Personal message from Alexa

When I first moved to the U.K. in 1992, I didn’t speak a word of English.
Fortunately, I was able to pick up a lot of the language just by listening to
those around me, and putting what I’d heard into practice.

But there was one aspect of the language that no amount of immersion
could help with: irregular verbs.

When I started properly studying English, we — myself and my classmates

— were given a list of irregular English verbs and told to learn them by
heart. For each verb there were three forms: the infinitive, the simple past
tense, and the past participle. So for a verb like ‘eat’, for example, it would
look like this:

to eat -- ate -- eaten

Learning these three forms for all main verbs was quite tedious. But it was
also extremely important. It allowed me to be more accurate when using
different tenses, and my English improved dramatically as a result.

Since having a list of common irregular verbs with their different forms
helped me so much, I decided to put together a similar resource for you (in
French, of course!).

Below you will find 50 of the most frequently used irregular verbs in
French. It may be that you have already learnt most or even all of them —
but having them laid out in a group, together with their different forms, will
be incredibly useful for you, and allow you to quickly check them whenever
you need to.

When it came to making this sheet, my team wanted to make it as

comprehensive as possible, without losing the simplicity that made those
English irregular verbs so accessible to me as a student. So we decided to
present the irregular verbs in four stages:
 The infinitive, which often changes quite drastically when conjugated in
the past.

The auxiliary (avoir or être), as it is important to know which of these

you should use when conjugating these verbs in the past.

The past participle, as it can often be spelt differently from the

infinitive.

The first person singular passé composé form. Then all you have to do
is conjugate avoir or être in the present tense to have the fully conjugated
verb in the passé composé.

Take the verb boire (to drink), for example. Here you will see it presented
in the following way:

Boire (to drink)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: bu
passé composé: j’ai bu

I would recommend that you learn them in the way they are presented. By
learning each verb in this order, you will develop a rhythm which will aid
with memorisation, and before long make the process second nature to you.
Repeating them out loud will also help with memorising them, and help you
get used to the pronunciation.

Once you are confident with these verbs in the passé composé form, you
should move on to learning the auxiliaries in the different tenses (futur,
conditionnel, imparfait). Luckily in each case the past participle stays the
same, meaning once you have learnt the different tenses for the auxiliaries,
you will be able to conjugate in the future perfect, conditional perfect or
even the pluperfect.
You will also notice that we have included impersonal verbs in the list, as
they are very important. These are verbs which can only be conjugated in
the third person singular, i.e. with the pronoun 'il'. Examples include ‘il
faut’ and ‘il neige’. (You would never say ‘we snow’!)

I’m sure you’re eager to get started, so just one last point: you will
encounter some verbs several times with different prefixes. For instance, the
verb ‘mettre’ (to put) appears in ‘permettre’ (to allow) and ‘remettre’ (to
put back). Although these are different words with different meanings, since
they are all based on ‘mettre’, they all conjugate the same way.

I hope you find this approach to irregular verbs as useful as I did when I
was an English student.

Happy learning!
Alexa.

50 Irregular Verbs

1. Accueillir (to welcome)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: accueilli
passé composé: j’ai accueilli

2. Acquérir (to acquire)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: acquis
passé composé: j’ai acquis

3. Aller (to go)

conjugates with: être
past participle: été
 passé composé: je suis allé.e

4. Apercevoir (to catch a glimpse)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: aperçu
passé composé: j'ai aperçu

5. Atteindre (to reach)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: atteint
passé composé: j’ai atteint

6. Attendre (to wait)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: attendu
passé composé: j’ai attendu

7. (s')Asseoir (to sit down)

conjugates with: être
past participle: assis
passé composé: je me suis assis.e

8. Avoir (to have)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: eu
passé composé: j’ai eu

9. Boire (to drink)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: bu
passé composé: j’ai bu

10. Comprendre (to understand)

 conjugates with: avoir
past participle: compris
passé composé: j’ai compris

11. Conduire (to drive)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: conduit
passé composé: j’ai conduit

12. Connaître (to know)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: connu
passé composé: j’ai connu

13. Construire (to build)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: construit
passé composé: j’ai construit

14. Courir (to run)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: couru
passé composé: j’ai couru

15. Couvrir (to cover)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: couvert
passé composé: j’ai couvert

16. Croire (to believe)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: cru
passé composé: j’ai cru
17. Découvrir (to discover)
conjugates with: avoir
past participle: découvert
passé composé: j’ai découvert

18. Devoir (to have to)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: dû
passé composé: j’ai dû

19. Dire (to say)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: dit
passé composé: j’ai dit

20. Écrire (to write)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: écrit
passé composé: j’ai écrit

21. Entendre (to hear)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: entendu
passé composé: j’ai entendu

22. Être (to be)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: été
passé composé: j’ai été

23. Faire (to do)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: fait
 passé composé: j’ai fait

24. Falloir (to need, impersonal verb)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: fallu
passé composé: il a fallu

25. Lire (to read)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: lu
passé composé: j’ai lu

26. Mettre (to put)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: mis
passé composé: j’ai mis

27. Mourir (to die)

conjugates with: être
past participle: mort
passé composé: je suis mort.e

28. Naître (to be born)

conjugates with: être
past participle: né
passé composé: je suis né.e

29. Obtenir (to get)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: obtenu
passé composé: j’ai obtenu

30. Offrir (to offer)

 conjugates with: avoir
past participle: offert
passé composé: j’ai offert

31. Ouvrir (to open)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: ouvert
passé composé: j’ai ouvert

32. Partir (to leave)

conjugates with: être
past participle: parti
passé composé: je suis parti.e

33. Permettre (to allow)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: permis
passé composé: j’ai permis

34. Pleuvoir (to rain, impersonal verb)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: plu
passé composé: il a plu

35. Pouvoir (to be able to)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: pu
passé composé: j’ai pu

36. Prendre (to take)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: pris
passé composé: j’ai pris
37. Produire (to produce)
conjugates with: avoir
past participle: produit
passé composé: j’ai produit

38. Recevoir (to receive)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: reçu
passé composé: j’ai reçu

39. Réduire (to reduce)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: réduit
passé composé: j’ai réduit

40. Rire (to laugh)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: ri
passé composé: j’ai ri

41. Savoir (to know)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: su
passé composé: j’ai su

42. Souffrir (to suffer)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: souffert
passé composé: j’ai souffert

43. Suivre (to follow)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: suivi
 passé composé: j’ai suivi

44. Tenir (to hold)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: tenu
passé composé: j’ai tenu

45. Vaincre (to conquer)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: vaincu
passé composé: j’ai vaincu

46. Valoir (to be worth)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: valu
passé composé: j’ai valu

47. Venir (to come)

conjugates with: être
past participle: venu
passé composé: je suis venu.e

48. Vivre (to live)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: vécu
passé composé: j’ai vécu

49. Voir (to see)

conjugates with: avoir
past participle: vu
passé composé: j’ai vu

50. Vouloir (to want)

 conjugates with: avoir
past participle: voulu
passé composé: j’ai voulu

Want to test yourself and improve your pronunciation and listening skills?
Check out the audio and quiz pages that accompany these 50 Irregular
Verbs by signing up to The Complete French Course.

For more information on irregular verbs, their conjugations and how to use
them in everyday conversation, visit learnfrenchwithalexa.com.