{"id":65,"date":"2026-09-30T14:54:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T13:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leweb2ks.dev\/vitrine-vocadial\/en\/resources\/french-irregular-verbs\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T14:54:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T13:54:31","slug":"french-irregular-verbs","status":"publish","type":"vd_ressource","link":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/resources\/french-irregular-verbs\/","title":{"rendered":"French irregular verbs: conjugation tables, patterns and a routine"},"content":{"rendered":"

The present tense: reference table<\/h2>\n\n

The six forms are, in order: je<\/span>, tu<\/span>, il \/ elle \/ on<\/span>, nous<\/span>, vous<\/span>, ils \/ elles<\/span>. Before a vowel, je<\/span> becomes j’<\/span>: j’ai<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n

Verb<\/th>je<\/th>tu<\/th>il<\/th>nous<\/th>vous<\/th>ils<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
\u00eatre (to be)<\/td>suis<\/td>es<\/td>est<\/td>sommes<\/td>\u00eates<\/td>sont<\/td><\/tr>
avoir (to have)<\/td>ai<\/td>as<\/td>a<\/td>avons<\/td>avez<\/td>ont<\/td><\/tr>
aller (to go)<\/td>vais<\/td>vas<\/td>va<\/td>allons<\/td>allez<\/td>vont<\/td><\/tr>
faire (to do, make)<\/td>fais<\/td>fais<\/td>fait<\/td>faisons<\/td>faites<\/td>font<\/td><\/tr>
pouvoir (can)<\/td>peux<\/td>peux<\/td>peut<\/td>pouvons<\/td>pouvez<\/td>peuvent<\/td><\/tr>
vouloir (to want)<\/td>veux<\/td>veux<\/td>veut<\/td>voulons<\/td>voulez<\/td>veulent<\/td><\/tr>
devoir (must)<\/td>dois<\/td>dois<\/td>doit<\/td>devons<\/td>devez<\/td>doivent<\/td><\/tr>
savoir (to know)<\/td>sais<\/td>sais<\/td>sait<\/td>savons<\/td>savez<\/td>savent<\/td><\/tr>
prendre (to take)<\/td>prends<\/td>prends<\/td>prend<\/td>prenons<\/td>prenez<\/td>prennent<\/td><\/tr>
venir (to come)<\/td>viens<\/td>viens<\/td>vient<\/td>venons<\/td>venez<\/td>viennent<\/td><\/tr>
dire (to say)<\/td>dis<\/td>dis<\/td>dit<\/td>disons<\/td>dites<\/td>disent<\/td><\/tr>
voir (to see)<\/td>vois<\/td>vois<\/td>voit<\/td>voyons<\/td>voyez<\/td>voient<\/td><\/tr>
mettre (to put)<\/td>mets<\/td>mets<\/td>met<\/td>mettons<\/td>mettez<\/td>mettent<\/td><\/tr>
partir (to leave)<\/td>pars<\/td>pars<\/td>part<\/td>partons<\/td>partez<\/td>partent<\/td><\/tr>
boire (to drink)<\/td>bois<\/td>bois<\/td>boit<\/td>buvons<\/td>buvez<\/td>boivent<\/td><\/tr>
lire (to read)<\/td>lis<\/td>lis<\/td>lit<\/td>lisons<\/td>lisez<\/td>lisent<\/td><\/tr>
\u00e9crire (to write)<\/td>\u00e9cris<\/td>\u00e9cris<\/td>\u00e9crit<\/td>\u00e9crivons<\/td>\u00e9crivez<\/td>\u00e9crivent<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n

Two pronunciation points. In nous faisons<\/span>, the ai is said like the e of le<\/span>: “fuh-ZON”. And listen for the liaison: ils ont<\/span> has a z sound (“eel-ZON”), ils sont<\/span> an s sound (“eel-SON”). Pupils who hear the difference stop mixing up “they have” and “they are”.<\/p>\n\n

The hidden patterns<\/h2>\n\n
  1. Only four -ont verbs.<\/strong> ils sont<\/span>, ils ont<\/span>, ils vont<\/span>, ils font<\/span>: \u00eatre<\/span>, avoir<\/span>, aller<\/span>, faire<\/span> (and verbs built on faire<\/span>, like refaire<\/span>). Every other verb ends in -ent in the ils form, and that -ent is silent.<\/li>
  2. Only three common -es verbs.<\/strong> vous \u00eates<\/span>, vous faites<\/span>, vous dites<\/span>. Everything else ends in -ez: “vous faisez” and “vous disez” are wrong.<\/li>
  3. The singular sounds the same.<\/strong> je peux<\/span>, tu peux<\/span>, il peut<\/span> are all “puh”; je fais<\/span>, tu fais<\/span>, il fait<\/span> are all “feh”. Written endings are -s, -s, -t (or -x, -x, -t for pouvoir<\/span> and vouloir<\/span>).<\/li>
  4. The boot pattern.<\/strong> Many verbs have one stem for je<\/span>, tu<\/span>, il<\/span> and ils<\/span>, and another for nous<\/span> and vous<\/span>: il boit<\/span>, ils boivent<\/span>, but nous buvons<\/span>; il veut<\/span>, ils veulent<\/span>, but nous voulons<\/span>. The ils form sounds like the singular plus a consonant: “il peut” (puh), “ils peuvent” (puhv).<\/li>
  5. Families share their forms.<\/strong> Learn one, get several: prendre<\/span> gives apprendre<\/span> and comprendre<\/span>; venir<\/span> gives devenir<\/span>, revenir<\/span> and tenir<\/span>; mettre<\/span> gives promettre<\/span> and permettre<\/span>; partir<\/span> works like sortir<\/span> and dormir<\/span> (je sors<\/span>, je dors<\/span>).<\/li>
  6. Aller<\/span> is the only truly irregular -er verb.<\/strong> Other -er verbs only change their spelling to keep a sound: nous mangeons<\/span>, nous commen\u00e7ons<\/span>, j’ach\u00e8te<\/span>, j’appelle<\/span>. They are regular for pupils in all other respects.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n

    The pass\u00e9 compos\u00e9: participles and \u00eatre verbs<\/h2>\n\n

    Most French past tenses at GCSE are built with avoir<\/span> or \u00eatre<\/span> and a past participle. The irregular participles fall into three sound groups.<\/p>\n\n

    Infinitive<\/th>Participle<\/th>Example<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
    avoir<\/td>eu<\/td>j’ai eu<\/td><\/tr>
    \u00eatre<\/td>\u00e9t\u00e9<\/td>j’ai \u00e9t\u00e9<\/td><\/tr>
    faire<\/td>fait<\/td>j’ai fait<\/td><\/tr>
    dire<\/td>dit<\/td>j’ai dit<\/td><\/tr>
    \u00e9crire<\/td>\u00e9crit<\/td>j’ai \u00e9crit<\/td><\/tr>
    prendre<\/td>pris<\/td>j’ai pris<\/td><\/tr>
    mettre<\/td>mis<\/td>j’ai mis<\/td><\/tr>
    voir<\/td>vu<\/td>j’ai vu<\/td><\/tr>
    lire<\/td>lu<\/td>j’ai lu<\/td><\/tr>
    boire<\/td>bu<\/td>j’ai bu<\/td><\/tr>
    pouvoir<\/td>pu<\/td>j’ai pu<\/td><\/tr>
    vouloir<\/td>voulu<\/td>j’ai voulu<\/td><\/tr>
    devoir<\/td>d\u00fb<\/td>j’ai d\u00fb<\/td><\/tr>
    savoir<\/td>su<\/td>j’ai su<\/td><\/tr>
    venir<\/td>venu<\/td>je suis venu<\/td><\/tr>
    na\u00eetre<\/td>n\u00e9<\/td>je suis n\u00e9<\/td><\/tr>
    mourir<\/td>mort<\/td>il est mort<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n

    Note the circumflex on d\u00fb<\/span>: it only appears in the masculine singular, to distinguish it from du<\/span> (due<\/span>, dus<\/span>, dues<\/span> have none).<\/p>\n\n

    Around fifteen verbs of movement or change of state take \u00eatre<\/span>: aller<\/span>, venir<\/span>, arriver<\/span>, partir<\/span>, entrer<\/span>, sortir<\/span>, monter<\/span>, descendre<\/span>, na\u00eetre<\/span>, mourir<\/span>, rester<\/span>, tomber<\/span>, retourner<\/span>, passer<\/span>, plus their compounds (devenir<\/span>, revenir<\/span>, rentrer<\/span>) and all reflexive verbs. UK pupils often learn them with the mnemonic MRS VANDERTRAMP.<\/p>\n\n

    1. With \u00eatre<\/span>, the participle agrees.<\/strong> Elle est all\u00e9e<\/span>, ils sont partis<\/span>, elles sont venues<\/span>.<\/li>
    2. With a direct object, some take avoir<\/span>.<\/strong> Je suis sorti<\/span> (I went out), but J’ai sorti la poubelle<\/span> (I took the bin out). The same goes for monter<\/span>, descendre<\/span>, rentrer<\/span>, passer<\/span> and retourner<\/span>.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n

      Future and subjunctive<\/h3>\n\n

      The future uses irregular stems with regular endings: je serai<\/span>, j’aurai<\/span>, j’irai<\/span>, je ferai<\/span>, je pourrai<\/span>, je voudrai<\/span>, je devrai<\/span>, je saurai<\/span>, je viendrai<\/span>, je verrai<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n

      At B2, a handful of verbs have irregular subjunctives: que je sois<\/span> (\u00eatre<\/span>), que j’aie<\/span> (avoir<\/span>), que j’aille<\/span> (aller<\/span>), que je fasse<\/span> (faire<\/span>), que je puisse<\/span> (pouvoir<\/span>), que je sache<\/span> (savoir<\/span>), que je veuille<\/span> (vouloir<\/span>).<\/p>\n\n

      Typical mistakes of English-speaking learners<\/h2>\n\n
      • Regular endings on irregular verbs:<\/strong> “vous faisez”, “vous disez”, “ils faisent”.<\/li>
      • Ils sont<\/span> and ils ont<\/span> confused,<\/strong> in both listening and writing.<\/li>
      • Wrong auxiliary:<\/strong> “j’ai all\u00e9”, “j’ai venu”. Movement verbs take \u00eatre<\/span>.<\/li>
      • Missing agreement with \u00eatre<\/span>:<\/strong> “elle est all\u00e9”.<\/li>
      • Pronouncing silent endings:<\/strong> sounding the -ent of ils veulent<\/span>, or the t of il peut<\/span>.<\/li>
      • “Je va”:<\/strong> the je form of aller<\/span> is je vais<\/span>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n

        Strategies that make verbs stick<\/h2>\n\n
        • Learn the four giants first.<\/strong> \u00catre<\/span>, avoir<\/span>, aller<\/span> and faire<\/span> are behind a huge share of what pupils say and write.<\/li>
        • Teach the patterns explicitly.<\/strong> The four -ont verbs, the three -es verbs and the boot are memorable facts, not exceptions to fear.<\/li>
        • Say before you write.<\/strong> Because the singular forms sound alike, pupils can be fluent orally long before they master the spelling.<\/li>
        • Little and often.<\/strong> A verb a day, revisited later in the week, beats a long list learnt once.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n

          In class: a daily verb wheel<\/h2>\n\n

          A quick conjugation routine at the start of each lesson turns irregular verbs from a list into a habit.<\/p>\n\n

          1. Spin a wheel of verbs, or draw a card: today it is prendre<\/span>.<\/li>
          2. The class conjugates it aloud, person by person: je prends, tu prends, il prend\u2026<\/span><\/li>
          3. Reveal each form after the class has said it, so everyone can check the spelling of the silent endings.<\/li>
          4. Ask for one sentence with the trickiest form: Ils prennent le bus.<\/span><\/li>
          5. Revisit yesterday’s verb in a different person, to space the practice.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n

            This is exactly what a daily routine does: one verb, every day, said in full and corrected on the spot.<\/p>\n\n

            Adapting to your class<\/h3>\n\n
            • A1<\/b>Present of \u00eatre<\/span>, avoir<\/span>, aller<\/span>, faire<\/span>, singular persons first.<\/li>
            • A2<\/b>All persons of the present, with the families (prendre<\/span>, venir<\/span>, partir<\/span>).<\/li>
            • B1<\/b>The pass\u00e9 compos\u00e9: participles, \u00eatre<\/span> verbs and agreement.<\/li>
            • B2<\/b>The subjunctive: que je sois<\/span>, que je fasse<\/span>, que je puisse<\/span>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n

              At KS2, chunks such as j’ai<\/span>, je suis<\/span> and je vais<\/span> are enough. At KS3, build the present tense of the top verbs. At GCSE, the pass\u00e9 compos\u00e9, the imperfect and the future of the key irregular verbs underpin every writing task.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              \u00catre, avoir, aller, faire and the rest: full present tables, past participles, \u00eatre verbs and the hidden patterns pupils can use.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"menu_order":10,"template":"","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"French Irregular Verbs: Conjugation Tables | VocaDial","_seopress_titles_desc":"The key French irregular verbs in full present-tense tables, past participles, \u00eatre verbs, the patterns that make them easier, and a daily verb routine.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"_vd_topic":"verbes","_vd_target":"fr","_vd_module":"rueda","_vd_level":"A1\u2013B2","_vd_minutes":"8","_vd_card_word":"\u00eatre\u2026","_vd_answer":"The key French irregular verbs are \u00eatre<\/span>, avoir<\/span>, aller<\/span> and faire<\/span>, followed by pouvoir<\/span>, vouloir<\/span>, devoir<\/span>, savoir<\/span>, prendre<\/span>, venir<\/span>, dire<\/span>, voir<\/span>, mettre<\/span> and partir<\/span>. Only four verbs end in -ont in the ils form (ils sont<\/span>, ont<\/span>, vont<\/span>, font<\/span>), and only three common verbs end in -es with vous (vous \u00eates<\/span>, faites<\/span>, dites<\/span>).","_vd_faq":"[{\"q\":\"What are the most common irregular verbs in French?\",\"a\":\"\u00catre<\\\/span>, avoir<\\\/span>, aller<\\\/span>, faire<\\\/span>, pouvoir<\\\/span>, vouloir<\\\/span>, devoir<\\\/span>, savoir<\\\/span>, prendre<\\\/span>, venir<\\\/span>, dire<\\\/span>, voir<\\\/span>, mettre<\\\/span> and partir<\\\/span>.\"},{\"q\":\"Is aller the only irregular -er verb?\",\"a\":\"Yes, in practice. Verbs such as manger<\\\/span>, acheter<\\\/span> or appeler<\\\/span> only have spelling changes; their endings are regular.\"},{\"q\":\"Why is it vous faites and not vous faisez?\",\"a\":\"Faire<\\\/span> is one of only three common verbs with -es in the vous form, with vous \u00eates<\\\/span> and vous dites<\\\/span>. All other verbs end in -ez.\"},{\"q\":\"Which French verbs take \u00eatre in the pass\u00e9 compos\u00e9?\",\"a\":\"About fifteen verbs of movement or change of state (aller<\\\/span>, venir<\\\/span>, partir<\\\/span>, arriver<\\\/span>, na\u00eetre<\\\/span>, mourir<\\\/span>\u2026), their compounds, and all reflexive verbs.\"},{\"q\":\"What is the past participle of devoir?\",\"a\":\"D\u00fb<\\\/span>, with a circumflex in the masculine singular only: j'ai d\u00fb partir<\\\/span>.\"}]","_vd_key":"verbes-fr","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-65","vd_ressource","type-vd_ressource","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vd_ressource\/65","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vd_ressource"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/vd_ressource"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vd_ressource\/65\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}