French Verb Lessons - Specific French Verbs
Lessons and quizzes on individual French verb conjugations, uses, and meanings
Top 10 French Verbs
Everything you need to know about the ten most common French verbs:
what they mean, how to conjugate and use them, and useful
expressions with each of them.
Aimer
Aimer is one of the most common French verbs. It is a regular -ER verb,
requires avoir in the compound tenses, and can mean "to like" or "to
love." There is a little bit of a trick to using aimer correctly with
people and direct object pronouns which you will learn about in this lesson.
Aller
Aller is one of
the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation and literally means
"to go." It is also used in some idiomatic expressions and to conjugate the near
future.
Avoir
Avoir is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation
and literally means "to have." However, it is also used in numerous
idiomatic expressions and as an auxiliary verb.
Avoir, Être, Faire
An intoduction to the conjugations and usage of these
French verbs.
Causative - Faire + Infinitive
The causative construction
faire + infinitive is used to describe when
someone/something has something done,
causes something to happen, or makes someone do something.
Chercher
Chercher is a regular -ER verb and means "to look for." Chercher
is commonly used like its English counterpart, but there are a few aspects that
make it a little tricky. This lesson explains which verb mood to use with
chercher, the meaning of chercher followed by an infinitive, and a
few essential expressions with chercher.
Devoir
The French verb devoir has a number of
different meanings related to concepts like obligation and probability. Learn
about the different uses and meanings of this common French verb.
Devoir vs Falloir
The French verbs devoir and falloir are used to express obligation and
necessity in different ways. Each verb has another meaning when
followed by a noun.
All about Dire
Dire is one of the most common French verbs.
It is irregular in conjugation,
means "to say" or "to tell," and is found in a number of idiomatic
expressions.
Dire, Écrire, Lire
Learn about these French verbs of communication.
Encyclopédie de verbes
Conjugations of all the simple tenses, plus lists of similarly conjugated verbs
and common expressions.
All about Être
Être is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation
and literally means "to be." Être is also used in some
idiomatic expressions and as an auxiliary verb
for compound tenses and the passive voice.
Être verbs
Lesson and quiz on
French verbs that use
être as the auxiliary.
All about Faillir
Faillir is a very interesting and useful French verb. It is irregular in
conjugation and does not have an English equivalent; the simplest translation is
"to almost do something.
Faire
Faire is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation
and literally means "to do" or "to make." It is also used in numerous
idiomatic expressions and in the causative construction.
All about Falloir
Falloir is an irregular impersonal French verb that is better known in its conjugated
form: il faut. Falloir means "to be necessary" or "to need," and may be followed by
the subjunctive, an infinitive, or a noun.
All about Jouer
Jouer is a very common and useful regular -ER French verb. It means "to
play" both transitively and intransitively, and it needs different prepositions
depending on what exactly is being played.
To Know - Savoir vs Connaître
French has two verbs which can be translated by the English verb to know:
savoir and connaître. This might seem confusing to English speakers, but in
fact there are distinct differences in meaning and usage for the two verbs.
Laisser
Laisser is a regular -er French verb that means "to leave." It is also found in
numerous expressions and is commonly used as a semi-auxiliary as well as a
pronominal verb.
To Leave - Partir, S'en aller, Sortir, Quitter, Laisser
Learn how to choose between these 5
French verbs meaning
to leave.
To Live - Habiter vs Vivre
The French verbs
habiter and vivre both mean to live, but are used in
different circumstances. You won't be able to live with yourself if you
don't learn how to use them both.
Manquer
Manquer means "to miss," but can cause confusion because it
is sometimes used in an
unusual construction. Does "Tu me manques" mean I miss you or You miss
me? The answer and explanation is here - don't miss this lesson on the confusing French verb "to miss."
To Meet
The English verb to meet, when referring to meeting people, is very vague.
Its five literal French equivalents are much more specific, so you need to know
in which circumstances to use each of them. This lesson will meet your
expectations.
All about Mettre
Mettre, which means "to put," is one of the most common French verbs. It is
irregular in conjugation and is found in a number of idiomatic expressions.
Modal Verbs in French
Modal verbs, also called
modal auxiliaries or simply modals, are unconjugated English verbs
which express the mood of a verb, such as ability, possibility, condition, and
necessity. However, French does not have modal verbs, which can make it
difficult to translate them. There are ten common English modal verbs: can,
must, should....
Paraître
Paraître is a very common and useful French verb. It is irregular in
conjugation, can be impersonal, and means "to appear" or "to seem."
All about Partir
Partir is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in
conjugation, requires être in the compound tenses, and has different meanings
depending on the preposition that follows.
Partir, Sortir, Dormir
Part of an important set of
irregular -IR French verbs which are conjugated the same way.
Passer
Passer is a regular -ER verb
but may be conjugated with avoir or être in the compound tenses,
depending on whether it is transitive or intransitive.
Penser
Penser is a regular -ER verb and means "to think." Penser is
commonly used like its English counterpart, but there are a few aspects that
make it a little tricky. This lesson explains which verb mood to use with penser,
the difference between penser à and penser de, the meaning of penser
followed by an infinitive, and a few essential expressions with penser.
Pouvoir
The French verb pouvoir has a number of different
meanings, depending mainly on
the tense and mood it is conjugated into. This lesson explains the various uses and meanings of this
common French verb.
Prendre
Prendre, which means "to take," is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in
conjugation and is found in a number of idiomatic expressions.
To Return
The English verb to return has
seven (7!) French equivalents: retourner, revenir, rentrer,
rendre, rembourser,
rapporter, and renvoyer. This is because the English verb "to return"
is very
general and can mean different things. The French verbs are much more precise, so in order to use the correct one,
you need to figure out exactly what you want to say. Study this lesson to learn
the difference.
Savoir
The French verb savoir has several different meanings, depending mainly on the tense
it is conjugated into. This lesson explains the various uses and meanings
of this common French verb.
Savoir vs Connaître - French Verbs "To
Know"
French has two verbs which can be translated by the English verb to know:
savoir and connaître. This might seem confusing to English speakers, but in
fact there are distinct differences in meaning and usage for the two verbs.
Sembler
Sembler is a regular -ER
verb, can be personal or impersonal, and may be followed by the subjunctive.
Sortir
Sortir is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation
and may require either être or avoir in the compound tenses, depending on
whether it means "to go out" or "to take out."
To Take / To Bring - Amener, Emmener, Apporter, Emporter
Learn how to say "to take" and "to bring" in French.
To Teach - Apprendre, Enseigner, Instruire, Éduquer
These four
French verbs mean "to teach," but there are subtle differences
in meaning and usage. Learn how to recognize and use these four verbs
correctly.
All about Tenir
Tenir is an irregular -IR verb and usually means "to hold" or "to keep." Tenir
has a number of other meanings, including some which depend on the preposition
that follows.
Venir
Venir is irregular
in conjugation and literally means "to come." It is also used in some idiomatic
expressions and to conjugate the recent past.
French verbs of
perception
Verbs of perception are verbs which, logically enough, indicate a perception or
sensation. There are six common French verbs of perception, and they may be
followed by a noun or an infinitive.
Voir
Voir is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in
conjugation, means "to see" in most senses of the word, and is found in a number
of idiomatic expressions.
Vouloir
The French verb vouloir has several different
meanings, depending mainly on
the tense and mood it is conjugated into. This lesson explains the various uses and meanings of this
common French verb.
Vouloir, Pouvoir, Devoir
To want, to be able
to, to have to. It is absolutely essential to understand
and be able to use these three irregular French verbs - they are very common (not to
mention useful!) They are often taught together because of the similarities in
the conjugations of vouloir and pouvoir and the uses of pouvoir and devoir.
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