| avoir |
to have |
eu (ew) |
had |
|
|
ouvrir |
to open |
ouvert (oo-vehr) |
opened |
| connaître |
to know |
connu |
known |
|
|
offrir |
to offer |
offert |
offered |
| croire |
to believe |
cru |
believed |
|
|
pouvoir |
to be able to |
pu |
was able to |
| devoir |
to have to |
dû |
had to |
|
|
prendre |
to take |
pris (pree) |
taken |
| dire |
to tell |
dit |
said |
|
|
apprendre |
to learn |
appris |
learned |
| écrire |
to write |
écrit |
written |
|
|
comprendre |
to understand |
compris |
understood |
| être |
to be |
été |
been |
|
|
surprendre |
to surprise |
surpris |
surprised |
| faire |
to do, make |
fait |
made |
|
|
recevoir |
to receive |
reçu (reh-sew) |
received |
| lire |
to read |
lu |
read |
|
|
rire |
to laugh |
ri |
laughed |
| mettre |
to put |
mis (me) |
put |
|
|
savoir |
to know |
su |
known |
| permettre |
to permit |
permis |
permitted |
|
|
voir |
to see |
vu |
seen |
| promettre |
to promise |
promis |
promised |
|
|
vouloir |
to want |
voulu (voo-lew) |
wanted |
Etre Verbs
Sixteen "house" verbs and all pronominal verbs are conjugated with être, and they must agree in gender and number with the subject. The house verbs are:
aller-to go |
sortir-to go out |
venir-to come |
mourir-to die |
| arriver-to arrive |
partir-to leave |
devenir-to become |
monter-to go up |
| entrer-to enter |
tomber-to fall |
revenir-to come back |
rester-to stay |
| rentrer-to return home |
naître-to be born |
passer-to go by (pass) |
descendre-to go down |
Most have regular past participles, except venir-venu, devenir-devenu, revenir-revenu, mourir-mort, and naître-né. And five of these verbs, monter, descendre, sortir, rentrer, and passer can sometimes be conjugated with avoir if they are used with a direct object. Elle a rentré le livre à la bibliothèque. She returned the book to the library.
Conjugation of an être verb
| Je suis resté(e) |
Nous sommes resté(e)s |
| Tu es resté(e) |
Vous êtes resté(e)(s) |
| Il est resté |
Ils sont restés |
| Elle est restée |
Elles sont restées |
You add the e for feminine and s for plural. Vous can have any of the endings.
Conjugation of a Pronominal Verb
| Je me suis amusé(e) |
Nous nous sommes amusé(e)s |
| Tu t'es amusé(e) |
Vous vous êtes amusé(e)(s) |
| Il s'est amusé |
Ils se sont amusés |
| Elle s'est amusée |
Elles se sont amusées |
There are only two cases with pronominal verbs where the past participle does not agree:
1. When the pronominal verb is followed by a direct object.
Compare: Elles se sont lavées, but elles se sont lavé les mains.
2. With verbs where the reflexive pronoun is an indirect object, such as
se parler, se demander, se dire, s'écrire, se sourire, and se téléphoner.
Ils se sont téléphoné.
To Take, Eat or Drink
| Prendre-to take, eat or drink (prawn-druh) |
|
Boire-to drink (bwahr) |
| prends |
prawn |
prenons |
pruh-nohn |
|
bois |
bwah |
buvons |
bew-vohn |
| prends |
prawn |
prenez |
pru-nay |
|
bois |
bwah |
buvez |
bew-vay |
| prend |
prawn |
prennent |
prenn |
|
boit |
bwah |
boivent |
bwahv |
Other verbs that are conjugated like prendre: apprendre - to learn, comprendre - to understand and surprendre - to surprise.
Note: When you want to say "I am having wine," the French translation is "Je prends du vin." You must use de and le, la, l', or les and the proper contractions (called partitives) because in French you must also express some. So "je prends de la bière" literally means "I am having some beer" even though in English we would usually only say I am having beer.
Manger is a regular verb meaning "to eat," but manger is used in a general sense, such as Je mange le poulet tous les samedis. I eat chicken every Saturday. Boire is literally the verb to drink and is also used in a general sense only. Je bois du vin tout le temps. I drink wine all the time.
Commands
| Use the vous, tu and nous forms for commands. |
| Vous form |
Polite and Plural |
Same as verb form |
Restez! |
Stay! |
| Tu form |
Familiar |
Same as verb form, but
drop -s for -er verbs |
Regarde! |
Watch! |
| Nous form |
Let's... |
Same as verb form |
Allons! |
Let's go! |
Note: With using pronominal verbs as commands, the pronoun is placed after the verb connected by a hyphen. Tu te dépêches becomes Dépêche-toi! And in negative commands, the pronoun precedes the verb, as in Ne nous reposons pas.
Irregular Command Forms
| être (be) |
avoir (have) |
savoir (know) |
| tu |
sois |
swah |
tu |
aie |
ay |
tu |
sache |
sahsh |
| nous |
soyons |
swah-yohn |
nous |
ayons |
ay-yohn |
nous |
sachons |
sah-shohn |
| vous |
soyez |
swah-yay |
vous |
ayez |
ay-yay |
vous |
sachez |
sah-shay |
Ne sois pas méchant à ta sour! Don't be mean to your sister!
N'ayez pas peur! Don't be afraid!
Sachez les mots pour l'examen demain! Know the words for the exam tomorrow!
French - Irregular Past Participles, Etre Verbs,To Take, Eat or Drink, Commands
