Top 50 Most Common French Verbs You Need To Know
Author
Mastering the most common French verbs is the fastest way to build your conversational fluency.
Verbs are the engine of every single sentence you speak.
Without them, you simply can’t express actions, thoughts, or states of being.
Focusing your energy on the most frequently used verbs will save you hundreds of hours of study time.
Talk In French is the absolute best place to master these essential verbs.
Interactive exercises and native audio help you memorize them naturally in context.
Table of Contents:
The absolute top 10 essential French verbs
Before looking at the full list of 50, you must first master the top 10.
These ten verbs appear in almost every single French conversation you’ll ever have.
They also act as auxiliary (helping) verbs to help you form past and future tenses.
The top four are être (to be), avoir (to have), aller (to go), and faire (to do/make).
Here’s how they look in a basic everyday conversation.
Je suis prêt à y aller.
Il a une nouvelle voiture.
Nous allons à la plage.
Ils font leurs devoirs.
The remaining six most crucial verbs are pouvoir (to be able to), vouloir (to want), devoir (to have to/must), savoir (to know a fact), dire (to say), and voir (to see).
These verbs are incredibly useful for expressing your desires, obligations, and basic interactions.
Je veux apprendre le français.
Tu dois partir maintenant.
Top 50 most common French verbs list
Here’s the ultimate list of the 50 verbs you’ll encounter most often in the French language.
I’ve included their English meanings and whether they’re regular or irregular.
Use this table as a quick reference guide whenever you’re writing or speaking.
| French Verb | English Meaning | Verb Type |
|---|---|---|
| être | to be | Irregular |
| avoir | to have | Irregular |
| faire | to do / to make | Irregular |
| dire | to say / to tell | Irregular |
| pouvoir | to be able to / can | Irregular |
| aller | to go | Irregular |
| voir | to see | Irregular |
| vouloir | to want | Irregular |
| venir | to come | Irregular |
| devoir | to have to / must | Irregular |
| prendre | to take | Irregular |
| trouver | to find | Regular (-er) |
| donner | to give | Regular (-er) |
| falloir | to be necessary | Irregular |
| parler | to speak / to talk | Regular (-er) |
| mettre | to put / to place | Irregular |
| savoir | to know (a fact) | Irregular |
| passer | to pass / to spend time | Regular (-er) |
| regarder | to look at / to watch | Regular (-er) |
| aimer | to like / to love | Regular (-er) |
| croire | to believe | Irregular |
| demander | to ask | Regular (-er) |
| rester | to stay / to remain | Regular (-er) |
| répondre | to answer / to reply | Regular (-re) |
| entendre | to hear | Regular (-re) |
| penser | to think | Regular (-er) |
| arriver | to arrive / to happen | Regular (-er) |
| connaître | to know (someone/something) | Irregular |
| devenir | to become | Irregular |
| sentir | to feel / to smell | Irregular |
| sembler | to seem | Regular (-er) |
| tenir | to hold / to keep | Irregular |
| comprendre | to understand | Irregular |
| rendre | to return / to give back | Regular (-re) |
| attendre | to wait for | Regular (-re) |
| sortir | to go out | Irregular |
| vivre | to live | Irregular |
| entrer | to enter | Regular (-er) |
| reprendre | to take back / to resume | Irregular |
| porter | to wear / to carry | Regular (-er) |
| chercher | to look for / to search | Regular (-er) |
| revenir | to come back | Irregular |
| appeler | to call | Irregular |
| mourir | to die | Irregular |
| partir | to leave | Irregular |
| jeter | to throw | Irregular |
| suivre | to follow | Irregular |
| écrire | to write | Irregular |
| montrer | to show | Regular (-er) |
| tomber | to fall | Regular (-er) |
Regular vs. irregular French verbs
French verbs are divided into three main groups based on their endings.
These regular endings are -er, -ir, and -re.
Regular verbs follow a strict, predictable pattern when you conjugate them in different tenses.
For example, parler (to speak) is a regular -er verb that follows the exact same conjugation rules as aimer (to like).
Unfortunately, many of the absolute most common verbs in French are irregular.
Irregular verbs don’t follow normal patterns and must be memorized individually.
Because they’re used so incredibly often in daily life, you’ll naturally memorize them through repetition.
How to practice French verbs effectively
Reading a list of verbs is only the very first step in your language learning journey.
You need to practice using these words in real, everyday sentences to truly absorb them.
The absolute best way to learn these verbs is by using Talk In French.
Our platform is specifically designed to help you master French grammar and vocabulary without tedious, boring drills.
You’ll hear native speakers using these verbs in natural, real-world contexts.
Try to learn just five new verbs a day to avoid feeling overwhelmed.
Write down a few simple sentences for each new verb you learn.
Speaking your new sentences out loud is also crucial for building your muscle memory.
