Conjugate French Verbs in the Present Tense

We have already seen the conjugation of some important verbs such as être and avoir. We learned that they don’t follow the usual rules applied to other verbs. There are certain patterns we must follow when conjugating verbs in different tenses. Today, we will focus on how to conjugate French verbs in the simple present tense.

There are two broad categories of verbs in French: regular verbs and irregular verbs. Regular verbs are way easier to use since they follow definite patterns, while in the case of irregular verbs, their conjugation is not that simple. Let’s get started!

Regular Verbs

Let’s start with regular verbs. But first, how do you distinguish between regular and irregular verbs? It’s quite simple. Look at their endings.

Regular verbs have three different endings: -er, -ir, and -re. An exception is aller (to go) which is an irregular verb. Let’s take a look at some common regular verbs:  

-er	-ir	-re
aimer (to love)	acceuillir (to welcome)	attendre (to wait)
arriver (to arrive)	accomplir (to accomplish)	dépendre (to depend)
chanter (to sing)	agir (to act)	descendre (to descend)
chercher (to look for)	choisir (to choose)	entendre (to hear)
danser (to dance)	finir (to finish)	fondre (to melt)
demander (to ask)	grandir (to grow up)	mordre (to bite)
donner (to give)	investir (to invest)	pendre (to hang)
habiter (to live)	nourrir (to feed)	perdre (to lose)
regarder (to watch)	punir (to punish)	rendre (to give back)
rester (to stay)	ralentir (to slow down)	répondre (to answer)
travailler (to work)	réussir (to succeed)	vendre (to sell)

How to Conjugate Regular Verbs

Now that we learned some common regular verbs, we need to learn how to conjugate them. This will vary depending on the ending of the verb. Let’s start with those ending in -er.

Je – e

Tu – es

Il/Elle – e

Nous – ons

Vous – ez

Ils/Elles – ent

Let’s conjugate the verb manger (to eat):

Je mange

Tu manges

Il/Elle mange

Nous mangeons

Vous mangez

Ils/Elles mangent

For those verbs ending in -ir, the conjugation is as follows:

Je – is

Tu – is

Il/Elle – it

Nous – issons

Vous – issez

Ils/Elles – issent

Example with finir (to finish):

Je finis

Tu finis

Il/Elle finnit

Nous finissons

Vous finissez

Ils/Elles finissent

Finally, for those verbs ending in -re, the conjugation is as follows:

Je – s

Tu – s

Il/Elle –

Nous – ons

Vous -ez

Ils/Elles – ent

Example with entendre (to hear):

J’entends

Tu entends

Il/Elle entend

Nous entendons

Vouz entendez

Ils/Elles entendent

Did you notice a pattern in the examples above? When conjugating a verb, we drop -er, -ir, or -re and add a different ending depending on the pronoun preceding it. The only exception is conjugating -re verbs with il/elle. In that case, we just drop -re. Examples: il/elle vend (he/she sells), il/elle comprend (he/she understands), il/elle attend (he/she waits), etc.

Exceptions

As we saw above, most regular verbs end in -er, -ir, or -re. However, there are a few exceptions. Below are some common verbs that don’t follow the rules for regular verbs:

aller (to go)

avoir (to have)

boire (to drink)

connaître (to know, to be familiar with)

devoir (to have to)

dire (to say)

dormir (to sleep)

écrire (to write)

être (to be)

faire (to make, to do)

falloir (to be necessary)

lire (to read)

mettre (to put)

partir (to leave)

pouvoir (to be able to do)

prendre (to take)

savoir (to know)

venir (to come)

voir (to see)

vouloir (to want)

All of the verbs above are irregular. You will have to learn their conjugations since they don’t follow a definite pattern.

How to Conjugate Irregular Verbs

Here is where things get a little complicated. You will have to memorize irregular verbs and their conjugations. There’s no other way. Look at the table below to learn the conjugations of some of the most common irregular verbs:

Verb	je	tu	il/elle	nous	vous	ils/elles
aller	vais	vas	va	allons	allez	vont
avoir	ai	as	a	avons	avez	ont
boire	bois	bois	boit	buvons	buvez	boivent
connaître	connais	connais	connait	connaissons	connaissez	connaissent
devoir	dois	dois	doit	devons	devez	doivent
dire	dis	dis	dit	disons	dites	disent
dormir	dors	dors	dort	dormons	dormez	dorment
écrire	écris	écris	écrit	écrivons	écrivez	écrivent
être	suis	es	est	sommes	êtes	sont
faire	fais	fais	fait	faisons	faites	font
falloir*	–	–	faut	–	–	–
lire	lis	lis	lit	lisons	lisez	lisent
mettre	mets	mets	met	mettons	mettez	mettent
partir	pars	pars	part	partons	partez	partent
pouvoir	peux	peux	peut	pouvons	pouvez	peuvent
prendre	prends	prends	prend	prenons	prenez	prennent
savoir	sais	sais	sait	savons	savez	savent
venir	viens	viens	vient	venons	venez	viennent
voir	vois	vois	voit	voyons	voyez	voient
vouloir	veux	veux	veut	voulons	voulez	veulent

*Falloir is only conjugated with il. It’s what we call an impersonal verb.

Comparing Regular Verbs to Irregular Verbs

How can you tell them apart? Most of the time, you can rely on the ending. However, as we learned earlier, there are many exceptions to the rule. Your best bet is to memorize the list of irregular verbs. You can check out a comprehensive list of them here.

You can also watch the video below to practice the conjugation and pronunciation of several common verbs. It includes both regular and irregular verbs.

Conclusion

Things start to get interesting, right? We’re barely starting! But don’t fret. Advance one step at a time. It seems like a lot of information to process, but if you study diligently, you will eventually master it.

Verb conjugation can be tricky in French. Regular verbs are quite easy to conjugate since they follow definite patterns. On the other hand, irregular verbs are harder to conjugate. You will have to memorize their conjugation.

There are many exceptions regarding verbs. Most of the time you can rely on their endings, but watch out. There are always exceptions to the rule.

I’d love to read your comments and questions below. Please share if you liked this and found it useful. Au revoir, les amis!

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