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french-verbs
By Michael Cristiano Last updated:

50 Common French Verbs You Need for Basic Conversations

Learning French from scratch can be an exhilarating experience.

Exhilarating, but also daunting.

But with a solid understanding of common verbs, perhaps the most important part of the language for beginners, you won’t feel so daunted. 

You will have found the key to understanding a lot more everyday conversation.

Contents

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1. Être (to be)

Behold: the undisputed most common verb in the French language.

And are you surprised?

Take note of how often you use the verb “to be” and its conjugations (am, are, is) in English, and you’ll see why être is so common in French. Furthermore, even though this verb means “to be” by itself, it can also be used as a support verb for compound verb tenses.

And even though être is irregular, once you have it memorized, it’s infinitely useful.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Je suis un homme. 
(I am a man.)

Nous sommes étudiants. 
(We are students.)

2. Avoir (to have)

The second most common French verb, avoir (to have), is also irregular.

As with être, this verb is used to make compound verb tenses. But for now, let’s not worry about that.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Tu as un chien. 
(You have a dog.)

Vous avez des crayons. 
(You have some pencils.)

3. Aller (to go)

Another irregular verb, aller is an extremely useful verb to know, and it means “to go.”

Like être and avoir, aller can be used in compound verbs, most notably in the future tense.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Il va chez moi. 
(He is going to my place.)

Elles vont à la banque. 
(They [f.] are going to the bank.)

4. Pouvoir (to be able to)

While also an irregular verb, pouvoir carries the same meaning as “can” in English.

It’s a very common verb, and it’s commonly used in the conditional form in order to make requests and ask for things in restaurants, at hotels and in stores.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Je peux parler français. 
(I can speak French.)

Ils peuvent manger. 
(They can eat.)

5. Vouloir (to want)

In a lot of ways, the conjugation of vouloir is much like the conjugation of pouvoir.

It means “to want” in English, and once again, this verb is used to make requests and ask for things when it’s conjugated into the conditional tense.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Tu veux un stylo. 
(You want a pen.)

Elle veut des crayons. 
(She wants some pencils.)

6. Faire (to do)

Faire is the French verb meaning “to do” or “to make,” and like the others on this list, it’s common not only in vocabulary but also in its grammatical function.

For example, it can be used in imperative or command phrases such as Faites vos devoirs ! (Do your homework!). And you guessed it, this verb is also irregular.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Vous faites une tasse de café. 
(You’re making a cup of coffee.)

Ils font leur travail. 
(They’re doing their work.)

7. Parler (to speak)

The verb parler (to speak) is a regular verb and it follows the regular -er ending conjugation pattern, which involves dropping the -er ending and adding other endings.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Je parle français. 
(I speak French.)

Nous parlons hollandais. 
(We speak Dutch.)

8. Demander (to ask)

As with the verb parler, demander is a regular -er verb that means “to ask.” 

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Tu me demandes pourquoi. 
(You ask me why.)

Elles demandent quelque chose à manger.
(They [f.] ask for something to eat.)

9. Savoir (to know)

Savoir (to know) is one of the ways to say “to know,” but there is another word with similar meaning, connaître (to know).

The distinction is complex, so for now, let’s just say that savoir means “to know something” like a fact or a skill.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Il sait parler anglais. 
(He knows how to speak English.)

Que savez-vous ? 
(What do you know?)

10. Venir (to come)

Next, we have the verb venir (to come). This verb is an irregular one, but there are other verbs that follow venir‘s irregular pattern. 

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Je viens de Paris. 
(I come from Paris.)

Tu viens de Toronto. 
(You come from Toronto.)

11. Dire (to say)

While not many verbs conjugate similar to dire, it’s a very useful verb when you have something to say.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Elle ne dit rien.
(She isn’t saying anything.)

Nous disons qu’il est drôle.
(We say that he is funny.)

12. Devoir (to have to)

This next verb may look familiar, but it’s quite irregular and doesn’t really follow any pattern that we know. However, this verb is commonly grouped with pouvoir, vouloir and savoir.

Not only do they have the same ending in the infinitive form, but they also kind of follow a similar conjugation pattern.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Vous devez dire la vérité.
(You have to say the truth.)

Ils doivent aider leurs parents.
(They have to help their parents.)

13. Donner (to give)

It’s been a while since we’ve done a regular verb that follows a known pattern.

Lucky for us, donner is a regular -er that follows the same conjugation pattern as demander and parler.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Je donne un cadeau à mon père.
(I’m giving a gift to my dad.)

Ils donnent leur adresse.
(They’re giving their address.)

14. Falloir (to need/to be necessary)

Falloir is a little bit of a strange verb on our list. Even though it’s used rather frequently, it doesn’t follow the same conjugation pattern as other verbs. Not only is it irregular, but it only has one conjugation.

That’s right!

Falloir only conjugates with one subject pronoun. To be used properly, falloir only conjugates with il. In this way, it’s an impersonal conjugation. Il does not mean “he” in this conjugation; rather, it means “it.” 

Il faut revenir chez nous à 11h30. 
(It’s necessary to return to our place at 11:30 am.)

15. Trouver (to find)

Trouver is an -er verb, and it follows the exact same pattern as other -er verbs. 

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Tu y trouves un parc.
(You find a park there.)

Vous trouvez l’homme coupable.
(You find the man guilty.)

16. Manger (to eat)

A language like French has a rich culinary culture and tradition, so learning how to use the verb “to eat” is essential.

Manger is a regular -er verb with a kick. It follows the regular -er verb conjugation pattern for the most part, but an extra e is added to the nous form so that the g keeps its sound. 

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Elle mange le petit-déjeuner.
(She eats breakfast.)

Nous mangeons dans la cuisine.
(We eat in the kitchen.)

17. Rendre (to return/give back)

Rendre is a regular verb, but it’s part of a different group of regular verbs that end in -re.

There aren’t that many verbs in this group, but once the pattern is learned, all of them can be conjugated.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Je rends le livre.
(I return the book.)

Vous rendez les stylos.
(You return the pens.)

18. Mettre (to put)

This next verb ends in -re, but it’s not quite a verb that follows the regular conjugation pattern for other -re verbs.

In fact, it’s similar to other -re verbs except that it drops the second t in its je, tu and il/elle forms. Once that small change is memorized, this verb is infinitely useful.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Tu mets les pâtes dans l’eau.
(You put the pasta in the water.)

Nous mettons les affiches sur les murs.
(We put the posters on the wall.)

19. Rester (to stay)

While this verb looks like it should mean “to rest,” it actually means “to stay.” Let’s see this verb in action.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Elle reste au bureau.
(She stays at the office.)

Ils restent dans la forêt.
(They’re staying in the forest.)

20. Tenir (to hold/keep)

Do you remember when we conjugated the verb venir a while back?

Well, let me introduce you to its sister: tenir. It’s conjugated almost exactly the same way. In fact, the only difference in the conjugations are the first letters. Check out what I mean.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Je tiens le bouquet.
(I’m holding the bouquet.)

Elle tient le bras de l’enfant.
(She holds the child’s arm.)

21. Prendre (to take)

Like other -re verbs on this list, this one is irregular.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Tu prends la cahier sur le pupitre.
(You take the notebook on the desk.)

Nous ne prenons pas l’argent.
(We’re not taking the money.)

22. Passer (to pass)

Passer is another regular -er verb that follows the regular pattern.

It means “to pass” as in “to pass by something or someone” but it can also have the meaning of “to visit” as in “to pass by.” Further, it can also talk about the passing of time.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Vous passez vos grands-parents.
(You’re passing by your grandparents’ place.)

Ils ne passent pas chez moi.
(They’re not visiting my place.)

23. Comprendre (to understand)

Comprendre means “to understand,” but inside of it is the verb prendre. We know the conjugation pattern for prendre, and comprendre is conjugated the exact same way, just with the letters com- at the beginning.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Je comprends l’anglais.
(I understand English.)

Tu comprends l’activité de mathématiques.
(You understand the math activity.)

24. Sortir (to go out/leave)

Sortir is an irregular verb that follows a conjugation pattern similar to other irregular verbs such as mettre and our next verb partir. 

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Je sors les soirs.
(I go out in the evenings.)

Nous ne sortons pas vendredi.
(We’re not going out on Friday.)

25. Partir (to leave)

Not only does partir follow a very similar conjugation pattern to sortir, but it also has a very similar meaning.

Partir also means “to leave,” but it has a more definite meaning. Rather than meaning specifically leaving a room, partir means that the leaving is permanent, and the person leaving does not intend to return. 

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Tu pars au Brésil.
(You’re leaving for Brazil.)

Elle ne part pas.
(She isn’t leaving.)

26. Voir (to see)

The next verb on our list is voir. As you’ve probably noticed with other verbs that end in -oir, this verb is also irregular.

However, voir does have some similarities with other verbs with the same endings, even if it doesn’t appear so at a first glance.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Vous voyez bientôt le médecin.
(You’re seeing the doctor soon.)

Ils voient ce que je veux dire.
(They see what I mean.)

27. Porter (to wear/carry)

Porter is a regular -er verb that has two meanings.

Firstly, it means “to wear” as in “wearing clothes.”

Secondly, it means “to carry” as in the act of holding something in your hand or otherwise and taking it somewhere. As usual, this regular -er verb follows the regular conjugation pattern.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Je porte un chandail.
(I’m wearing a sweater.)

Ils portent le frigo ensemble.
(They’re carrying the fridge together.)

28. Montrer (to show)

The next verb on our list is also a regular -er verb. It has the meaning “to show” but can also mean “to indicate” or “to point out.” 

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Tu montres ta nouvelle voiture à ta famille.
(You show your new car to your family.)

Vous montrez beaucoup d’amour à vos enfants.
(You show a lot of love to your kids.)

29. Penser (to think)

Like porter and montrer, penser is also a regular -er verb that has two meanings. It has the pretty basic meaning of “to think.”

It can also be used to ask about someone’s opinion of something. Here it is following the regular -er conjugation pattern.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Il ne pense pas avant de parler.
(He doesn’t think before speaking.)

Nous pensons finir nos travaux.
(We think we’re finishing our work.)

30. Suivre (to follow)

Not only is suivre an irregular verb, but its conjugations for the je and tu form look a lot like the conjugation of être in the je form.

Don’t let it confuse you, though: in the wild, it all comes down to context. In that sense, it’ll always be easy to figure out what someone is saying.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Vous ne suivez pas les instructions.
(You’re not following the instructions.)

Elles suivent le cours.
(They [f.] are taking the course.)

31. Connaître (to know)

This verb also means “to know,” but rather than an emphasis on a concrete skill or fact, connaître means “to know someone” or “to be acquainted with someone.” It can also mean “to recognize” or “to be familiar with” when talking about an inanimate object or abstract concept.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Je connais la fille.
(I know the girl.)

Tu connais bien les professeurs.
(You know the teachers well.)

32. Croire (to believe)

Croire is a useful verb that means “to believe.” It can talk about beliefs generally, but it can also be used to express an opinion. 

Croire is also an irregular verb that follows a pattern similar to voir.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Elle croit que la maladie est fatale.
(She believes that the sickness is fatal.)

Nous croyons pouvoir finir le travail.
(We believe we can finish the work.)

33. Entendre (to hear)

Finally, we have another regular verb that ends in -re.

It follows the expected pattern, and it has a pretty simple meaning: “to hear.”

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Vous entendez ce que je dis ? 
(Are you hearing what I’m saying?)

Ils entendent la musique.
(They hear the music.)

34. Attendre (to wait)

Attendre means to wait, but it also has the meaning “to wait for.” Additionally, this verb can also mean “to expect.”

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

J’attends le bus.
(I’m waiting for the bus.)

Elle attend l’avion.
(She’s waiting for the plane.)

35. Commencer (to start/begin)

The next verb on our list looks familiar, and that’s because the English word “commence” comes from this French verb.

As such, this verb means “to start” or “to begin,” and it’s a regular -er verb. There’s one catch, however: the c that comes after the -er changes to a ç in the nous form to maintain its sound.

This verb also takes the preposition à after it so that it gets the meaning “to start to” or “to begin to.”

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Tu commences à manger le déjeuner.
(You’re starting to eat the lunch.)

Nous commençons à étudier le français.
(We begin to study French.)

36. Devenir (to become)

Devenir means “to become” and is pretty much the verb venir with an added de- at the beginning.

While their meanings are similar (both have “come” in them), their conjugations are almost identical, making this irregular verb quite easy to conjugate and memorize.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Vous devenez amis avec les garçons. 
(You’re becoming friends with the boys.)

Ils ne deviennent pas membres de la classe.
(They’re not becoming members of the class.)

37. Appeler (to call)

This verb is a regular -er verb at first glance, but there’s a slight variation in its conjugation pattern.

Namely, the letter l gets doubled in all subjects except for nous and vous.

Furthermore, it can mean “to call” as in someone’s name as well as “to get someone’s attention,” but it can also mean “to call” by telephone.

In that way, appeler is a synonym with the verb téléphoner (to call by telephone).

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

J’appelle mon enfant “Henri.”
(I call my child “Henri.”)

Vous n’appelez pas votre mère. 
(You’re not calling your mom)

38. Décider (to decide)

Décider is a regular -er verb through and through. There are no particularities that make it slightly different from the rest in its conjugation group, so just apply the endings for each subject as expected.

To make things even easier, décider is a cognate of English. It means “to decide.” Simple!

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Tu décides la réponse ? 
(Are you deciding the answer?)

Elles décident de manger.
(They [f.] are deciding to eat.)

39. Arriver (to arrive)

Like our previous verb, arriver follows the regular -er conjugation pattern and it’s a cognate in English. It means “to arrive.” 

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Il arrive au Canada. 
(He arrives in Canada.)

Nous arrivons au restaurant.
(We arrive at the restaurant.)

40. Servir (to serve)

This verb means “to serve,” and it follows a unique conjugation pattern. While it looks similar to mettre, this one will need to be completely memorized to be learned correctly. In addition to “serve,” this verb can also mean “to be used for.”

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Je sers le déjeuner.
(I’m serving lunch.)

Nous servons au restaurant indien.
(We’re serving at the Indian restaurant.)

41. Finir (to finish)

Finir means “to finish” and it follows the regular -ir verb pattern. That means that other regular verbs ending in -ir can follow this conjugation pattern as well.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Tu finis de manger.
(You finish eating.)

Elles finissent à 16h.
(They [f.]  finish at 4:00 pm.)

42. Revenir (to come back)

Revenir isn’t a regular -ir verb. On the plus side, it’s conjugated like other verbs that we’ve seen: venir, tenir and devenir.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Il revient de Paris.
(He’s coming back from Paris.)

Vous ne revenez pas avec les chiens. 
(You’re not coming back with the dogs.)

43. Recevoir (to receive)

Recevoir means “to receive,” but it can also mean “to collect” as well as “to host someone.”

It’s conjugated similar to voir, but it also takes a ç in some forms to maintain the sound of the word.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Nous recevons les lettres ?
(Are we receiving letters?)

Vous recevez toujours les amis. 
(You’re always hosting friends.)

44. Répondre (to respond)

In the midst of irregularities, répondre is a verb that’s both very regular and similar to English.

It means “to respond” and it follows the regular -re conjugation pattern.

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Tu réponds à la question.
(You’re responding to the question.)

Ils répondent aux appels à démissionner.
(They’re responding to calls to resign.)

45. Vivre (to live)

Our next verb is an irregular -re verb. That means its pattern must be memorized separately. It means “to live” as in “to be alive,” and it also means “to inhabit” as in a house or a city. 

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Je vis encore.
(I’m still alive.)

Vous vivez à la ville. 
(You live in the city.)

46. Agir (to act)

This verb follows the regular -ir conjugation pattern. It means “to act” but it can also mean “to impact” or “to affect” when followed by the preposition sur (on). 

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Il/elle agit sur les plantes. 
(She doesn’t affect the plants.)

Nous n’agissons pas comme les adultes.
(We aren’t acting like adults.)

47. Jouer (to play)

Jouer is a regular -er verb and it means “to play.”

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Tu joues toujours.
(You always play.)

Il ne joue jamais avec ses amis. 
(He never plays with his friends.)

48. Aimer (to love/to like)

This verb means “to love” or “to like,” and it’s a regular -er verb. What’s not to love about that?

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Elle aime lire. 
(She likes to read.)

Nous aimons nos enfants.
(We love our kids.)

49. Choisir (to choose)

The next verb on our list is also a regular verb. This one follows the regular -ir verb conjugation pattern, and it means “to choose.” 

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Je choisis de lire ce livre.
(I’m choosing to read this book.)

Nous choisissons le restaurant.
(We’re choosing the restaurant.)

50. Ouvrir (to open)

Our last verb ends in -ir but conjugates like a regular -er verb. It means “to open.” 

Here are the present tense conjugations:

Examples:

Tu ouvres la fenêtre.
(You open the window.)

Nous ouvrons les bouteilles de champagne.
(We’re opening the bottles of champagne.)

Resources to Practice French Verbs

Here are some of the best resources you can use to get to know French verbs and practice using them yourself:

  • 501 French Verbs — This guide will give you hundreds of French verbs along with their conjugations of examples of usage.
  • FluentU — This language learning program is based on learning in context with authentic French videos. Each clip has interactive captions which help you understand verb conjugations and dissect phrases word-for-word.
  • YouTube — This platform is a great way to find French videos on anything you want, whether it’s learning-focused or not.
  • Other French content — Seeing verbs in action is a great way to naturally pick up on how they work. Check out French music, novels, movies and TV shows.

 

With constant practice, you’ll breeze through common French verbs and steadily move on to more advanced ones. Soon enough, your phrases will become more impressive and sophisticated as well.

Happy learning!

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