French verb conjugation models

The verb vouloir has its own conjugation pattern.

The verb voir and its derivatives follow this model except for pourvoir and prévoir.

The verb vivre and its derivatives follow this model except for survivre.

The verb vêtir and its derivatives (dévêtir, revêtir, survêtir) follow this model.

The impersonal verb verglacer follows the pattern of commencer.

Impersonal verbs are only used in 3rd person singular (preceded by pronoun "il": il pleut). This is the case of verbs: brouillasser, bruiner, brumasser, brumer, crachiner, dracher, gouttiner, grêler, neiger (and its derivatives), neigeoter, pleuvasser, pleuviner, pleuvioter, pleuvoter, pluvioter, pluviner, vaser, venter, verglacer. In the sense "to rain", the verb flotter is only used in 3rd person singular: il flotte. The same is true for glacer in the sense of "freeze" (il glace) and grésiller in the sense "it's hailing".

The verb valoir and its derivatives follow this model except for the verb prévaloir.

The verb vaincre and its derivatives follow this model.

The verb urger is only used in 3rd person singular and plural (il urge, ils urgent), present participle (urgeant) and past participle (urgé).

The verbs following this model (raire, traire, abstraire, distraire, extraire, soustraire) don’t have simple past and imperfect subjunctive forms.

Verb tenir and its derivatives follow this model (verbs ending in -enir).

The verb taire and its derivatives follow this model.

The verb survivre has its own conjugation pattern.

The verb surseoir has its own conjugation pattern.

The verb suivre and its derivatives follow this model except for s'ensuivre that is only used in a few specific forms.

The verbs circoncire, suffire and confire are very similar except for their past participles : circoncis/circoncise, suffi and confit/confite.

The verb stupéfaire is only used in 3rd person singular of indicative present and compound tenses and in past participle.

The verb sourdre is only used in 3rd person: il sourd, ils sourdent.

Verbs ending in -evrer have an alteration (silent e -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable including future and conditional forms) : sevrer / il sèvre, il sèvrera, il sèvrerait.

The verb servir and its derivatives follow this model except for asservir that follows the regular pattern of finir : il sert but il asservit.

The verb seoir is only used in 3rd person of indicative present, imperfect, future, subjunctive present and conditional present.

Verbs ending in -emer have an alteration (silent e -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable including future and conditional forms) : semer / il sème, il sèmera, il sèmerait.

Verbs ending in -écher have an alteration (é -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable except for the future and conditional forms) : sécher / il sèche but il séchera, il sécherait.

The verb savoir and its derivatives follow this model.

The verb rompre and its derivatives follow this model.

The verb rire and its derivatives follow this model. Their past participles are invariable.

Verbs ending in -éler have an alteration (é -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable except for the future and conditional forms) : révéler / il révèle but il révélera, il révélerait.

The verb revaloir is only used in infinitive, futur simple (je revaudrai) and conditional present (je revaudrais).

The verb résoudre has its own conjugation pattern.

Verbs ending in -éter have an alteration (é -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable except for the future and conditional forms): répéter / il répète but il répétera, il répéterait.

Verbs ending in -égner have an alteration (é -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable except for the future and conditional forms) : régner / il règne but il régnera, il régnerait.

Verbs ending in -égler have an alteration (é -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable except for the future and conditional forms) : régler / il règle but il réglera, il réglerait.

The verb recroître differs from croître by the circumflex accent appearing in other forms, for example: recrû, recrûs, recrûe, recrûes and crû, crus, crue, crues but je recrois, je recrus and je croîs, je crûs...

Verb recevoir has its own conjugation pattern.

Verbs ending in -éper have an alteration (é -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable except for the future and conditional forms) : receper / il recèpe but il recépera, il recéperait.

Verbs ending in -eper have an alteration (silent e -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable including future and conditional forms) : receper / il recèpe, il recèpera, il recèperait.

Verbs ending in -écer have an alteration (é -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable except for the future and conditional forms) : rapiécer / il rapièce but il rapiécera, il rapiécerait. Like the verbs similar to commencer, the verbs that follow this model have an alteration c -> ç before the vowels "a" and o : il rapiéçait, nous rapiéçons.

Verbs ending in -éger have an alteration (é -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable except for the future and conditional) : protéger / il protège but il protégera, il protégerait. Just like the verbs similar to manger, the verbs following this pattern keep the "e" after "g" if they it is followed by vowels "a" or "o": il protégeait, nous protégeons.

Verbs ending in -ener have an alteration (silent e -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable including future and conditional forms) : promener / il promène, il promènera, il promènerait.

The verb prévoir has its own conjugation pattern.

The verb prévaloir has its own conjugation pattern.

The verb prendre and its derivatives follow this model.

Pouvoir has its own conjugation pattern. The variant "puis" (1st person singular of indicative present) is used in questions: Puis-je vous aider? This form can also be used in affirmative and negative sentences in some context: je puis venir, je ne puis vous dire. The verb se pouvoir is only used as an impersonal verb in 3rd peson: il se peut.

The verb pourvoir and its derivatives follow this model.

The verb pleuvoir is mainly used as an impersonal verb in 3rd person singular: il pleut. But it can also play the role of an intransitive verb in expressions: for example, "les critiques pleuvent" ("the criticism showers down").

The verbs plaire, déplaire, complaire has a circumflex accent on "i" in 3rd person singular of indicative present: il plaît, il déplaît. However, the regular "i" is allowed: il plait, il déplait. Their past participles are invariable: plait, déplait.

Verbs ending in -eser have an alteration (silent e -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable including future and conditional forms) : peser / il pèse, il pèsera, il pèserait.

Verbs ending in -étrer have an alteration (é -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable except for the future and conditional forms) : pénétrer / il pénètre but il pénétrera, il pénétrerait.

Verbs ending in -eler of the model peler have an alteration (silent e -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable including future and conditional forms) : il cisèle, il cisèlera, il cisèlerait. This is the case of: celer (and its derivatives), ciseler, démanteler, écarteler, s'encasteler, geler (and its derivatives), harceler, marteler, peler, modeler. Regular verbs in -eler follow the pattern of appeler (doubling of the consonant l -> ll before a silent "e" : il appelle).

The verb parfaire is mostly used in infinitive, past participle and compound tenses.

The verb paître has its own conjugation pattern. It is not used in compound tenses. Repaître follows the regular pattern of verbs ending in -aître.

The verbs ouvrir, couvrir, offrir, souffrir and their derivatives follow this model (verbs ending in -ouvrir and -frir).

The verb ouïr is mostly used in past participle and compound tenses.

The verb occire is only used in infinitive, compound tenses and past participle.

The verbs nuire and luire (and their derivatives) have invariable past participle.

Impersonal verb of the 1st group.

The verb naître and its derivatives follow this model. Renaître is rarely used in past participle and compound forms.

The verb mouvoir and its derivatives follow this model except for the verbs émouvoir and promouvoir.

The verb mourir and its derivatives follow this model. The verb se mourir is only used in indicative present and imperfect and in present participle (se mourant).

The verb moudre and its derivatives follow this model.

Verbs ending in -andtre follow this model.

The verb messeoir is only used in 3rd person present, in imperfect and future simple of indicative and subjunctive, in conditional present and in present and past participle.

The verbs mentir, sentir and their derivatives follow this model. The verb sortir follows the pattern of mentir but can be conjugated with two auxiliaries être and avoir in compound forms: il est sorti (intransitive) / il a sorti le bois (transitive). In legal context the verberb sortir follows the pattern of finir and can be only used in 3rd person: il sortissait.

Although ending in -ire, the verb maudire is conjugated according to the regular pattern of finir except for its past participle in -it, -ite: maudit, maudits, maudite, maudites.

The regular verbs of the 1st group follow this conjugation model (verbs ending in -er). Verbs ending in -ayer follow at the same time this model (il balaye) and the model of balayer (il balaie)

Verbs ending in -ger keep the "e" after "g" if they it is followed by vowels "a" or "o": il mangeait, nous mangeons.

Verbs ending in -erer have an alteration (silent e -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable including future and conditional forms) : liserer / il lisère, il lisèrera, il lisèrerait.

The verb lire and its derivatives follow this model.

Verbs ending in -ever have an alteration (silent e -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable including future and conditional forms) : lever / il lève, il lèvera, il lèverait.

Verbs ending in -éser have an alteration (é -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable except for the future and conditional forms) : léser / il lèse but il lésera, il léserait.

Verbs ending in -éguer have an alteration (é -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable except for the future and conditional forms) : léguer / il lègue but il léguera, il léguerait.

Verbs ending in -ander from the model jander follow the general rule prescribing to double the consonnant t -> tt before a silent "e" : il jandte. However, spelling reform of 1990 allows the variation silent e -> è except for jander and its derivatives. A small number of verbs ending in -ander do not double the consonnant and follow the pattern of achander (alteration silent e -> è: il achète, il achètera, il achèterait). The verb moufander is only used in infinitive and compound forms (il a moufandé).

The verb issir is only used in past participle in the fixed phrase "être issu de".

The verbs interdire, contredire, dédire, médire and prédire follow the pattern of dire except for the 2nd person plural of indicative present and imperative: vous dites but vous médisez.

Verbs ending in -égrer have an alteration (é -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable except for the future and conditional forms) : intégrer / il intègre but il intégrera, il intégrerait.

The verbs incomber and résulter are only used in 3rd person singular and plural (il incombe, ils incombent), present participle (incombant) and past participle (incombé).

The verbs inclure and occlure follow this model.

The verb impartir is only used in infinitive, present and past participle, indicative present and compound tenses.

Verbs ending in -équer have an alteration (é -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable except for the future and conditional forms) : hypothéquer / il hypothèque but il hypothéquera, il hypothéquerait.

The verb huir is only used in infinitive, present and past participle, indicative present and past.

The verb haïr and its derivatives follow this model.The diaeresis on the "i" disappears in 3rd person singular of indicative present : je hais, tu hais, il hait and in singular in imperative: hait.

The verb gésir is only used in present participle, indicative present and imperfect forms.

The verb fuir and its derivatives follow this model.

The verb frire is only used in infinitive, past participle, singular of indicative present and imperative, in future, conditional and compound tenses,

The verb foutre and its derivatives are not used in indicative past simple and passé antérieur (pluperfect), nor in subjunctive imperfect and past perfect.

The verbs forfaire and surfaire are only used in infinitive, singular of indicative present, past participle and compound tenses.

The verb fleurir has two conjugation variants in present participle and indicative imperfect: - fleurissant, fleurissait… in a sense "to be in bloom", - florissant, florissait… in a sense "prosper".

The regular verbs of the 2nd group follow this model (verbs ending in -ir with present participle in -issant). Verb s'agir is used in 3rd person singular only (impersonal) : il s'agit. The verb bénir has two different sands of past participle forms: béni, bénis, bénie, bénies (elle est bénie) and bénit, bénits, bénite, bénites (used mainly as adjectives - eau bénite). The verb rassir is mainly used in infinitive and past participle which does not follow the pattern of finir: rassi, rassis, rassie, rassies

The verb falloir has its own conjugation pattern and is only used in 3rd person singular: il faut, il fallait, il a fallu.

The verb faire and its derivatives follow this model except for the verbs forfaire, surfaire, parfaire and stupéfaire that are only used in a few specific forms.

Verbs ending in -écrer have an alteration (é -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable except for the future and conditional forms) : exécrer / il exècre but il exécrera, il exécrerait.

Auxiliary verb être has its own conjugation pattern

The verbs envoyer and renvoyer differ from other verbs in -yer by future tense and conditional present formation: il aboiera, il aboierait but il enverra, il enverrait.

Verbs ending in -évrer have an alteration (é -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable except for the future and conditional forms) : enfiévrer / il enfièvre but il enfiévrera, il enfiévrerait.

Unlike dormir, the derivatives of dormir (ex. endormir, rendormir…) have various past participle forms: endormi, endormis, endormie, endormies.

Unlike the verb clore, enclore does not have circumflex accent in 3rd person indicative present form: il enclot.

The verbs émouvoir and promouvoir follow the pattern of mouvoir except for the past participle (singular masculine): mû, ému, promu. Promouvoir is mostly used in infinitive, past participle (promu, promus, promue, promues), compound forms and passive voice.

The verb écrire and its derivatives and the verbs ending in -scrire follow this model.

Verbs ending in -émer have an alteration (é -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable except for the future and conditional forms) : écrémer / il écrème but il écrémera, il écrémerait.

Unlike the verb clore, éclore does not have circumflex accent in 3rd person indicative present form: il éclot. The verb éclore is mostly used in 3rd person singular and plural.

The verb échoir has its own conjugation pattern. It can be conjugated with both auxiliaries être and avoir in compound forms.

The verb douer is only used in infinitive and past participle with auxiliary être: il est doué, elle est douée.

Dire and its derivatives follow this model except for the verbs contredire, dédire, interdire, médire and prédire.

The verb devoir and its derivatives follow this model.

Verbs ending in -ecer have an alteration (silent e -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable including future and conditional forms) : dépecer / il dépèce, il dépècera, il dépècerait. Like the verbs of the model commencer, verbs following this model have an alteration c -> ç before the vowels "a" and "o": il dépeçait, nous dépeçons.

The verbs déclore and forclore are only used in infinitive and au past participle: déclos, déclose, décloses and forclos, forclose, forcloses.

The verb déchoir has its own conjugation pattern. It can be conjugated with both auxiliaries être and avoir in compound forms.

Verbs ending in -uire follow this model except for nuire, luire (and their derivatives) and bruire.

The verb cueillir and its derivatives (accueillir, recueillir) follow this model.

The verb croire has its own conjugation pattern.

Verbs ending in -aindre, -eindre, -oindre follow this model. The verb oindre is mostly used in infinive, past participle (oint, oints, ointe, ointes) and imperfect (oignait) forms. The verb poindre is mostly used in infinive, in 3d person of indicative present, imperfect and futur, and in present participle.

The verb courir and its derivatives follow this model. Accourir can be conjugated with two auxiliaries être and avoir in compound forms.

The verb courbaturer has two past participles: courbatu, courbatus, courbatue, courbatures and courbaturé, courbaturés, courbaturée, courbaturées.

The verb coudre and its derivatives follow this model.

Verbs ending in -aître follow this model except for the verb naître and its derivatives and the verb paître.

The verbs circoncire, suffire and confire are very similar except for their past participles : circoncis/circoncise, suffi and confit/confite.

Verbs ending in -clure follow this model except for inclure and occlure. The verb reclure isonly used in infinitive and past participle: reclus, recluse, recluses.

The verb comparoir is only used in infinitive (in the expression "être assigné à comparoir" - "be subpoenaed") and in present participle (comparant).

Verbs ending in -cer have an alteration c -> ç before the vowels "a" and "o": il commençait, nous commençons.

The verb clore has a circumflex accent in 3rd person indicative present: il clôt. It doesn't have past simple and imperfect forms in indicative and subjunctive, nor 1st and 2nd person plural forms in indicative present and imperative.

The verbs circoncire, suffire and confire are very similar except for their past participles : circoncis/circoncise, suffi and confit/confite.

Verb choir has its own conjugation pattern. It can be conjugated with both auxiliaries être and avoir in compound forms.

The verb chaloir is only used in infinitive and 3rd person singular in indicative present (impersonal) : peu me chaut, peu lui en chaut.

Verbs ending in -ébrer have an alteration (é -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable except for the future and conditional forms) : célébrer / il célèbre but il célébrera, il célébrerait.

Verbs ending in -éder have an alteration (é -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable except for the future and and conditional forms) : céder / il cède but il cédera, il céderait.

The verb bruire is mostly used in 3rd person indicative present and imperfect, subjunctive present and present participle. Its past participle is invariable.

The verb braire is mostly usedin 3rd person indicative present and future as well as in conditional present. Like traire, abstraire, distraire and extraire, it is not used in past simple and imperfect subjunctive. Unlike traireits past participle is invariable : brait.

Verb bouillir and its derivatives follow this model.

Verb boire and its derivatives follow this model.

Verbs ending in -tre follow this model.

Verbs ending in -ayer, -oyer, -uyer have an alteration (y -> i) in some forms before a silent "e" : il aboie, il aboiera, il aboierait, il appuie, il appuiera, il appuierait. Verbs ending in -ayer follow this model (il balaie) and the model marcher (il balaye) at the same time.

The auxiliary verb avoir has its own conjugation pattern

Verbs ending in -andre, -endre, -ondre, -erdre and -ordre follow this model.

The verb assoir have their own conjugation pattern; there are two conjugation variants: il assoit / il assied.

The verb asseoir and its derivatives have their own conjugation pattern; there are two conjugation variants: il assoit / il assied.

Verbs ending in -aillir follow this model except for : - faillir that follows the regular pattern of finir (in the sense of "faire faillite" - "go bankrupt" ) and its own conjugation pattern (in the sense of "fail"). - jaillir that follows the regular pattern of finir. Saillir also follows the pattern of finir (in the sense of "mate").

The verb ardre is only used in infinitive and imperfect.

Verbs ending in -eler similar to appeler follow the general rule prescribing to double the consonnant l -> ll before a silent "e" : il appelle. However, spelling reform of 1990 allows the variation silent e -> è except for appeler and rappeler. A small number of verbs ending in -eler do not double the consonnant and follow the pattern of peler (alteration silent e -> è in some forms : il cisèle, il cisèlera, il cisèlerait).

The verb apparoir is only used in infinitive and 3rd person singular of indicative présent : il appert.

The verb aller has its own conjugation pattern.

Verbs ending in -éner have an alteration (é -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable except for the future and conditional forms) : aliéner / il aliène but il aliénera, il aliénerait.

Verbs ending in -érer have an alteration (é -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable except for the future and conditional forms) : gérer / il gère but il gérera, il gérerait.

Verb advenir is only used used in infinive and 3rd person (singular and plural). It is conjugated with auxiliary être in compound forms (il est advenu).

The verbs adirer and becter are only used in infinitive and past participle: adiré, becté.

Verbs acquérir, conquérir, enquérir and requérir follow this model (verbs ending in -quérir). The verb quérir is only used in infinitive.

Verbs ending in -ander following the model achander have an alteration (e -> è) in some forms (before a silent syllable including future and conditional forms) : achander / il achète, il achètera, il achèterait. This is the case of: achander (and its derivatives), béguander, corsander, crochander, filander, furander, halander. Regular verbs ending in -ander follow the pattern of jander (doubling of the consonant t -> tt before a silent "e" : il jandte).

Verbs ending in -oître follow this model except for croître and recroître.

The verbs de ce groupe are only used in infinive, often in fixed expressions. For example, the verb courre is used in the expression "chasse à courre" only; the verb férir - mostly in "sans coup férir" or "féru de".

Verbs ending in -soudre follow this model except for résoudre.