By the end of this lesson you'll be able to use eleven common irregular verbs in the present. They look like a long list, but most of them fall into small groups that behave alike.
You already know the regular families from the lesson on -ir and -re verbs, and three irregular verbs that take an infinitive from the lesson on pouvoir, vouloir and devoir. The verbs below follow patterns of their own. In each table, il stands for il, elle and on, and ils for ils and elles. Each table gives all six forms.
Group 1: prendre and mettre
These two end in -re, and their singular forms look like a regular -re verb: -s, -s, and nothing for il. The plurals are where they differ.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| prendre | PRAHN-druh | to take, to have (food or drink) |
| je prends / tu prends / il prend | zhuh PRAHN / tew PRAHN / eel PRAHN | I take / you take / he takes |
| nous prenons / vous prenez / ils prennent | noo pruh-NOHN / voo pruh-NAY / eel PREN | we take / you take / they take |
| mettre | MEH-truh | to put, to put on |
| je mets / tu mets / il met | zhuh MEH / tew MEH / eel MEH | I put / you put / he puts |
| nous mettons / vous mettez / ils mettent | noo meh-TOHN / voo meh-TAY / eel MET | we put / you put / they put |
| comprendre | kohn-PRAHN-druh | to understandLike prendre: je comprends, nous comprenons, ils comprennent. |
Prendre loses its d in the plural and has a double n in the ils form. Mettre has one t in the singular and two in the plural.
Prendre is used for transport and for food and drink. That's the verb inside the phrase you learned as a chunk: Je vais prendre un café (I'll have a coffee). Mettre means "to put", and also "to put on" clothes.
Je prends le métro le matin.
I take the metro in the morning.
Qu'est-ce que vous prenez ?
What will you have?
Elle met du lait.
She's adding some milk.
Two common verbs are built on prendre and work exactly like it: apprendre (to learn) and comprendre (to understand). Je comprends (I understand), nous comprenons (we understand), ils comprennent (they understand).
Group 2: partir, sortir and dormir
These end in -ir, but they don't have the -iss- of finir. In the singular, they lose the consonant before the ending. In the plural, they keep it, and you can hear it in the ils form.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| partir | par-TEER | to leave |
| je pars / tu pars / il part | zhuh PAR / tew PAR / eel PAR | I leave / you leave / he leaves |
| nous partons / vous partez / ils partent | noo par-TOHN / voo par-TAY / eel PART | we leave / you leave / they leave |
| sortir | sor-TEER | to go out |
| je sors / tu sors / il sort | zhuh SOR / tew SOR / eel SOR | I go out / you go out / he goes out |
| nous sortons / vous sortez / ils sortent | noo sor-TOHN / voo sor-TAY / eel SORT | we go out / you go out / they go out |
| dormir | dor-MEER | to sleep |
| je dors / tu dors / il dort | zhuh DOR / tew DOR / eel DOR | I sleep / you sleep / he sleeps |
| nous dormons / vous dormez / ils dorment | noo dor-MOHN / voo dor-MAY / eel DORM | we sleep / you sleep / they sleep |
Le bus part à midi.
The bus leaves at noon.
Tu sors ce soir ?
Are you going out tonight?
Je dors mal.
I sleep badly.
Group 3: dire, lire and écrire
These three have the same singular endings: -s, -s, -t, all silent. In the plural, each one adds a consonant to its stem: a z sound (written s) for dire and lire, and a v for écrire.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| dire | deer | to say |
| je dis / tu dis / il dit | zhuh DEE / tew DEE / eel DEE | I say / you say / he says |
| nous disons / vous dites / ils disent | noo dee-ZOHN / voo DEET / eel DEEZ | we say / you say / they say |
| lire | leer | to read |
| je lis / tu lis / il lit | zhuh LEE / tew LEE / eel LEE | I read / you read / he reads |
| nous lisons / vous lisez / ils lisent | noo lee-ZOHN / voo lee-ZAY / eel LEEZ | we read / you read / they read |
| écrire | ay-KREER | to write |
| j'écris / tu écris / il écrit | zhay-KREE / tew ay-KREE / ee-lay-KREE | I write / you write / he writes |
| nous écrivons / vous écrivez / ils écrivent | noo-zay-kree-VOHN / voo-zay-kree-VAY / eel-zay-KREEV | we write / you write / they write |
Watch out for vous dites. It's one of only three common verbs whose vous form doesn't end in -ez. You already know the other two: vous êtes and vous faites.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| la lettre | lah LEH-truh | the letter |
| le journal | luh zhoor-NAHL | the newspaper |
Il dit bonjour à Marie.
He says hello to Marie.
Nous lisons le journal.
We read the newspaper.
J'écris une lettre à Sophie.
I'm writing a letter to Sophie.
Group 4: venir, voir and boire
These three don't share a pattern, but each has one thing to remember.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| venir | vuh-NEER | to come |
| je viens / tu viens / il vient | zhuh VYAN / tew VYAN / eel VYAN | I come / you come / he comes |
| nous venons / vous venez / ils viennent | noo vuh-NOHN / voo vuh-NAY / eel VYEN | we come / you come / they come |
| voir | vwahr | to see |
| je vois / tu vois / il voit | zhuh VWAH / tew VWAH / eel VWAH | I see / you see / he sees |
| nous voyons / vous voyez / ils voient | noo vwah-YOHN / voo vwah-YAY / eel VWAH | we see / you see / they see |
| boire | bwahr | to drink |
| je bois / tu bois / il boit | zhuh BWAH / tew BWAH / eel BWAH | I drink / you drink / he drinks |
| nous buvons / vous buvez / ils boivent | noo bew-VOHN / voo bew-VAY / eel BWAHV | we drink / you drink / they drink |
- Venir changes e to ie except with nous and vous. Ils viennent has a double n. Revenir (to come back) and devenir (to become) work the same way.
- Voir has a y in nous voyons and vous voyez. The other four forms all sound the same.
- Boire has a completely different stem with nous and vous: buv-. The ils form goes its own way too: boivent.
Tu viens au cinéma ?
Are you coming to the cinema?
On voit Marc samedi.
We're seeing Marc on Saturday.
Mes parents boivent du jus d'orange.
My parents drink orange juice.
En français
- Salut ! Tu sors ce soir ? (Hi! Are you going out tonight?)
- Non, je ne sors pas. Le soir, je lis un livre, puis je dors. (No, I'm not going out. In the evening, I read a book, then I sleep.)
- Tu viens samedi ? Nous prenons le train pour Lille. (Are you coming on Saturday? We're taking the train to Lille.)
- Il part à quelle heure ? (What time does it leave?)
- À neuf heures. Tu mets un pull ? Il fait froid ! (At nine. Are you putting on a jumper? It's cold!)
- D'accord, je viens. (OK, I'll come.)
What's next
You need these verbs for what comes next. The lesson on the passé composé with avoir shows you how to talk about the past. Then the lesson on irregular past participles gives you the past forms of most of the verbs in this lesson. For two more everyday irregular verbs, you can look back at the lesson on faire and aller.