Specific French Verbs

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.

Aimer - To like, love
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 - To go
Aller is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation and literally means "to go." It is also used in several idiomatic expressions and to conjugate the near future.

Arriver - To arrive
Arriver is one of the most common French verbs. It is a regular -ER verb but takes être in the compound tenses. Arriver literally means "to arrive," but is also used in some idiomatic expressions and as an impersonal verb.

Avoir - To have
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.

Chercher - To look for
Chercher is a very common and useful French verb. It 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.

Croire - To believe
Croire is one of the most common French verbs. It's irregular in conjugation and literally means "to believe," and is also used in many idiomatic expressions.

Devoir - Should, must, to have to
Devoir is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation and has a number of different meanings related to concepts like obligation and probability.

Dire - To say, tell
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.

Être - To be
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.

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 - To do, make
Faire is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation and literally means "to do" or "to make." Faire is also used in numerous idiomatic expressions and in the causative construction.

Falloir - To be necessary
Falloir is a very common and useful French verb. It is a regular -ER verb, can be personal or impersonal, and may be followed by the subjunctive.

Finir - To finish
Finir is one of the most common French verbs. It is a regular -ir verb that sometimes causes difficulty for French students in the passé composé.

Jouer - To play
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.

Laisser - To let
Laisser is a regular verb that means to leave. Laisser is also found in numerous expressions and is commonly used as a semi-auxiliary as well as a pronominal verb.

Manquer - To miss
The French verb manquer is a regular -ER verb. It means to miss, but can cause confusion because it is sometimes used in an unusual construction.

Mettre - To put
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.

Paraître - To appear, seem
Paraître is a very common and useful French verb. It is irregular in conjugation, can be impersonal, and means "to appear" or "to seem."

Partir - To leave
Partir is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation and requires être in the compound tenses.

Passer - To pass, spend time
Passer is a very common and useful French verb. It 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 - To think
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 - Can, to be able
Pouvoir is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation and literally means "can" or "to be able to." Pouvoir has different meanings in certain tenses and is found in numerous expressions.

Prendre - To take
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.

Savoir - To know
Savoir is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation and literally means "to know." Savoir has different meanings in certain tenses as well as some other tricky aspects to it.

Sembler - To seem
Sembler is a very common and useful French verb. It is a regular -ER verb, can be personal or impersonal, and may be followed by the subjunctive.

Sortir - To go out, take out
Sortiris 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."

Tenir - To hold, keep
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 - To come
Venir is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation and literally means "to come." It is also used in some idiomatic expressions and to conjugate the recent past.

Voir - To see
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 - To want
Vouloir is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation and has several different meanings, depending mainly on the tense and mood it is conjugated into.