French: Verb Tables

This is a reference for French verbs: 173 of the most useful ones, each conjugated in every tense a learner needs up to the intermediate stage, with the irregular forms marked in red and a play button on every form. Search for a verb or pick one from the list, read its table, and when a form will not stick, press Train this verb for a short typing drill.

Your device has no French voice, so the play buttons are hidden.

Find a verb

Type an infinitive or an English meaning. Accents are optional in the search box. Every form is a button: tap it to hear it.

All the verbs

Filter by level or by family, then pick one. The families group verbs that change in the same way, so learning one teaches you the rest.

Family	Verbs	For example
-er regular	66	se coucher, se réveiller, s’habiller, se laver
-er spelling change	23	manger, voyager, changer, nager
-ir regular (finir)	10	finir, choisir, réussir, grandir
-re regular (vendre)	8	vendre, attendre, entendre, répondre
-ir like partir	6	partir, sortir, dormir, sentir
-ir like ouvrir	4	ouvrir, offrir, souffrir, découvrir
irregular	56	être, avoir, aller, faire

The tenses on this page

You do not need every tense at once. The present comes first, then one past and the near future; the rest arrive as you need them.

Tense	When it is used
Present présent	What is true now, habits, and what is going on right now: je parle, I speak or I am speaking.
Perfect (passé composé) passé composé	The everyday past for finished actions: j’ai parlé, I spoke or I have spoken. Most verbs take avoir; verbs of coming and going and every reflexive verb take être, and then the participle agrees.
Imperfect imparfait	Background, description and habits in the past: je parlais, I was speaking or I used to speak.
Future futur simple	What will happen: je parlerai, I will speak. In speech, aller + infinitive (je vais parler) is just as common.
Conditional conditionnel présent	What would happen, and polite requests: je voudrais, I would like.
Present subjunctive subjonctif présent	After wanting, needing, feelings and some linking words: il faut que je parte, I have to go.
Imperative impératif	Instructions and requests, with no subject pronoun: parle !, parlons !, parlez !

How the tables were made

Most French verbs end in -er and follow parler. A smaller regular family follows finir (nous finissons), and a few follow vendre; partir and ouvrir lead two small families of their own. You hear fewer forms than you see: je parle, tu parles, il parle and ils parlent all sound the same. The passé composé is avoir or être plus the past participle; with être the participle agrees, shown as allé(e) for one person and allé(e)s for several. Je becomes j’ before a vowel or a mute h. The imperative has only three persons, falloir has only il and pleuvoir only il and ils, so the empty rows are left out. In the typing drill, type the form as the table shows it, without the subject and with the brackets: suis allé(e), me lève.

Every form on this page was produced by rule: the regular endings of each family, plus a short list of irregular stems and forms. The output was then checked form by form against a published conjugation reference (see Sources), and every difference was fixed until none was left.

Red is a strict test. A form is red when it differs from what the plain regular pattern of its family would give: a new stem, a changed vowel, a spelling change or a moved accent. Some forms that grammar books call regular, because they only change their spelling to keep a sound, are red here too, because they are exactly the forms people misspell.

Reading a table well

• Look for the pattern first. Most verbs follow their family. Learn one regular verb of each family by heart and the tables become a check, not a list.
• Red marks the surprise. A red form is one the regular rule would get wrong. Those are the forms worth drilling; the rest you can work out.
• Say the forms aloud in order. Six forms in rhythm stick better than six forms read silently.
• Then put one in a sentence. A form you have used in a sentence about your own day is a form you will find again when you speak.

What sticks

• Verbs come in families; learn one model verb per family and most tables follow.
• The irregular forms are few and very common: they are the ones to drill.
• Present first, then one past and the near future; the other tenses as you meet them.
• Tap a form to hear it; say it back before you move on.
• Use the drill for one verb at a time, a few minutes a day, until the red forms come without thinking.