avoir
être
French-English Dictionary
French grammar
French phrases

Common French verb forms

The table below gives the most common French verb forms occurring in a sample of 19th century French literature¹. Alongside each verb form is the infinitive from which it is derived, which French verb tense or form it represents, and the current common meaning (or some common meanings) of this verb form in English. The forms are listed in order of their frequency, with the most common verb forms at the top of the table.

Click on a verb in the Infinitive column to see a complete conjugation table, showing the forms of the given verb in all the common simple and compound tenses.

Form	Base infinitive	Tense(s) / Form(s)	Common meaning
est	être	present	is
fait	faire	present	does; makes
avait	avoir	imperfect	had, used to have
fut	être	past historic	was
était	être	imperfect	was, used to be
être	être	infinitive	(to) be
dit	dire	present; past historic	says; said
faire	faire	infinitive	(to) do; (to) make
j'ai	avoir	present	I have
fit	faire	past historic	did; made
avoir	avoir	infinitive	(to) have
été	être	past participle	been
pouvait	pouvoir	imperfect	could, was able to
faut	falloir	present	(it) is necessary to..., ...is needed
étaient	être	imperfect	(they) were, used to be
devait	devoir	imperfect	was (bound/due) to...
fallait	falloir	imperfect	(it) was necessary to..., ...was needed
voir	voir	infinitive	(to) see
dire	dire	infinitive	(to) say
répondit	répondre	past historic	replied
prendre	prendre	infinitive	(to) take
faisait	faire	imperfect	was doing, did, used to do; was making etc..
entendre	entendre	infinitive	(to) hear
serait	être	conditional	would be
allait	aller	imperfect	was going; was going to...
aller	aller	infinitive	to go; to be going to...
reste	rester	present	remains
eu	avoir	past participle	had
avaient	avoir	imperfect	(they) had, used to have
venait	venir	imperfect	was coming, used to come
venait de	venir	imperfect	had just...
aurait	avoir	conditional	would have
ont	avoir	present	(they) have
donner	donner	infinitive	(to) give
croire	croire	infinitive	(to) believe
semblait	sembler	imperfect	seemed, appeared
vint	venir	past participle	came
trouver	trouver	infinitive	(to) find
mettre	mettre	infinitive	(to) put
passer	passer	infinitive	(to) pass, pass by, go by
soit	être	present subjunctive	for...to be..., that...it might/should be...
rendre	rendre	infinitive	(to) make, render; to return, yield
perdu	perdre	past participle	lost
j'avais	avoir	imperfect	I had, I used to have
savoir	savoir	infinitive	to know
peut	pouvoir	present	can, is able to...
eut	avoir	past historic	had
tenir	tenir	infinitive	to hold
doit	devoir	present	must, has to
trouvait	trouver	imperfect	found
prit	prendre	past historic	took
furent	être	past historic	were
suivre	suivre	infinitive	(to) follow
sera	être	future	will be
arriver	arriver	infinitive	(to) come, arrive; (to) happen
je sais	savoir	present	I know
voulu	vouloir	past participle	wanted
vu	voir	past participle	seen
revenir	revenir	infinitive	to come back
mit	mettre	past historic	put
voulait	vouloir	imperfect	wanted, wanted to...
parler	parler	infinitive	to speak, talk
cru	croire	past participle	believed, thought
venaient	venir	imperfect	came, was coming
venaient de	venir	imperfect	(they) had just...
manquait	manquer	imperfect	missed; was absent/lacking
va	aller	present	goes; is going to...
je mis	mettre	past historic	I put
partir	partir	infinitive	to leave
tenait	tenir	imperfect	held, was holding
demande	demander	present	asks, is asking
donnait	donner	imperfect	gave, was giving
répondre	répondre	infinitive	to reply
nous avons	avoir	present	we have
remettre	remettre	infinitive	(to) put back
trouve	trouver	present	finds
sortir	sortir	infinitive	(to) go out; (to) bring out
restait	rester	imperfect	remained
s'écria	s'écrier	past historic	exclaimed, cried
commença	commencer	past historic	begain
chercher	chercher	infinitive	(to) seek, look for
attendre	attendre	infinitive	(to) wait, await
devint	devenir	past historic	became
demanda	demander	past historic	asked
revenu	revenir	past participle	come back, returned
prend	prendre	present	takes, is taking
paraissait	paraître	imperfect	appeared
regardait	regarder	imperfect	concerned, involved; was watching, looking at
arriva	arriver	past historic	arrived; happened
put	pouvoir	past historic	could, was able to
faisant	faire	present participle	doing, making
perdre	perdre	infinitive	to lose
abandonner	abandonner	infinitive	to abandon
vivre	vivre	infinitive	to live
venu	venir	past participle	come
laissait	laisser	imperfect	left, used to leave; let, used to let
écrit	écrire	present; past historic	writes; wrote
connaître	connaître	infinitive	(to) know, be acquainted with
devaient	devoir	imperfect	(they) were due/bound to...
arrive	arriver	present	comes/arrives, is coming/arriving; happens
parle	parler	present	speaks, is speaking
but	boire	past historic	drank
semblaient	sembler	imperfect	(they) seemed, appeared
quitter	quitter	infinitive	to leave
importe	importer	present	matters
abandonné	abandonner	past participle	abandonned
attendait	attendre	imperfect	was waiting (for)
s'attendait à	s'attendre	imperfect	was expecting
voulut	vouloir	past historic	wished, wanted
portait	porter	imperfect	was wearing; was carrying
laisser	laisser	infinitive	(to) let; (to) leave
donné	donner	past participle	given
font	faire	present	(they) do, make
conduire	conduire	infinitive	(to) lead; (to) drive
demander	demander	infinitive	(to) ask, ask for
je crois	croire	present	I believe, think
commençait	commencer	imperfect	was starting
entendu	entendre	past participle	understood
faisaient	faire	imperfect	(they) were doing/making; used to do/make
arrêter	arrêter	infinitive	(to) stop
compter	compter	infinitive	(to) count
laissa	laisser	past historic	left; let
vient	venir	present	comes
vient de	venir	present	has just...
je viens	venir	present	I am coming
je viens de	venir	present	I've just...
pouvoir	pouvoir	infinitive	(to) be able to
devenir	devenir	infinitive	(to) become
mourir	mourir	infinitive	(to) die
reprendre	reprendre	infinitive	(to) resume
tomber	tomber	infinitive	(to) fall
aura	avoir	future	will have
sait	savoir	present	knows
sentir	sentir	infinitive	(to) feel; (to) smell
devenu	devenir	past participle	become
voyant	voir	present participle	seeing
dû	devoir	past participle	due, bound; had to...
étant	être	present participle	being
allaient	aller	imperfect	(they) were going to...; (they) used to go

Notes:
1. At present, three texts are surveyed: Flaubert's Madame Bovary (1857), Jules Verne's Voyage au Centre de la Terre (1864) and Adolphe Thiers' Histoire de la révolution française (1823). Only verb forms that appear in all three are included. The frequency of each verb form is taken as the minimum number of occurrences of that form in any of the three works. Instances of the imperfect subjunctive have been discounted. These texts were chosen simply because they were freely available in a convenient electronic format. The author's intention is to compile a similar frequency list in the near future with other, more modern texts, such as contemporary newspaper articles.