25 French Irregular Verbs FrenchLearner

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25 French Irregular
Verbs
By David Issokson • June 19, 2020 • Updated April 18,
2023
When learning French you’ll be faced

with the challenge of learning verbs. In
general, there are two kinds of verbs:
regular and irregular. Regular verbs
follow set patterns for their
conjugations. Irregular verbs,
however, follow nonuniform
conjugation patterns. This page
explores French irregular verbs in
detail.
What are the most

common French irregular
verbs?
The most common French irregular
verbs are:
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1. Être (to be)

2. Avoir (to have)
3. Faire (to make, to do)
4. Aller (to go)
5. Devoir (must, to have to)
6. Savoir (to know)
7. Connaître (know)
8. Dire (to say)
9. Boire (to drink)
10. Dormir (to sleep)
11. Couvrir (to cover)
12. Courir (to run)
13. Écrire (to write)
14. Mettre (to put)
15. Partir (to leave)
16. Prendre (to take)
17. Apprendre (to learn)
18. Sentir (to feel)
19. Sortir (to go out)
20. Tenir (to hold)
21. Venir (to come)
22. Voir (to see)
23. Pouvoir (can, to be able)
24. Vouloir (to want)
25. Atteindre (to reach)
What is an irregular verb?

A verb is classified as “irregular” when
its endings when conjugated in the
present tense are different than other
regular verbs in that group.
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There are three major groups of regular

verbs in French: -er, -re and -ir. This
page on our site covers French regular
verbs in detail.
The verbs which we’ve included on this

page are the irregular verbs found on
the “Essential 55 verb list” in the book
Barron’s 501 French Verbs.
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Notes for using this page
This page uses two ways of saying “you”

in French: tu and vous. Tu is you in the
singular and familiar form. Vous is you
in the formal and plural form. This page
on our site covers tu vs. vous in detail.
On the il, elle (he, she) lines in the

conjugations below we’ve left out the
personal pronoun on, which can mean
“we” or “people” in general. The page on
our site covers the personal pronoun on.
On this page we’ve included the passé

composé as the past tense. French has
several commonly used past tenses. The
passé composé is used for past actions
which occurred at specified times.
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Another commonly used French past

tense is the imparfait (imperfect). The
French use the imperfect tense to
express past actions which occurred at
unspecified times. This page on our site
covers the imperfect tense in detail.
The purpose of this page is to present

the irregular verbs simply and
comprehensively. For most verbs, we’ve
included links to pages covering
conjugation charts with more extensive
verb tenses and example sentences.
French has a number of -er verbs with

stem changes. For example, for -er
verbs ending in -yer in the infinitive
form, the -y becomes in -i in the present
tense conjugation. The verbs payer (to
pay) and essayer (to try) fall into this
category. There are also verbs with
accent changes. This page explores
verbs with stem changes in detail.
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1. Être – to be
Être means “to be” and is the single

most commonly used verb in the French
language.
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2. Avoir – to have
Avoir mean to have and is also one of

the most commonly used French verbs.
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3. Faire – to make, to do
The verb faire translate to “to make”

and “to do” and is used in a very wide
variety of expressions.
4. Aller – to go
The verb aller means “to go”. In the

passé composé, aller uses the verb etre
(to be) as an auxiliary verb.
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5. Devoir – must, to have to
The verb devoir translates to both

“must” and “to have to”.
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6. Savoir – to know
In French, savoir mean “to know” in the

context of topics which are factually
known.
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7. Connaître – to know
In French, connaître also means to

know for people, places and areas of
study. This page on our site explains the
difference between savoir and
connaître. The verbs reconnaître (to
recognize) and paraître (to appear, to
seem) and apparaître (to appear)
follow similar conjugation patterns to
connaître.
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8. Dire – to say
The verb dire translates to “to say” and

“to tell”. The vous form is highly
irregular as it does not end in -ez.
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9. Boire – to drink
Boire translates to “to drink”. The -oi in

the noun and vous forms becomes -u.
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10. Dormir
Dormir means “to sleep’ and is an

irregular -ir verb. It’s endings are -s, -s,
-t, -ons, -ez and -ent.
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11. Couvrir – to cover
The verb couvrir is an irregular -ir verb

and translates to “to cover”. It’s endings
are the same as regular -er verbs: -e, -es,
-e, -ons, -ez and -ent.
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12. Courir – to run
The verb courir translates to “to run”

and is an irregular -ir verb. It’s endings
are -s, -s, -, -ons, -ez and -ent.
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13. Écrire – to write
The verb ecrire means “to write” and is

an irregular -ir verb. It’s endings are -s,
-s, -t, -ons, -ez and -ent.
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14. Mettre to put
Mettre means “to put” and is an

irregular -re verb. It endings are -s, -s, -,
-ons, -ez and -ent. The following verbs
have conjugation patterns that are the
same as mettre: promettre (to promise),
permettre (to permit, to allow) and
commetre (to commit).
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15. Partir – to leave
Partir means “to leave” and is a regular

-ir verb. It’s endings are -s, -s, -, -ons, -
ez and -ent.
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16. Prendre – to take
Prendre means “to take” and is a

regular -re verb. Its endings are -s, -s, -,
-ons, -ez and -ent. The -n doubles on the
ils form. The verbs comprendre (to
understand) and apprendre (to learn;
see below) conjugate in the same
manner as prendre.
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17. Apprendre – to learn
Apprendre means “to learn” and is a

variant of prendre (see above) with the
prefix -ap.
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18. Sentir – to feel, to smell
Sentir is an irregular -ir verb and means

both “to feel” and “to smell”. It’s
endings are -s, -s, -t, -ons, -ez and -ent.
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19. Sortir – to go out
Sortir is an irregular -ir verb and means

“to go out”. Its ending are -s, -s, -t, -ons,
-ez and -ent. Sortir uses être (to be) as
an auxiliary verb in the passé composé.
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20. Tenir – to hold
Tenir is an irregular -ir verb and means

“to hold”. Its conjugation is essentially
the same as venir (to come; see below).
21. Venir – to come
Venir is an irregular -ir verb and means

“to come”. It’s conjugated in the same
manner as tenir (to hold; see above).
Venir takes être as an auxiliary verb in
the passé composé.
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22. Voir – to see
Voir is an irregular -ir verb and means

“to see”. The verb croire (to believe)
conjugates in the same manner as voir.
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23. Pouvoir – can, to be able
The verb pouvoir translates to “can”

and “to be able”. It’s conjugation is very
similar to vouloir (to want; see below).
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24. Vouloir – to want
Vouloir translates to “to want” and has

a conjugation pattern that is similar to
pouvoir (can, to be able; see above).
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25. Atteindre – to reach
The verb atteindre means “to reach”, as

in reaching a goal. Verbs ending in –
aindre and –eindre in the infinitives
have similar conjugation patterns. Such
verbs also include peindre (to paint),
plaindre (to pity), craindre (to fear) and
feindre (to fake, to feign).
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Further your learning

The memorization of French
verbs can be very daunting,
even for intermediate
learners. Our friend, Camille,
at Frenchtoday.com suggests
a very effective approach to
French verb mastery that’s
based on focusing on sounds.
Learn more about Camille’s
method on her blog post,
The Secret To Mastering
French Verb
Conjugation.
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Top 100 French verbs for fluency

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Author Recent Posts
David Issokson
David Issokson is a lifelong
language enthusiast. His
head is swimming with
words and sounds as he
speaks over six languages. Of
all the languages he speaks,
he's the most passionate
about French! David has
helped hundreds of students
to improve their French in
his private online lessons.
When procrastinating
working on his site,
FrenchLearner.com, David
enjoys his time skiing and
hiking in Teton Valley,
Idaho.
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Blog Alphabet Numbers

Vocabulary Verbs Private Lessons

Testimonials My Story Contact

When learning French you’ll be faced

What are the most

1. Être (to be)

What is an irregular verb?

There are three major groups of regular

The verbs which we’ve included on this

Nouveau XC40 Recharge *En savoir plus

I consent to receiving emails and personalized ads.

Notes for using this page

This page uses two ways of saying “you”

On the il, elle (he, she) lines in the

On this page we’ve included the passé

Another commonly used French past

The purpose of this page is to present

French has a number of -er verbs with

Être means “to be” and is the single

Avoir mean to have and is also one of

The verb faire translate to “to make”

The verb aller means “to go”. In the

5. Devoir – must, to have to

The verb devoir translates to both

In French, savoir mean “to know” in the

In French, connaître also means to

The verb dire translates to “to say” and

Boire translates to “to drink”. The -oi in

Dormir means “to sleep’ and is an

11. Couvrir – to cover

The verb couvrir is an irregular -ir verb

12. Courir – to run

The verb courir translates to “to run”

13. Écrire – to write

The verb ecrire means “to write” and is

14. Mettre to put

Mettre means “to put” and is an

15. Partir – to leave

Partir means “to leave” and is a regular

16. Prendre – to take

Prendre means “to take” and is a

17. Apprendre – to learn

Apprendre means “to learn” and is a

18. Sentir – to feel, to smell

Sentir is an irregular -ir verb and means

19. Sortir – to go out

Sortir is an irregular -ir verb and means

20. Tenir – to hold

Tenir is an irregular -ir verb and means

21. Venir – to come

Venir is an irregular -ir verb and means

Voir is an irregular -ir verb and means

23. Pouvoir – can, to be able

The verb pouvoir translates to “can”

24. Vouloir – to want

Vouloir translates to “to want” and has

25. Atteindre – to reach

The verb atteindre means “to reach”, as

Further your learning

Top 100 French verbs for fluency

Suggested audio French courses

À Moi Paris French Method – All

Author Recent Posts