by Emilie Bled
Published on February 16, 2024
10 irregular verbs in French and their conjugation
If you’re on the path toward mastering French, you’ll eventually need to master irregular verbs. These French verbs don’t follow the same rules as regular verbs when it comes to conjugation. Though a number of irregular verbs exist, common examples you’re sure to come across include être, avoir, faire, aller, connaître, dire and devoir. In this guide, we’ll show you how to conjugate these in the present and past tense.
But that’s not all. We’ll also introduce you to some other irregular verbs — prendre, mettre and venir — which follow a particular conjugation pattern for each tense. This will give you all the basics you need to use irregular verbs correctly in French. Of course, there’s really only one secret to mastery: practice, again and again.
There are three groups of regular verbs in French: verbs ending in –er, –ir and –re. When a verb is conjugated differently from the three groups of regular French verbs in the present tense, it’s considered irregular.
You’ll encounter irregular verbs very regularly when learning French, so it pays to quickly learn their conjugation.
For starters, here’s a table demonstrating the different conjugation rules followed by a typical regular verb (chanter) and irregular verb (aller) in French:
| Regular verb ending in -er: chanter (to sing) | Irregular verb ending in -er: aller (to go) |
| Je chante (I sing) | Je vais (I go) |
| Tu chantes (ou sing) | Tu vas (You go) |
| Il/Elle chante (He/She sings) | Il/Elle va (He/She goes) |
| Nous chantons (We sing) | Nous allons (We go) |
| Vous chantez (You sing) | Vous allez (You go) |
| Ils/Elles chantent (They sing) | Ils/Elles vont (They go) |
Here are the conjugations of the most common irregular French verbs in the present and past tense.
| Present | Past |
| Je suis (I am) | J’ai été (I was) |
| Tu es (You are) | Tu as été (You were) |
| Il/Elle est (He/She is) | Il a été (He/She was) |
| Nous sommes (We are) | Nous avons été (We were) |
| Vous êtes (You are) | Vous avez été (You were) |
| Ils/Elles sont (They are) | Ils/Elles ont été (They were) |
| Present | Past |
| J’ai (I have) | J’ai eu (I had) |
| Tu as (You have) | Tu as eu (You had) |
| Il/Elle a (He/She has) | Il/Elle a eu (He/She had) |
| Nous avons (We have) | Nous avons eu (We had) |
| Vous avez (You have) | Vous avez eu (You had) |
| Ils/Elles ont (They have) | Ils/Elles ont eu (They had) |
| Present | Past |
| Je fais (I do/make) | J’ai fait (I did/made) |
| Tu fais (You do/make) | Tu as fait (You did/made) |
| Il/Elle fait (He/She does/makes) | Il/Elle a fait (He/she did/made) |
| Nous faisons (We do/make) | Nous avons fait (We did/made) |
| Vous faites (You do/make) | Vous avez fait (You did/made) |
| Ils/Elles font (They do/make) | Ils/Elles ont fait (They did/made) |
| Present | Past |
| Je vais (I go) | Je suis allé(e) (I went) |
| Tu vas (You go) | Tu es allé(e) (You went) |
| Il/Elle va (He/She goes) | Il/Elle est allé(e) (He/She went) |
| Nous allons (We go) | Nous sommes allé(e)s (We went) |
| Vous allez (You go) | Vous êtes allé(e)s (You went) |
| Ils/Elles vont (They go) | Ils/Elles sont allé(e)s (They went) |
| Present | Past |
| Je connais (I know) | J’ai connu (I knew) |
| Tu connais (You know) | Tu as connu (You knew) |
| Il/Elle connaît (He/She knows) | Il/Elle a connu (He/She knew) |
| Nous connaissons (We know) | Nous avons connu (We knew) |
| Vous connaissez (You know) | Vous avez connu (You knew) |
| Ils/Elles connaissent (They know) | Ils/Elles ont connu (They knew) |
| Present | Past |
| Je dis (I say) | J’ai dit – I said |
| Tu dis (You say) | Tu as dit (You said) |
| Il/Elle dit (He/She says) | Il/Elle a dit (He/She said) |
| Nous disons (We say) | Nous avons dit (We said) |
| Vous dites (You say) | Vous avez dit (You said) |
| Ils/Elles disent (They say) | Ils/Elles ont dit (They said) |
| Present | Past |
| Je dois (I must/have to) | J’ai du (I had to/must) |
| Tu dois (You must/have to) | Tu as du (You had to/must) |
| Il/Elle doit (He/She must/has to) | Il/Elle a du (He/She had to/must) |
| Nous devons (We must/have to) | Nous avons du (We had to/must) |
| Vous devez (You must/have to) | Vous avez dû (You had to/must) |
| Ils/Elles doivent (They must/have to) | Ils/Elles ont du (They had to/must) |
To master the conjugation of these irregular verbs, we encourage you to learn the exact conjugation as follows.
| Present | Past |
| Je prends (I take) | J’ai pris (I took) |
| Tu prends (You take) | Tu as pris (You took) |
| Il/Elle prend (He/She takes) | Il/Elle a pris (He/She took) |
| Nous prenons (We take) | Nous avons pris (We took) |
| Vous prenez (You take) | Vous avez pris (You took) |
| Ils/Elles prennent (They take) | Ils/Elles ont pris (They took) |
Many verbs follow this particular conjugation such as entreprendre, comprendre, suspendre or apprendre.
| Present | Past |
| Je mets (I put) | J’ai mis (I put) |
| Tu mets (You put) | Tu as mis (You put) |
| Il/Elle met (He/She puts) | Il/Elle a mis (He/She put) |
| Nous mettons (We put) | Nous avons mis (We put) |
| Vous mettez (You put) | Vous avez mis (You put) |
| Ils/Elles mettent (They put) | Ils/Elles ont mis (They put) |
Many verbs follow this particular conjugation such as compromettre, promettre, émettre, omettre or soumettre.
| Present | Past |
| Je viens (I come) | Je suis venu(e) (I came) |
| Tu viens (You come) | Tu es venu(e) (You came) |
| Il/Elle vient (He/She comes) | Il/Elle est venu(e) (He/She came) |
| Nous venons (We come) | Nous sommes venus(es) (We came) |
| Vous venez (You come) | Vous êtes venus(es) (You came) |
| Ils/Elles viennent (They come) | Ils/Elles sont venu(es) (They came) |
Many verbs follow this particular conjugation such as advenir, devenir, provenir, survenir or intervenir.
If learning irregular verbs in French seems like a big challenge, know that it will greatly enhance your progress in conversing with native French speakers. We advise you to gradually learn all of these verbs by heart, focusing on their structure and tenses. And don’t just review them on your own — try to fully integrate them into your French conversations!
