French verb conjugation
Full conjugation tables of the 50 most common French verbs, in the ten tenses of the indicatif, the subjonctif and the conditionnel, with example sentences in the présent and the passé composé.
-er verbs 20 verbs
The largest group, and the most regular: learn parler and you can conjugate almost all of them.
- parler to speak
- aimer to like/love
- donner to give
- trouver to find
- demander to ask
- penser to think
- regarder to watch
- chercher to look for
- jouer to play
- travailler to work
- écouter to listen
- habiter to live (somewhere)
- rester to stay
- tomber to fall
- arriver to arrive
- entrer to enter
- manger to eat
- commencer to begin
- acheter to buy
- appeler to call
-ir verbs 10 verbs
Finir and its family add -iss- in the plural (nous finissons); partir, sortir and dormir drop a consonant in the singular (je pars); ouvrir takes -er endings.
-re verbs 8 verbs
Attendre, vendre and répondre keep their stem and end in -d in the il form; mettre, écrire, lire and boire change their stem.
Irregular verbs 12 verbs
Few in number, but they are the verbs you use in every sentence: être, avoir, aller, faire…
The ten tenses of each table
Every verb page lists these tenses, grouped by mood. The names stay in French, as in any French grammar. French groups its tenses into moods. The five simple tenses are one word; each compound tense is the auxiliary (avoir or être) in a simple tense followed by the participe passé.
Indicatif
- Présent
- What is happening now, habits and general truths.
- Passé composé
- A completed action in the past: the everyday past tense of spoken French.
- Imparfait
- Descriptions and habits in the past: what used to happen, what was going on.
- Futur simple
- What will happen.
- Plus-que-parfait
- What had happened before another past event.
- Futur antérieur
- What will have happened by a point in the future.
- Passé simple
- Passé antérieur
Subjonctif
- Présent
- After que, to express a wish, a doubt, a feeling or a necessity.
- Passé
- The subjonctif of an action that is already complete.
- Imparfait
- Plus-que-parfait
Conditionnel
- Présent
- What would happen, polite requests and wishes.
- Passé
- What would have happened, and regrets.
Practise with Conjupi
Fill in real French sentences, see the right form in red when you slip, and let the verbs you miss come back until they stick. Works offline, no account.