Irregular verbs in French
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Sign up for freeIn French, there are a variety of verbs, which are formed completely irregular. However, since many of these irregular verbs (French: les verbes irréguliers) count to the basic vocabulary, it is important that you memorize the conjugations of these well. Irregulars verbs in French are verbs of the 3rd group and most of them have the following infinitive endings: -re, -oir,
Lesson outline
HideList of irregular verbs in French
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Eve C. 
Marina D. 
Laetitia H.
Laurine C.
Kevin G.
Djamel M.
Lucia Maria C.
Ana G.
Diana A. 
Most common irregular verbs
- venir (to come)
- avoir (to have)
- être (to be)
- aller (to go)
- faire (to do)
- prendre (to take)
- voir (to see)
- partir (to leave)
- tenir (to hold)
- courir (to run)
- vouloir (to want)
- sortir (to go out)
Other Irregular verbs
| Irregular verbs | Examples | Translation |
| asseoir (to sit down) | Ne t'assieds pas là, la vernice est encore fraîche. | (Don't sit there, the painting is still fresh) |
attendre (to wait) | Je t'attend depuis 11h30! | (I've been waiting for you since 11.30am!) |
recevoir (to receive) | Marie viens de recevoir une bizzarre lettre anonyme. | (Mary just got a strange anonymous letter) |
boire (to drink) | Bois ton café et allons-nous! | (Drink your coffee and let's go!) |
bouillir (to boil) | Elle bouillait les légumes pour préparer une soupe. | (She was boiling vegetables to make a soup) |
rendre (to return) | On lui aurait rendu visite pour son annivérsaire. | (We would have visited him for his birthday) |
sentir (to feel) | Je sentais qu'il y avait quelque chose qui n'allait pas bien. | (I could feel that something was not ok) |
vaincre (to overcome) | Graçe à la térapie, ella a vaincu son angoisse et son anxiété. | (Thanks to the therapy, she beated her anxiety and her distress) |
vendre (to sell) | On va vendre notre maison pour en acheter une plus grandre. | (We're going to sell our house to buy a bigger one) |
souffrir (to suffer) | Elle a trop souffert dans sa vie, elle ne sera jamais heureuse. | (She suffered too much in her ife, she will never be happy) |
| vivre (to live) | J'aimerait que nous vivions ensemble. | (I would like us to live together) |
rompre (to break up) | Desolée, j'ai rompu un verre dans la cuisine. | (I'm sorry, I broke a glass in the kitchen) |
joindre (to join) | Je l'avais joint pour me faire aider. | (I contacted him to help me) |
répondre (to answer) | Tu ne sortiras pas avant de m'avoir répondu! | (You won't go out before answering me!) |
| perdre (to lose) | Daniel est un joueur qui n'a jamais appris à perdre. | (Daniel is a player who has never learnt to lose) |
pouvoir (to can) | Vous pourriez aller au musée, c'est gratuit aujourd'hui! | (You could go to the museum, it's free today!) |
ouvrir (to open) | Ouvririez-vous la porte pour moi, s'il vous plaît? | (Would you open me the door, please?) |
lire (to read) | Si tout le monde lisait des articles sur la pollution, il n'y aurait pas ce traffic. | (If everybody read some articles about pollution, there would be less traffic jam) |
construire (to build) | Une architecte célèbre construisit ce bâtiment en 1864. | (A well-known architecte built this building in 1864) |
falloir (have to) | Il faut q'on change nos habitudes pour produire moins de déchets. | (We have to change our ha)bits to reduce our waste) |
dormir (to sleep) | J'ai dormi vraiment bien dans cette chambre. | (I slept really well in this room) |
battre (to fight) | Xavier est sage, il ne se battra pas avec ces gravoches. | (Xavier is a wise boy, he won't fight those rascals) |
cueillir (to pick up) | Ma soeur cueillira les pommes chez nos grand-parents. | (My sister will pick up apples in our grandparent's place) |
If you want to know more about the different tenses conjuguations and uses, take a look at the conjugation chapters of the most common irregular verbs!
Exercises
- Fill in the blanks exercise of the irregular verbs in French
- Fill in the blanks exercise of the irregular verbs in French II
Fill in the blanks exercise of the irregular verbs in French
Fill in the blanks exercise of the irregular verbs in French II
Exercises
- Fill in the blanks exercise of the irregular verbs in French
- Fill in the blanks exercise of the irregular verbs in French II