The future uses irregular stems with regular endings: je serai, j’aurai, j’irai, je ferai, je pourrai, je voudrai, je devrai, je saurai, je viendrai, je verrai.
At B2, a handful of verbs have irregular subjunctives: que je sois (être), que j’aie (avoir), que j’aille (aller), que je fasse (faire), que je puisse (pouvoir), que je sache (savoir), que je veuille (vouloir).
Typical mistakes of English-speaking learners
- Regular endings on irregular verbs: “vous faisez”, “vous disez”, “ils faisent”.
- Ils sont and ils ont confused, in both listening and writing.
- Wrong auxiliary: “j’ai allé”, “j’ai venu”. Movement verbs take être.
- Missing agreement with être: “elle est allé”.
- Pronouncing silent endings: sounding the -ent of ils veulent, or the t of il peut.
- “Je va”: the je form of aller is je vais.
Strategies that make verbs stick
- Learn the four giants first. Être, avoir, aller and faire are behind a huge share of what pupils say and write.
- Teach the patterns explicitly. The four -ont verbs, the three -es verbs and the boot are memorable facts, not exceptions to fear.
- Say before you write. Because the singular forms sound alike, pupils can be fluent orally long before they master the spelling.
- Little and often. A verb a day, revisited later in the week, beats a long list learnt once.
In class: a daily verb wheel
A quick conjugation routine at the start of each lesson turns irregular verbs from a list into a habit.
- Spin a wheel of verbs, or draw a card: today it is prendre.
- The class conjugates it aloud, person by person: je prends, tu prends, il prend…
- Reveal each form after the class has said it, so everyone can check the spelling of the silent endings.
- Ask for one sentence with the trickiest form: Ils prennent le bus.
- Revisit yesterday’s verb in a different person, to space the practice.
This is exactly what a daily routine does: one verb, every day, said in full and corrected on the spot.
Adapting to your class
- A1Present of être, avoir, aller, faire, singular persons first.
- A2All persons of the present, with the families (prendre, venir, partir).
- B1The passé composé: participles, être verbs and agreement.
- B2The subjunctive: que je sois, que je fasse, que je puisse.
At KS2, chunks such as j’ai, je suis and je vais are enough. At KS3, build the present tense of the top verbs. At GCSE, the passé composé, the imperfect and the future of the key irregular verbs underpin every writing task.
The “La roue des verbes” module does it for you
The wheel picks a verb and the class conjugates it person by person, in the tense you choose from those at your class’s level. No preparation needed: try everything free for 15 days of use.
Frequently asked questions
What are the most common irregular verbs in French?
Être, avoir, aller, faire, pouvoir, vouloir, devoir, savoir, prendre, venir, dire, voir, mettre and partir.
Is aller the only irregular -er verb?
Yes, in practice. Verbs such as manger, acheter or appeler only have spelling changes; their endings are regular.
Why is it vous faites and not vous faisez?
Faire is one of only three common verbs with -es in the vous form, with vous êtes and vous dites. All other verbs end in -ez.
Which French verbs take être in the passé composé?
About fifteen verbs of movement or change of state (aller, venir, partir, arriver, naître, mourir…), their compounds, and all reflexive verbs.
What is the past participle of devoir?
Dû, with a circumflex in the masculine singular only: j’ai dû partir.