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French grammar Part of Chapter 2

CEFR A1-A2

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Test yourself (25 questions)

French Irregular Verbs: List, Chart and the Patterns

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 11 October 2026

Around nine French verbs in ten end in -er and are regular (the -er verbs primer covers them). The irregular ones are few, but they are the verbs you need in your first week, and they fall into groups.

Quick check

Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.

Fill in the blank

0/3

Fill the gap with the correct present-tense form.

  1. Je anglais. (être) (the most irregular verb in the language)

  2. Nous deux enfants. (avoir) (avoir, first person plural)

  3. Ils au marché. (aller) (aller, third person plural)

The core irregular verbs at a glance

Three present forms (, , ) show a verb's whole shape. In most irregular verbs, and share one stem and , , another.

je-type stemnous-type stemthe part to noticeavoir for beWhat do the colours mean?

The everyday eight

Verbjenousils

Next in line

Verbjenousils

In the "boot" verbs (, , , , , ), leaves the stem again: it goes back to the vowel ( , ; , ), or in the n ( ).

  • . - I can come.
  • . - We can come.
  • . - They can come.

Every verb here has its full table in the French verb conjugation tables.

The big four

These four are irregular in the present and in the future, and the most useful verbs in the language.

Personêtre (to be)avoir (to have)
/ j'
/
/
Personaller (to go)faire (do, make)
/
/

What each one buys you:

  • . - I ate. ( builds most past tenses)
  • . - I went to . ( builds the rest)
  • . - I'm going to eat. ( + infinitive: the near future)
  • . - It's cold. ( does the weather, and much else)

and are two of only three forms ending in -tes rather than -ez. The third is (you say):

  • ? - Are you here?
  • ? - What are you doing?

avoir where English says be

French says you have hunger, fear or years where English says you are hungry, afraid or twenty.

Four people: a man with a moustache, sweating under a hot sun, fans himself (hot); a woman in a scarf shivers as snow falls (cold); a boy with an empty plate stares open-mouthed, his tummy rumbling and an apple in his thought bubble (hungry); a girl with pigtails yawns under the moon (sleepy).

Hot, cold, hungry, sleepy: all four take avoir and a noun. Je suis chaud is not how you say you are hot.

FrenchLiterallyEnglish
.I have hungerI'm hungry.
.I have thirstI'm thirsty.
.I have fearI'm afraid.
.I have heatI'm hot.
.I have coldI'm cold.
.I have sleepI'm sleepy.
.you have reasonYou're right.
.he has wrongHe's wrong.
.I have twenty yearsI'm twenty.
.I have need of waterI need water.
A party under bunting and balloons: the birthday boy, with short hair and a bow tie, cheers behind a pink cake with five candles, flanked by two girls in party hats (one with pigtails and a bow, one with long hair), with a wrapped present on the table.
  1. !

Age takes avoir: J'ai cinq ans, I have five years. Je suis cinq is never French. Count the candles.

Tiredness goes the other way, because is an adjective, not a noun:

  • . - I'm tired.

The modal group

Four verbs behave alike and usually come before an infinitive: (can), (want), (must) and (know how to).

Personpouvoir (can)vouloir (want)
Persondevoir (must)savoir (know)

and end in -x, -x, -t in the singular; and in -s, -s, -t. The verb after a modal stays in the infinitive:

  • . - I can come.
  • ? - Do you want to eat?
  • . - We have to go home.
  • . - I can swim.

What each modal means, , and against are on French modal verbs.

The -ir split

-ir is really two families wearing the same coat. The type adds -iss- in the plural; the type does not, and drops the last stem consonant in the singular.

Personfinir (to finish)partir (to leave)
  • . - We finish at five.
  • . - We're leaving tomorrow.
Like finirLike partir
(to choose) (to go out)
(to succeed) (to sleep)
(to fill) (to serve)
(to grow) (to feel)

Nothing in the infinitive tells you the family, so learn it with the verb. The -ir verbs primer sorts the common ones.

The -re verbs

Regular -re verbs (, , ) end in -s, -s, nothing, -ons, -ez, -ent. The third person adds nothing at all:

  • . - He's selling his car.

The irregular ones come in families:

Verbjenousils
  • . - They're taking the train.
  • . - We drink coffee.

and follow ; follows . The -re verbs primer takes each family in full.

Irregular past participles

These have to be memorised, but they are short. They matter most in the passé composé, after or .

VerbParticipleVerbParticiple
  • . - I saw the film.
  • . - I took the train.
  • . - She came yesterday.

keeps its circumflex only in the masculine singular, to tell it from (some):

  • . - He had to leave.
  • . - I'm eating some bread.

Irregular future stems

The future adds endings to the infinitive, any final e (, ), so it is nearly always regular. A dozen verbs change the stem; the endings never change.

VerbFuture stemje form
ser-
aur-
ir-
-
viendr-
pourr-
voudr-
devr-
saur-
verr-
faudr-
enverr-
  • , . - Tomorrow I'll go to .
  • . - I'll be there at eight.

The same stems build the conditional, so the table earns its keep twice:

  • . - I'd like a coffee.

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
partissons has no -iss-
finons needs -iss-
faisez -, like and
voyé voir's participle is
prendu prendre's participle is
alleraialler's future stem is ir-
. .Hunger takes

What to do next

  1. Learn the everyday eight cold, , and first.
  2. Drill them on the French conjugation game.
  3. Then: modal verbs, avoir or être in the passé composé and the future tense.

Practise: test yourself

Fill in the blank

0/6

Fill the gap with the correct present-tense form.

  1. Je anglais. (être) (the most irregular verb in the language)

  2. Nous deux enfants. (avoir) (avoir, first person plural)

  3. Ils au marché. (aller) (aller, third person plural)

  4. Vous la cuisine. (faire) (one of only three verbs with -tes in the vous form)

  5. Nous nos devoirs. (finir) (finir family, so the -iss- appears)

  6. Nous à huit heures. (partir) (partir family, so no -iss-)

Build the word

0/5

Build the verb form from its stem and ending.

  1. nous + pouvoir

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  2. ils + pouvoir

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  3. vous + faire

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  4. nous + finir

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  5. ils + prendre

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

Spot the mistake

0/4

Tap the mistake.

Pick the right one

0/5

Choose the correct past participle.

  1. J'ai le film. (voir)

  2. J'ai un livre. (prendre)

  3. J'ai la vérité. (dire)

  4. J'ai mes clés. (mettre)

  5. J'ai le travail. (faire)

Matching

0/5

Match each verb to its irregular future stem.

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Practice worksheets and infographics

Practice worksheets with answer keys built in, plus infographic and listicle formats. Open any one to view, print or save.

Infographics

  1. Key points infographic
  2. The core irregular verbs at a glance
  3. The core irregular verbs at a glance
  4. The big four
  5. The big four
  6. avoir where English says be
  7. The modal group
  8. The modal group
  9. The -ir split
  10. The -ir split
  11. The -re verbs
  12. Irregular past participles
  13. Irregular future stems
  14. Mistakes English speakers make

Other formats

  1. Listicle

More grammar on this course

Frequently asked questions

What are the most important irregular verbs in French?
, , and , and it is not close. and build every compound tense ( , ), builds the near future ( ), and covers doing, making and the weather ( ). After those come , , , , , and .
Are all French -ir verbs irregular?
No, but -ir hides two families. The larger follows and adds -iss- in the plural: . The smaller follows and does not: . Both are regular within their family; the infinitive just gives no clue which family a verb is in.
How many French verbs are irregular?
Grammars file roughly three hundred and fifty verbs in the irregular 'third group', many of them compounds of one another (, , ), against several thousand regular -er verbs. The irregular ones are the most frequent verbs in the language, but they cluster into groups, so the genuine one-offs come down to about ten.
Is an irregular verb in French?
Strictly, yes: grammars in the irregular third group because it does not add -iss- like . In practice it is regular within its own family: , , , and , and work the same way. It takes in the : .
Which French verbs have an irregular future stem?
About a dozen common ones: (ser-), (aur-), (ir-), (fer-), (viendr-), (pourr-), (voudr-), (devr-), (saur-), (verr-), (enverr-) and ( ). The endings stay regular, and the same stems build the conditional: , .