50 Most Common French Verbs You Must Know

Download ebook

 

Bonjour Learners!

Finding resources to fill up your French Language arsenal? Or you may be taking your initial steps towards discerning the French Language. Well, in both cases, these Most Common French Verbs will help you do conceivable conversation in French. Additionally, we have used examples and necessary explanations to let you understand them well.

In short, these Most Common French Verbs are going to widen your French vocabulary and give you more insights into the French Language.

In the end, after going through all the Verbs, you will get some more advantageous stuff for learning The French Language. Further, our FAQs will help you with the most important part “conjugation of French Verbs”, so let’s get started!

50 Most Common French Verbs

1.  Être – Rose est magnifique.

(To be  –  Rose is gorgeous.)

 

2. Avoir – j’ai une voiture.

(To have – I have a car.)

 

3. Aller – Jack va au bateau.

(To go – Jack goes to the ship.)

 

4. Dire – Dis-moi la vérité.

(say/tell – Tell me the truth.)

 

5. Peut – Anjela sait nager.

(can / be able to – Anjela can swim.)

 

6. Savoir – Je sais comment résoudre ce problème.

(To know – I know how to solve this.)

The use of “savoir” for knowing people, is wrong, for that you should use “connaître”. For example: Je connais les Perses. (I know about Persians.)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9OIWGs6hQ4

7. Devoir – Vous devez suivre des règles.

(To have to, must – You must follow rules.)

 

8. Suivre – Il te suit.

(To follow – He is following you.)

 

9. Croire – je crois au travail intelligent.

(To believe – I believe in smart work.)

 50 Most Common French Verbs You Must Know

10. Aimer (To love)/ Bien aimer (To like)

• J‘aime ma mère  (I love my mother.)
• J’aime mon professeur d’université  (I like my college teacher.)

The French Verb “Aimer”, scarcely means “to like”, its exact sense is ”to love”. Therefore, the use of “aimer” as “to like” in the second example can give a wrong interpretation. So, for clear understanding, you should use the “bien aimer” for exactly the English verb “to like”.

 

11. Perdre – Il a perdu ses clés de voiture

(To lose – He lost his car keys.)

 

12. Penser – Il faut penser à ses erreurs.

(To think – One should think about one’s mistakes.)

 

13. Manger – Camille mange un sandwich à la banane.

(To eat – Camille eats a banana sandwich.)

 

14. Arriver – Louis arrivera bientôt.

(To arrive – Louis will arrive soon.)

 

15. Donner – Jean m’a donné son vélo.

(To give – Jean gave me his bike.)

In French when giving a gift or present, use the verb “offrir” not “donner”.

For instance: Il m’a offert cette montre (He gifted me this watch)

 

16. Appeler – Appeler le professeur.

(To call – Call the teacher.)

 

17. Ouvrir – Raavi ouvre la porte.

(To open – Raavi opens the door.) 

 

18. Pardonner – Dieu pardonne aux bonnes personnes.

(To forgive – God forgives good people.)

 

19. Occuper – Michel a occupé le siège.

(To occupy – Michel has occupied the seat.)

 

20. Dormir – Nous devrions dormir maintenant.

(To sleep – We should sleep now.)

 

21. Marcher – Nous devrions marcher après le dîner.

(To walk – We should walk after dinner.)

 

22. Montrer – Il m’a montré la photo.

(Show – He showed me the picture.)

 

23. S’asseoir – Vous pouvez vous asseoir.

(To sit – You can sit down.)

 

24. Servir – Mère sert la nourriture.

(To serve – Mother serves the food.)

 

25. Écrire – Il écrit son numéro.

(To write – He writes his number.)

 

26. Gagner – On devrait gagner respect.

(Earn – One should earn respect.)

 

27. Acheter – j’ai acheté une voiture.

(To buy – I bought a car.)

 

28. Répondre – Elle me répond à chaque fois.

(Reply – She replies to me every time.)

 

29. Rencontrer – Elle l’a rencontré au collège.

(Encounter/to meet – She encountered Him in college.)

 

30. Épargner – Vous devriez épargner pour investir.

(to save – You should save to invest)

 

31. Répondre – Rafia a répondu à toutes les questions.

(Answer – Rafia answered all the questions.)

 

32. Demander – On lui demande du café.

(To ask – We ask him for coffee.)

There is another French Verb “Se demander”, which means “to wonder” in English. Both the French verbs “Demander” and “Se demander” look similar because wondering is about asking yourself (ask = demander).

For example: Je me demande pourquoi il a quitté sa maison pour toujours. (I wonder why he left his house forever.)

                     

           

33. Expliquer – Le professeur explique tout en détail.

(To explain – The teacher explains everything in detail.)

 

34. Écouter – J’aime écouter de la musique.

(listen – I love listening to music.)

 

35. Utiliser – Il utilise mon portable.

(To use – He uses my mobile.)

 

36. Préférer – Je préfère les aliments sains.

(To prefer – I prefer healthy food.)

 

37. Aider – Elle m‘aide à chaque fois.

(To help – She helps me every time.)

 

38. Conduire – Murf conduit la voiture au bureau.

(To drive – Murf drives the car to the office.)

 

39. Accepter – Il a accepté la proposition d’emploi.

(Accept – He accepted the job proposal.)

 

40. Refuser – Elle a refusé de sortir.

(Refuse – She refused to go out.)

 

41. Réduire – La technologie réduit le fardeau.

(Reduce – Technology reduces the burden.)

 

42. Lire – Vous devriez lire attentivement.

(Read – You should read carefully.)

 

43. Sentir (To feel / To smell)

•  le parfum sent bon. (the perfume smells good.)
•  Ça sent la rose. (It smells like a rose.)
•  Je peux sentir ton ressentiment. (I can feel your resentment.)
•  Je me sens mieux après l’exercice. (I feel better after exercise.)

Note: Use the French verb “sentir” wakefully as it has more than one interpretation, one is to smell, look at the first two examples.

When “sentir” is used alone it gives two meanings;

1. to feel something or get the impression, see the third example.
2. to feel about one’s mental health or health, the last instance.

 

   

44. Regarder – je regarde le cricket.

(watch – I watch cricket.)

 

45. Pleuvoir – je sens qu’il va pleuvoir ce soir.

(To rain – I feel, it will rain tonight.)

 

46. Laver (To wash) / Se laver (To wash oneselfe)

• Voulez-vous laver ma voiture.

(Will you wash my car)

• Je me lave généralement avant de me coucher.

(I generally wash before going to bed.)

Note: Laver and Se laver have different meanings

“Laver” = when you wash something.

“Se laver” = when you have a wash or when you wash yourself.

 

47. Habiller (To dress) / S’habiller (To dress oneself)

• La créatrice l’a habillée. (The designer dressed her.)
• Elle s’est habillée avant la fête. (She got dressed before the party.)

“Habiller” = when you dress something or someone else.

“S’habiller = when you get dressed.

 

48. Apprendre – J’apprends le français.

(To learn – I am learning French.)

 

49. Prendre – Pouvez-vous prendre cette responsabilité?

(To take – Can you take this responsibility?)

 

50. Chanter – Il chanteBien.

(To sing – He sings well.)

 

Mastering French is all about deep learning and practising.

You can learn French from many offline or online platforms and universities. However, if you are looking for online courses, you can check out this 100% Job Guarantee French Language Course by Henry Harvin. It offers you the best possible training through Experts.

Henry Harvin Ranks #1 for French Language Training Institute by The Tribune.

This Course offers you :

• 66 Hrs Training Includes (40 Hrs Training+16 Hrs GD+10 Hrs Exam Prep) at Each Level.
• Master Multiple Levels of the French Language like A1- A2, B1- B2, and C1- C2.
• Ace the DELF and DALF Exam Preparation.
• Get a 1-Year  Language Academy Gold Membership.
• Get a 1 to 1 Career Guidance After Completing a French Level.
• Job Guarantee Program.

 

You can click here and get all the information about this French Language Course

Conclusion

All these Most Common French Verbs are used frequently in everyday conversation. Learning and understanding these verbs will build a strong foundation for your French Language. Although, you already know that learning only the common verbs of any language is just the beginning of becoming potentially viable in the entire language.

Other related blogs

• Top 10 French Language Learning Apps For 2023
• 20+ Benefits For French Language Learners
• Top 20 Questions with Answers For French Language Interview
• Henry Harvin French Language Course Review
• Top 12 French Language Books for Beginners

 

FAQs

As stated, FAQs on the conjugation of French Verbs.

Q.1  What are regular and irregular French verbs?

French verbs are classified into two main types of verbs:
1. Regular verbs – regular verbs follow a specific structure in their conjugation, which means, their endings have a specific consistent pattern of changes for conjugation based on tenses, subjects, and mood.
2. Irregular verbs – these verbs do not follow any specific pattern for conjugation. Therefore, they need to be crammed.

Q.2  What are RE, IR, and ER French Verbs?

RE, IR, and ER verbs are regular verbs. Let’s learn them with examples: 
RE verbs end with “re” – vendre (to sell), attendre (to wait)
IR verbs end with ��ir” – finir (to finish), choisir (to choose)
ER verbs end with “er” – parler (to speak), manger (to eat)
That’s all!

Q.3  How can I conjugate RE French verbs?

Drop “re” and add different endings to the remaining stem according to persons, tenses and mood. What is the stem? Well, it is simple, when we remove re, ir, and er from regular verbs whatever remains is called the stem. For example: 
Vendre – re = vend
Finir – ir = fin
Parler – er = parl
Here vend, fin, and parl are stems of Vendre, Finir, and Parler respectively.
Conjugation of RE French Verbs, after removing “re”:
For present tense, add:  –ons, -s, –ent, and –ez.
For imperfect tense, add:  –ait, –aient,  –iez, –ions, and –ais.
For future tense, add: -as, –ai, –ont, -ons, -ez, and -a.

Q.4  How can I conjugate IR French verbs?

Drop “ir” and add different endings according to persons, tenses and mood.
For the present tense, add: -is, -issons, -it, -issent, and -issezto.
For the imperfect tense, add –ait, –aient, –ions, –iez, and –ais.
For the future tense, add -a, -ons, -ez, –ai, -as, and –ont.

Q.5  How can I conjugate ER French verbs?

Drop “er” and add different endings according to persons, tenses and mood.
For the present tense, add:  -es, -e, -ez, -ent and -ons.  
For the imperfect tense, add: –ait, -ions, -ais, -iez, and -aient 
For the future tense, add: -ont, -ai, -a, -ons, -ez, and -as.

Note – We have only given endings for different tenses. Further, you have to choose one of them based on the person and mood of your sentence.

However, if you do not know how to choose one according to the person and mood of the sentence, it is easy to find out through research.

Download ebook