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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. Dialects of the French language are spoken in France and around the world. ... French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended from Latin) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in Northern France. ... Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... The orthography of French was already more or less fixed, and from a phonological point of view outdated, when its lexicography developed in the late 17th century and the Académie française was mandated to establish an official prescriptive norm. ... The circumflex (^) is one of the five diacritics used in the French language. ... Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... In French, elision (from elide, to leave out or omit) refers to the practise of combining two logically separate words into one for the convenience of pronunication in live conversation. ... French has a grammar similar to that of the other Romance languages. ... French verbs are a complex area of French grammar, with a conjugation scheme that allows for three finite moods (with anywhere from one to five synthetic tenses), three non-finite moods, three voices, and two aspects. ... In French, a verb is inflected to reflect its mood and tense, as well as to agree with its subject in person and number. ... In French, articles and determiners are required on almost every common noun; much more so than in English. ... French adverbs, like their English counterparts, are used to modify adjectives, other adverbs, and verbs or clauses. ... French pronouns are inflected to indicate their role in the sentence (subject, direct object, and so on), as well as to reflect the person, gender, and number of their referrents. ... Personal pronouns in French: The French possessive pronouns (mon, ma, mes, ton, ta, tes, son, sa, ses, notre, notre, nos, votre, votre, vos, leur, leur, leurs) are technically adjectives because they decline into masculine, feminine and plural forms and further agree with their heads (not their antecedents). ... Motto Égalité, Complémentarité, Solidarité Members and participants of La Francophonie. ... French verbs are a complex area of French grammar, with a conjugation scheme that allows for three finite moods (with anywhere from one to five synthetic tenses), three non-finite moods, three voices, and two aspects. ...

-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 verbs dormir, mentir, partir, sentir and servir follow a different conjugation

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

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

French has a grammar similar to that of the other Romance languages. ... French verbs are a complex area of French grammar, with a conjugation scheme that allows for three finite moods (with anywhere from one to five synthetic tenses), three non-finite moods, three voices, and two aspects. ... In French, a verb is inflected to reflect its mood and tense, as well as to agree with its subject in person and number. ...

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)