Irregular Verbs in French and How to Conjugate Them

There are two types of verbs in French - regular and irregular verbs. Regular verbs follow a set, regular pattern. The patterns exist not only in the present tense but also in other tenses where the verb is used. Irregular verbs, on the other hand, do not follow a pattern. Their final letters do not determine what conjugated endings they’ll receive.

In this article, we will focus on French irregular verbs. These verbs need to be memorized because even though there are far more regular verbs than irregular ones, irregular verbs are some of the most important and common verbs in the French language.

Let’s dive into the world of irregular verbs and find some ways to learn them.

The most used irregular verbs in French

Did you know that there are four irregular French verbs that are used in daily life? These common irregular verbs are:

1. être - to be
2. aller - to go
3. avoir - to have
4. faire - to make, to do

Let's learn how these verbs are conjugated.

Let's learn how to conjugate irregular French verbs that follow certain patterns

Some irregular verbs follow patterns, so once you know these patterns, it’s easier to identify and conjugate irregular verbs.

Prendre

Verbs ending in –prendre are all conjugated like prendre:

Similar verbs that are conjugated like Prendre-

• apprendre – to learn
• comprendre – to understand
• entreprendre – to undertake
• méprendre – to mistake
• prendre – to take
• reprendre – to retake, to take again
• surprendre – to surprise

Mettre

Mettre and the verbs ending in –mettre all follow the same pattern of conjugation.

Similar verbs that are conjugated like Mettre-

• admettre – to admit
• commettre – to commit
• compromettre – to compromise
• mettre – to put, to place
• permettre – to permit
• promettre – to promise
• remettre – to turn in work, to postpone
• soumettre – to submit
• transmettre – to transmit

Venir

Venir and the verbs that end with -nir have their own pattern of conjugation, and in this case, the verb undergoes a stem change. The stem vien is used with je, tu, il, elle; the stem ven is used with nous and vous; the stem vien is used with ils and elles respectively.

Similar verbs that are conjugated like venir-

• abstenir – to refrain, to abstain from
• advenir – to happen
• appartenir – to belong to
• circonvenir – to circumvent
• contenir – to contain
• convenir – to suit, to be suitable
• détenir – to detain
• devenir – to become
• entretenir – to look after, to support
• intervenir – to intervene
• maintenir – to maintain
• obtenir – to obtain
• parvenir – to reach, to achieve
• prévenir – to warn
• retenir – to retain
• soutenir – to support
• souvenir – to remember
• subvenir – to provide for
• survenir – to occur, to take place
• tenir – to hold, to keep
• venir – to come

Manger

Verbs ending in -ger have a spelling change in the nous form of the verb. An extra -e is added to keep the -g sound soft.

Similar verbs that are conjugated like Manger-

• bouger – to move
• changer – to change
• corriger – to correct
• décourager – to discourage
• déménager – to move
• déranger – to disturb
• diriger – to direct
• encourager – to encourage
• engager – to bind
• exiger – to demand
• juger – to judge
• loger – to lodge
• manger – to eat
• mélanger – to mix
• nager – to swim
• obliger – to oblige
• partager – to share
• rédiger – to write
• voyager – to travel

Lancer

Verbs like lancer that end in -cer also have a spelling change in the nous form. The -c is changed to a -ç to maintain a soft -c sound.

Similar verbs that are conjugated like Lancer-

• annoncer – to announce
• avancer – to advance
• commencer – to commence
• dénoncer – to denounce
• divorcer – to divorce
• effacer – to erase
• lancer – to throw
• menacer – to threaten
• placer – to put
• prononcer – to pronounce
• remplacer – to replace
• renoncer – to renounce

Payer

Verbs ending in -yer change the -y to an -i in the je, tu, il, elle, ils and elles forms.

Similar verbs that are conjugated like payer-

• aboyer – to bark
• balayer – to sweep
• effrayer – to frighten
• s’ennuyer – to be bored
• envoyer – to send
• essayer – to try
• essuyer – to wipe
• nettoyer – to clean
• payer – to pay
• renvoyer – to send back, to fire

Acheter

Some verbs, like acheter, change the -e in the root to -è in the je, tu, il, elle, ils and elles forms.

Similar verbs that are conjugated like acheter -

• acheter – to buy
• amener – to bring
• enlever – to take off
• espérer – to hope
• geler – to freeze
• se lever – to get up
• posséder – to own
• préférer – to prefer
• se promener – to take a stroll
• répéter – to repeat
• suggérer – to suggest

Appeler

Some French verbs that end in -eler and -eter double the l or t in all except nous and vous in the present tense. Example: appeler –> appel/appell -er (to call)

Similar verbs that are conjugated like appeler-

• appeler – to call
• épeler – to spell out
• étinceler – to sparkle
• feuilleter – to leaf through a book
• jeter – to jump
• renouveler – to renew

How to conjugate irregular French verbs that don’t follow a specific pattern

Most irregular French verbs don’t follow any specific pattern and therefore, have to be memorized.

So, let’s learn a few of them.