French Verbs - Lessons on French Verbs

Learn the basics of French verbs with this introductory lesson.

Of the thousands of French verbs, there are a few that get used far more than the rest, so you need to make sure that you know what they mean and how to use and conjugate them. Here are lessons and conjugations for the most common French verbs.

Conjugating French verbs in a workbook or letter is one thing, but remembering individual verb conjugations when you're speaking is another matter entirely. Here are some tips to help you get better at conjugating French verbs.

French verbs can be difficult, and certain verb lessons on my site get visited over and over. For some people, certain verb concepts just don't sink in the first (or second or third) time they are learned, or continue to cause confusion even after years of study. To make it easier for you to find the French verb lessons you need, here are the most commonly visited French verb pages on my site. If you need to review any of these, know that you are not alone!

Placing pronouns and negatives with dual-verbs is a little different than with compound verbs.

Lesson and quiz on verbs that use être as the auxiliary.

While many French and English verbs that look similar mean the same thing, some do not. Here are a dozen verbal faux amis to watch out for, with links to conjugation tables.

Inversion is the grammatical structure where the normal French word order subject + verb is inverted to verb + subject and joined by a hyphen. You probably know that inversion is commonly used in asking questions, but there are a number of other uses as well.

Learn how to negate French verbs.

The French prefix re- can be added to hundreds if not thousands of verbs to make new verbs. Depending on the first letter of the word it's added to, re- has a few different spellings, as well as has some different meanings.

Learn how to translate all the different French verb forms into English.

In French, à plus a person can usually be replaced by an indirect object pronoun that gets placed in front of the verb (e.g., Il me parle). However, a few French verbs and expressions do not allow a preceding indirect object pronoun - instead, they require that you keep the preposition after the verb, and follow it with a stressed pronoun.

Many French verbs require a certain preposition in order for the meaning of the verb to be complete. In addition, some verbs that do require a preposition in English don't take one in French, and vice versa. Learn all about French verbs with prepositions and then take the test.

Learn whether to use jouer, faire, or aller with your favorite sport.

Learn about word order with French verbs, negation, and pronouns.

There are many, many French verb books in existence, which offer explanations and conjugations for hundreds - sometimes thousands - of verbs. In my mind, there are only a few contenders for your French reference library.