Nine verbs you can't avoid: Most French verbs end in -er, -ir or -re and follow a tidy pattern. But the most common verbs of all are irregular — their present-tense forms must be learned by heart.
Nine verbs do the heavy lifting
- être — to be
- avoir — to have
- aller — to go
- faire — to do / make
- venir — to come
- pouvoir — can / to be able to
- vouloir — to want
- devoir — must / to have to
- prendre — to take
What they let you say: Master these nine and you can already say who you are, what you have, where you go, and what you can, want or must do.
- être
- to be — identity, description, age-helper (j'ai … ans uses avoir, not être!)
- avoir
- to have — possession, age, and the helper for the passé composé
- aller
- to go — movement, and the helper for the near future (je vais manger)
- faire
- to do / to make — activities, weather, sport, chores
- venir
- to come — je viens de Paris (origin), je viens de manger (just did)
- pouvoir / vouloir / devoir
- can / to want / must — the three modal helpers, each followed by an infinitive
- prendre
- to take — transport, food and drink (je prends le bus, je prends un café)
Why these matter for marks: These verbs appear in almost every sentence you'll write. Getting je suis, j'ai, je vais right — and not confusing them — is the difference between fluent French and the classic beginner slips. The good news: each verb has just six forms, and the patterns repeat enough that you can chunk them.
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All nine, conjugated: Here are the six present-tense forms of each verb. Read down each column.
What to notice
- The je / tu / il forms often rhyme
- pouvoir, vouloir, devoir share the same endings (-x, -x, -t in the singular)
- venir and prendre double or change a letter in the ils form (viennent, prennent)
| Personne | être | avoir | aller | faire | prendre |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | suis | ai | vais | fais | prends |
| tu | es | as | vas | fais | prends |
| il / elle / on | est | a | va | fait | prend |
| nous | sommes | avons | allons | faisons | prenons |
| vous | êtes | avez | allez | faites | prenez |
| ils / elles | sont | ont | vont | font | prennent |
| Personne | venir | pouvoir | vouloir | devoir |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je | viens | peux | veux | dois |
| tu | viens | peux | veux | dois |
| il / elle / on | vient | peut | veut | doit |
| nous | venons | pouvons | voulons | devons |
| vous | venez | pouvez | voulez | devez |
| ils / elles | viennent | peuvent | veulent | doivent |
Spot the patterns: Three shortcuts: (1) pouvoir / vouloir / devoir all go -x, -x, -t in the singular (peux/peux/peut, veux/veux/veut, dois/dois/doit). (2) The vous forms are usually -ez — except the three star irregulars vous êtes, vous faites, vous dites. (3) venir and prendre double their consonant only in the ils form: viennent, prennent.
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Each verb's job: Knowing the forms is half the battle; the other half is reaching for the right verb.
Where French uses a different verb: Some jobs trip up English speakers because French uses a different verb than English does — most famously age (j'ai 16 ans, literally I have 16 years) and the near future (je vais manger, I'm going to eat).
ÊTRE & AVOIR — states and possession
- Identity / description with être — Je suis étudiant. (I am a student.)
- Possession with avoir — J'ai un vélo. (I have a bike.)
- Age = avoir, NOT être — J'ai seize ans. (I am sixteen.)
- Feelings often = avoir — J'ai faim / soif / froid. (I'm hungry / thirsty / cold.)
ALLER, FAIRE, VENIR, PRENDRE — movement & activity
- Movement with aller — Je vais au cinéma. (I'm going to the cinema.)
- Near future = aller + infinitive — Je vais étudier. (I'm going to study.)
- Weather & activities with faire — Il fait beau. / Je fais du sport.
- Origin / 'just did' with venir — Je viens de Lyon. / Je viens de finir.
- Transport & food with prendre — Je prends le métro. / Je prends un café.
The three modals take an infinitive: pouvoir, vouloir and devoir are followed by a second verb in the infinitive (no to): Je peux venir. (I can come.) Je veux partir. (I want to leave.) Je dois travailler. (I must work.)
Never conjugate the second verb: je veux étudie is wrong; it must be je veux étudier.
All nine verbs in one paragraph: Here's a short, original description of a school morning, built one sentence at a time. It uses all nine irregular verbs correctly.
How to read it
- See if you can spot each of the nine verbs.
- Read it for meaning first.
- Then tap Voir la traduction for the English or the audio button to hear it.
Les verbes irréguliers en action
Une matinée au lycée, phrase à phrase
- Je suis lycéenne et j'ai seize ans.
- Le matin, je prends le bus et je vais au lycée avec mon frère.
- Mes amis viennent de plusieurs quartiers, mais nous faisons toujours nos devoirs ensemble.
- Aujourd'hui, je dois rendre un projet et je veux avoir une bonne note.
- Si je travaille bien, je peux être fière de moi ce soir.
Steal this frame to describe your day: Notice the workhorses: être for who you are, avoir for your age, prendre for transport, aller for where you go, faire for activities, venir for origin, and devoir / vouloir / pouvoir for what you must, want and can do. Build your own day-in-the-life the same way and you'll use every key verb naturally.
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The slips anglophones make: Most mistakes come from translating English word-for-word. Compare the right version with the typical mistake below.
Where English leads you astray
- English says I am 16, but French says I have 16.
- English puts to before the second verb, but after a French modal the infinitive stands alone.
- The vous forms êtes / faites break the usual -ez rule.
Correct
- J'ai dix-sept ans.
- Je veux apprendre le français.
- Vous êtes prêts ? Vous faites du sport ?
- Nous allons partir bientôt.
Common error
- Je suis dix-sept ans.
- Je veux apprends le français.
- Vous avez êtes prêts ? Vous faisez du sport ?
- Nous allons à partir bientôt.
Three rules to lock in: Before you write, check: (1) Age, hunger, cold → avoir, never être. (2) After pouvoir / vouloir / devoir / aller, the next verb is an infinitive with no à or to. (3) The vous star forms are vous êtes and vous faites (and vous dites) — not vous étez or vous faisez.