French conjugation
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "French_conjugation".

It has been suggested that Imparfait be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

This article is part of the series on: French language

Dialects Francophonie History Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts Grammar Adverbs Articles and determiners Pronouns Personal Pronouns Verbs Conjugation Verb morphology Orthography Alphabet Reforms Use of the circumflex Phonology Elision Liaison

This box: view • talk •

Main article: French verbs

French verbs are divided into three conjugations (conjugaisons) by the ending of their infinitives: -er verbs, -ir verbs, and -re verbs. There are also many irregular verbs, of which the most often used are avoir, être, and faire.

-er verbs

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: parler
• Present participle: parlant
• Gerundive: en parlant
• Verbal adjective: parlant(e)(s)
• Past Participle: parlé(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir (arriver, entrer, monter, passer, rester, rentrer, retourner, and tomber use être)

Exceptional contexts:

• When the first-person singular present tense form of the indicative or subjunctive is found in inversion, the writer must change the final e to either é or è, in order to link the two words : « Parlè-je ? », [paʀlɛʒ], "Am I speaking?" (This is a very rare construction, however.)
• When the second-person singular form of the imperative is followed by its object y or en, a final s is added: « Parles-en ! », [paʀlzɑ̃], "Talk about it!"

Exceptional verbs:

• The verb aller is completely irregular.
• In -cer verbs, the c becomes a ç before endings that start with a or o, to indicate that it is still pronounced /s/; similarly, in -ger verbs, the g becomes ge before such endings, to indicate that it is pronounced /ʒ/.
• In -oyer and -uyer verbs, the y becomes an i before endings that start with a silent e; in -ayer verbs, the writer may or may not change the y to an i before such endings. Additionally, the future and conditional forms of envoyer start with enverr- rather than envoyer-; and similarly with renvoyer.
• In -é.er verbs, the é becomes an è before silent endings, and optionally in the future and conditional tenses.
• In -e.er verbs other than most -eler and -eter verbs, the e becomes an è before endings that start with a silent e (including the future and conditional endings).
• In most -eler and -eter verbs, the writer must either change the e to an è before endings that start with a silent e, or change the l or t to ll or tt. In the rest of these verbs, only one or the other form is allowed.
• The verbal adjective of following verbs is irregular: adhérer - adhérent(e)(s); coïncider - coïncident(e)(s); confluer - confluent(e)(s); affluer - affluent(e)(s); converger - convergent(e)(s); déterger - détergent(e)(s); différer - différent(e)(s); exceller - excellent(e)(s); diverger - divergent(e)(s); négliger, négligent(e)(s); précéder - précédent(e)(s); violer - violent(e)(s); influer - influent(e)(s); communiquer - communicant(e)(s); suffoquer - suffocant(e)(s); provoquer - provocant(e)(s); naviguer - navigant(e)(s); déléguer - délégant(e)(s); fatiguer - fatigant(e)(s); intriguer - intrigant(e)(s).

-ir verbs

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: choisir
• Present participle: choisissant
• Gerundive: en choisissant
• Verbal adjective: choisissant(e)(s)
• Past participle: choisi(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir (partir uses être)

Exceptional verbs:

• The verb haïr loses its dieresis (the i loses its trema and the initial syllable is pronounced with the vowel /ε/ rather than the hiatus /ai/) in the singular of the present tenses of the indicative and imperative: je hais, tu hais, il hait but nous haïssons, vous haïssez, ils haïssent.

• The verbs dormir, mentir, partir, sentir and servir follow a different conjugation; also sortir and ressortir in their usual meanings of "to go out", "to go out again", but not in their legal senses as in les lois sortissent leurs effets (laws produce their effects); ce qui ressortit à... (what is under the jurisdiction of...).

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: partir
• Present participle: partant
• Gerundive: en partant
• Verbal adjective: partant(e)(s)
• Past participle: parti(e)(s)

• The verbs couvrir, découvrir, offrir, ouvrir and souffrir follow a different conjugation

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: ouvrir
• Present participle: ouvrant
• Gerundive: en ouvrant
• Verbal adjective: ouvrant(e)(s)
• Past participle: ouvert(e)(s)

• The verbs acquérir, cueillir and saillir are irregular

-re verbs

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: attendre
• Present participle: attendant
• Gerundive: en attendant
• Verbal adjective: attendant(e)(s)
• Past participle: attendu(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir (descendre uses être)

• If the verb radical does not end on a d (attend), the third person simple present of the indicative ends on a t (e.g. rompre --> il rompt)
• Battre, mettre and all verbs on -aindre or -eindre are irregular

aller

to go

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: aller
• Present participle: allant
• Gerundive: en allant
• Verbal adjective: allant(e)(s)
• Past participle: allé(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: être

avoir

to have

* Notice that the imperative form uses the subjunctive conjugation.

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: avoir
• Present participle: ayant
• Gerundive: en ayant
• Verbal adjective: ayant(e)(s)
• Past participle: eu(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir

dire

to say, talk

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: dire
• Present participle: disant
• Gerundive: en disant
• Verbal adjective: disant(e)(s)
• Past participle: dit(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir

être

to be

* Notice that the imperative form uses the subjunctive conjugation.

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: être
• Present participle: étant
• Gerundive: en étant
• Verbal adjective: étant(e)(s)
• Past participle: été(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir

faire

to do, make

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: faire
• Present participle: faisant
• Gerundive: en faisant
• Verbal adjective: faisant(e)(s)
• Past participle: fait(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir

• défaire, refaire, and satisfaire follow the same pattern.

lire

to read

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: lire
• Present participle: lisant
• Gerundive: en lisant
• Verbal adjective: lisant(e)(s)
• Past participle: lu(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir

• élire, réélire, and relire follow the same pattern.

naître

to be born

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: naître
• Present participle: naissant
• Gerundive: en naissant
• Verbal adjective: naisant(e)(s)
• Past participle: né(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: être

pouvoir

to be able (to)

^*In case of questions puis is used exclusively: puis-je venir? Can I come? The usage of puis in other cases is mannered.

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: pouvoir
• Present participle: pouvant
• Gerundive: en pouvant
• Verbal adjective: pouvant(e)(s)
• Past participle: pu(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir

recevoir

to receive

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: recevoir
• Present participle: recevant
• Gerundive: en recevant
• Verbal adjective: recevant(e)(s)
• Past participle: reçu(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir

• Other verbs conjugated along the same model: concevoir, décevoir, percevoir, apercevoir.

prendre

to take

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: prendre
• Present participle: prenant
• Gerundive: en prenant
• Verbal adjective: prenant(e)(s)
• Past participle: pris(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir

• apprendre, comprendre, entreprendre, reprendre, and surprendre follow the same pattern

savoir

to know

* Notice that the imperative form uses the present subjunctive stem.

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: savoir
• Present participle: sachant
• Gerundive: en sachant
• Verbal adjective: sachant(e)(s)
• Past participle: su(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir

venir

to come

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: venir
• Present participle: venant
• Gerundive: en venant
• Verbal adjective: venant(e)(s)
• Past participle: venu(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: être

• advenir, contrevenir, convenir, devenir, tenir, maintenir, intervenir, parvenir, provenir, revenir, se souvenir, and survenir follow the same pattern.

vouloir

to want

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: vouloir
• Present participle: voulant
• Gerundive: en voulant
• Verbal adjective: voulant(e)(s)
• Past participle: voulu(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir

See also

• French grammar
• French verbs
• French verb morphology

External links

• A Two-Page PDF Reference Guide of the 681 Most Common French/English Verbs
• Ortholud - French Conjugation and free exercices
• Open source database of French verb conjugation rules
• Online French Conjugation
• Le Conjugueur - online conjugation for all French verbs
• Online conjugator, 100+ languages
• French Conjugation (Beta)
• Conjugation & conjugation books.
• French & English verb conjugation, translation & testing.