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200 Most Common French Verbs

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BY FREDERIC BIBARD
Last Updated: June 6, 2023

Are you ready to widen your French

vocabulary with the most common French
verbs? Check out this list of 200 common
French verbs with their corresponding
English translation.

You can bookmark this handy guide or

print the PDF copy for easy reference.

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Before we proceed to the long list of 200

most common French verbs, let's take a
look one-by-one at ten of the most
useful French verbs and see them with
their present tense conjugation. Let's
start!

1. Être (to be)

On the top of the heap of most common
French verbs is the most useful one of
them all. Though this verb is highly
irregular, you need to commit this to
memory since you’ll find this one used
repeatedly in everyday speech, either
alone or as an auxiliary verb for
compound tenses.

Here is the conjugation of etre.

For more, visit: The French Verb Être: All

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2. Avoir (to have)

The second most useful French verb avoir,
is also an irregular verb. It is also used by
itself or with another verb to form a
compound tense.

Here is avoir in the present tense.

j'ai

tu as

il a

elle a

on a

nous avons

vous avez

ils ont

elles ont

3. Faire (to do)

The third one on our list is another
irregular verb. Faire is also a highly useful
French verb which means “to do”. It also
translates to “to make” in some cases.

Now let’s take a look at the conjugation

of faire.

See also: All About The French verb

Faire

4. Aller (to go)

The fourth French verb on our list is,
unfortunately, another irregular verb. I
know, I know. Don’t worry, it gets better
when you memorize this verb fully. Aller
also works as a standalone verb or as an
auxiliary to form compound verbs for
future tenses.

Here’s the conjugation of aller.

See also: All About the French Verb Aller

5. Dire (to say)

Okay, now we’re on to the fifth most
frequently used French verb on our list,
and guess what? Yes, it’s another irregular
verb (will this torture ever end?--yes it
does). Dire means “to tell” or “to say” and I
must say, you’ll see and hear this quite
often!

See also: All About the French Verb Dire

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with our comprehensive, self-paced

beginner, intermediate, and

advanced courses, each with a step-

by-step plan tailored to your level.

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sound like a native with our

pronunciation course.

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guidance from a dedicated French

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6. Voir (to see)

Another most frequently used French verb
is “voir” which means, to see. Aside from
its literal use though, voir can also be used
figuratively as in “to understand” or “to
experience”. It all depends on the context
and usage.

See also: All About the Verb Voir

7. Savoir (to know)

Savoir which means “to know” can be
quite a di"cult verb to know. (Get it?
Okay.) Aside from the fact that it is yet
again another irregular verb, savoir has a
close sibling connaître which also means
“to know” and the di#erences can be quite
complex! But that’s a topic for another
day.

Here’s the present tense conjugation of

savoir:

je sais

tu sais

il sait

elle sait

on sait

nous savons

vous savez

ils savent