5 French verbs you might be overusing

You probably learned the verbs conduire, écrire, and nager in French class, and have used them ever since to talk about driving, writing, and swimming. However, these are not necessarily the verbs that native French speakers use. Learn about five verbs that tend to be overused by French students, contrasted with their more typical synonyms.

To drive: Conduire > Rouler

Conduire means "to drive," but only transitively, as in these examples:

   Je dois conduire ma sœur à l'école.
   I have to drive my sister to school.

   Qui va conduire le camion ?
   Who's going to drive the truck?

When talking about driving intransitively, however, the verb you need is rouler:

   La voiture roulait sur l'accotement.
   The car was driving on the shoulder.

   Il roule à 120 km à l'heure.
   He's driving at 120 km per hour.

Conjugations: conduire | rouler


To write: Écrire > Rédiger

Écrire refers to the physical act of writing:

   Il m'a écrit une lettre.
   He wrote me a letter.

   Je vais écrire l'adresse.
   I'm going to write down the address.

A more elegant verb that references the creative process rather than the physical act of writing is rédiger. While it is commonly translated by "to write," rédiger is more like "to compose":

   J'ai rédigé deux articles de journal ce matin.
   I wrote two newspaper articles this morning.

   Tu rédiges bien !
   You write well! (You're a good writer!)

Conjugations: écrire | rédiger


To swim: Nager > Se baigner

Nager simply means "to swim":

   Sais-tu nager ?
   Do you know how to swim?

   J'aime bien nager en mer.
   I really like swimming in the sea.

Se baigner is less straightforward. While nager hints at a serious sort of activity, such as swimming laps, se baigner is more like "to play in the water," and is much more commonly used:

   Je vais me baigner cette après-midi.
   I'm going swimming this afternoon.

   Il aurait voulu qu'elle sache bien nager pour se baigner avec lui dans la mer. (Marguerite Duras, Un barrage contre le Pacifique)
   He would have preferred that she know how to swim in order to play in the sea with him.

Conjugations: nager | baigner (but remember that se baigner is reflexive)


To seem: Sembler > Paraître

Sembler means "to seem":

   Elle me semble fatiguée.
   She seems (looks) tired to me.

   Il nous semble trop compliqué.
   That seems too complicated to us.

Paraître literally means "to appear." Impersonally, however, it is used far more than sembler to mean "it seems":

   Il paraît que oui.
   So it seems, That seems to be the case.

   Suzanne amène son copain, paraît-il.
   Suzanne is bringing her boyfriend, it seems.

Conjugations: sembler | paraître


To come: Venir > Arriver

Venir means "to come":

   Qui vient à la fête ?
   Who's coming to the party?

   Venez avec moi.
   Come with me.

When referring to someone or something that is coming (arriving) right now, the verb arriver is more idiomatic:

   Le voilà, le train arrive.
   There it is, the train's coming.

   J'arrive !
   I'm coming, I'm on my way, I'll be right there!

Conjugations: venir | arriver


On a somewhat related note...

To be: Être > Avoir / Faire

These verbs are different from the above, as the overuse of être is an actual mistake, as opposed to a difference in style or nuance.

Être of course means "to be."

   Je suis fatigué.
   I'm tired.

   Es-tu prêt ?
   Are you ready?

But there are a number of English expressions with "to be" that can only be translated into French with the verb avoir (expressions with avoir):

   J'ai faim.
   I am hungry.

   Il a froid.
   He is cold.

And others that need faire (expressions with faire):

   Il fait nuit.
   It's nighttime.

   Il fait froid.
   It's cold out.

Conjugations: être | avoir | faire


Related lessons:
   Top 10 verbs
   12 verbs you might be underusing