French irregular verbs: conjugate seven with confidence

French irregular verbs are the ones whose stem or endings change in ways the regular patterns do not predict. This page conjugates seven of the most useful: prendre, venir, dire, lire, boire, mettre and savoir. For the method behind any conjugation, read How to conjugate French verbs. To meet these verbs in a longer list, see the 100 most common French verbs. To drill the forms, try French conjugation practice.

What are French irregular verbs?

French irregular verbs are all the verbs that are not regular -er or regular -ir verbs. The Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) says regular -er verbs are more than 90% of French verbs, and that irregular verbs have varied endings and, often, big changes to the stem [1]. The irregular group includes -ir verbs like courir, -oir verbs like voir, and -re verbs like boire and prendre [1].

The OQLF adds that irregular verbs are few but include some of the most frequent, avoir and être among them [1]. That is why they are worth learning early.

What is a list of irregular verbs in French?

Here is a list of seven irregular verbs in French that turn up in everyday sentences. The English meanings are ours. The forms come from Larousse’s conjugation pages [3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Tap a round button to hear the infinitive where we have a recording.

Larousse files all seven under the third group, the traditional name for irregular verbs [1][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Only venir takes être in the passé composé: je suis venu(e) [4].

How do the seven verbs change in the présent?

Most of them follow one frame. The OQLF says most irregular verbs take -s, -s, -t in the singular and -ons, -ez, -ent in the plural, the same endings as regular -ir verbs [2]. The stem is what moves.

Two details come straight from the OQLF [2]. When the stem ends in d, t or c, that letter replaces the ending in the il form, which is why it is il prend and il met, not “il prent” or “il mett”. And dire makes vous dites, where regular verbs end in -ez.

Prendre also doubles its n in ils prennent, and venir changes in ils viennent [3][4]. In both, the nous and vous forms keep the infinitive stem: prenons, venons [3][4].

How do you conjugate the verb dire?

To conjugate the verb dire (to say, to tell), use dis, dis, dit, disons, dites, disent in the présent [5]. The vous form dites is the one that surprises people, and the OQLF confirms it [2].

The command forms are dis, disons, dites [5]. The past participle is dit, so the passé composé is j’ai dit [5].

How do you conjugate the verb lire?

To conjugate the verb lire (to read), use lis, lis, lit, lisons, lisez, lisent in the présent [6]. The stem is li- in the singular and lis- in the plural.

The commands are lis, lisons, lisez, and the past participle is lu [6]. Note that lu has no accent and no s.

How do you conjugate verb boire?

To conjugate verb boire (to drink), use bois, bois, boit, buvons, buvez, boivent in the présent [7]. Boire has three stems: boi- in the singular, buv- in nous and vous, and boiv- in ils boivent [7].

The OQLF names boire as an irregular -re verb [1]. Larousse gives the commands bois, buvons, buvez and the past participle bu [7].

How do prendre, mettre, venir and savoir work?

Each has one habit worth knowing. All four tables of forms are in the section above.

• Prendre (to take). The il form is il prend, with the d of the stem [2][3]. The past participle is pris, so j’ai pris [3]. The commands are prends, prenons, prenez [3].
• Mettre (to put). The il form is il met, with the t of the stem [2][8]. The past participle is mis, so j’ai mis, and the commands are mets, mettons, mettez [8].
• Venir (to come). It is the only one of the seven that takes être: je suis venu(e), nous sommes venu(e)s [4]. The commands are viens, venons, venez [4].
• Savoir (to know). The futur is je saurai and the commands are sache, sachons, sachez, not “sais” [9]. The past participle is su [9].

Which irregular French verbs should you learn next?

The next irregular French verbs to learn are the ones this page leaves out. The OQLF says avoir, être and aller have their own conjugation in the présent [2]. It also says pouvoir, valoir and vouloir take -x, -x, -t in the singular [2]. Faire is irregular too, with vous faites [2]. Each of these will get its own page.

For a longer list of verbs to meet in context, see the 100 most common French verbs.

Common mistakes

• Writing “il prent” or “il mett”. The d or t of the stem replaces the ending in the il form: il prend, il met [2].
• Saying “vous disez”. Dire makes vous dites [2][5].
• Using one stem for all of boire. The stems are boi-, buv- and boiv-: je bois, nous buvons, ils boivent [7].
• Using avoir with venir. Venir takes être: je suis venu(e), not “j’ai venu” [4].
• Writing “mettu” or “prendu”. The participles are mis and pris [3][8].
• Trusting a conjugation page from a blog, including this one. Dictionaries and language offices update their entries. Check each source’s date against the date at the top of this page.

See also: être conjugation and aller conjugation and vouloir, pouvoir and devoir.

See also: regular -re verbs.

See also: faire conjugation.

Sources