Boire is the verb to drink — and it is an unusually irregular member of the third group. It is one of the few French verbs with a three-way stem split: boi- in the singular present, buv- in the plural present and most other tenses, and boiv- in the third-person plural present and parts of the subjunctive. Most irregular verbs split two ways at most; boire splits three.
The reason is historical: Latin bibere shed its consonants asymmetrically across persons in Old French, and the result is the stem distribution you see today. There is no shortcut and no analogy — you have to memorize where each stem lives. Once you know, the endings are regular.
The literary passé simple uses the u-pattern (je bus, tu bus, il but, nous bûmes, vous bûtes, ils burent) — the same template as lire, croire, connaître, recevoir. Auxiliary in compound tenses is avoir.
This page is the full reference: every paradigm, every compound tense, the core uses with examples, and the high-frequency idioms.
The simple tenses
These are the tenses formed without an auxiliary — the basic conjugational paradigms.
Présent de l'indicatif
The three-way stem split. Singular boi-, plural 1/2 buv-, plural 3 boiv-.
| Person | Form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| je | bois | /bwa/ |
| tu | bois | /bwa/ |
| il / elle / on | boit | /bwa/ |
| nous | buvons | /byvɔ̃/ |
| vous | buvez | /byve/ |
| ils / elles | boivent | /bwav/ |
The three singular forms are pronounced identically — /bwa/. The third-person plural boivent uses the third stem boiv-. This is the form most beginners get wrong: it isn't buvent (that would follow the plural-present pattern) — French chooses to mark the third-person plural with the boi--derived stem instead. The general rule across French verb morphology is: the ils/elles form uses the same stem as the je/tu/il singular, not the nous/vous plural. Boire is a textbook example.
Je bois mon café sans sucre, merci.
I take my coffee without sugar, thanks.
Vous buvez du vin avec votre repas ?
Do you drink wine with your meal?
Mes amis boivent surtout de la bière le week-end.
My friends mostly drink beer on weekends.
Imparfait
Built on the plural-present stem buv- plus the regular imparfait endings. The third stem boiv- doesn't appear here.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | buvais |
| tu | buvais |
| il / elle / on | buvait |
| nous | buvions |
| vous | buviez |
| ils / elles | buvaient |
Mon grand-père buvait un petit verre de vin tous les soirs.
My grandfather used to drink a small glass of wine every evening.
On buvait du chocolat chaud après l'école quand on était petits.
We used to drink hot chocolate after school when we were little.
Passé simple (literary)
The u-pattern. Used in literary writing and historical narration.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | bus |
| tu | bus |
| il / elle / on | but |
| nous | bûmes |
| vous | bûtes |
| ils / elles | burent |
The nous and vous forms carry the circumflex (bûmes, bûtes). Don't drop it — it is the regular orthographic mark for the u-pattern passé simple. Note also the homograph trap: il but is the passé simple of boire, but un but is the noun "a goal." Context tells them apart.
Il but son verre d'un seul trait et le reposa sur la table.
He drank his glass in one go and set it back on the table. (literary)
Ils burent à la victoire jusqu'au petit matin.
They drank to the victory until the small hours. (literary)
Futur simple
Stem boir- (drop the -e of the infinitive, add the futur endings). Completely regular, and it uses the singular-present stem — not buv-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | boirai |
| tu | boiras |
| il / elle / on | boira |
| nous | boirons |
| vous | boirez |
| ils / elles | boiront |
Je boirai un thé en attendant que tu sois prêt.
I'll have a tea while waiting for you to be ready.
On boira un coup à ta réussite.
We'll have a drink to your success.
Conditionnel présent
Same stem boir- as the futur, with the imparfait endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | boirais |
| tu | boirais |
| il / elle / on | boirait |
| nous | boirions |
| vous | boiriez |
| ils / elles | boiraient |
Je boirais bien un verre d'eau, si tu en as.
I could really go for a glass of water, if you have one.
On boirait moins si on dormait mieux.
We'd drink less if we slept better.
The phrase je boirais bien... is the polite, idiomatic way to say "I could go for / I'd love" a drink. Bien here is not "well" — it is the politeness particle that softens the conditional.
Subjonctif présent
Here the three-way stem split returns. The four forms that share their stem with the singular present (je, tu, il, ils) take boiv-; the nous and vous forms keep buv-.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (que) je | boive |
| (que) tu | boives |
| (qu')il / elle / on | boive |
| (que) nous | buvions |
| (que) vous | buviez |
| (qu')ils / elles | boivent |
This split-subjunctive pattern is the same one you find in prendre (prenne / prenions), venir (vienne / venions), recevoir (reçoive / recevions). Once you spot it in one verb, you start expecting it.
Il faut que je boive plus d'eau, c'est ce que dit le médecin.
I need to drink more water, that's what the doctor says.
Je veux que vous buviez quelque chose avant de partir.
I want you to have something to drink before you go.
Impératif
Three forms — drawn from the present indicative. As boire is a third-group -re verb, the tu form keeps its -s (the -s drop applies only to -er verbs and to aller, va).
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (tu) | bois |
| (nous) | buvons |
| (vous) | buvez |
Bois ton verre tant qu'il est froid.
Drink your glass while it's cold.
Buvez à votre rythme, on n'est pas pressés.
Drink at your own pace, we're not in a hurry.
Participles and gérondif
- Participe passé: bu / bue / bus / bues (vowel u, no circumflex; agrees as a normal participle)
- Participe présent: buvant
- Gérondif: en buvant
Il a renversé son verre en buvant trop vite.
He spilled his glass by drinking too fast.
L'eau bue ce matin n'était pas potable.
The water drunk this morning wasn't drinkable.
The past participle bu is bare — no circumflex. Don't confuse it with the literary passé-simple nous bûmes, which does carry a circumflex.
The compound tenses
Boire takes avoir as its auxiliary. Past participle bu.
Passé composé
avoir (présent) + bu
| Person | Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| j' | ai bu | I drank / I've drunk |
| tu | as bu | you drank |
| il / elle / on | a bu | he/she/we drank |
| nous | avons bu | we drank |
| vous | avez bu | you drank |
| ils / elles | ont bu | they drank |
J'ai bu trop de café ce matin, je suis nerveux.
I had too much coffee this morning, I'm jittery.
Tu as bu combien de verres, toi ?
How many glasses have you had, then?
Note the colloquial use of avoir bu (without an object) to mean "to have had a drink / be drunk":
Il ne faut pas conduire quand on a bu.
You shouldn't drive when you've been drinking.
Because boire takes avoir, the past participle agrees only with a preceding direct object: l'eau que j'ai bue (with feminine -e), but j'ai bu l'eau (no agreement).
La bouteille de vin qu'on a bue hier soir était excellente.
The bottle of wine we drank last night was excellent.
Plus-que-parfait
avoir (imparfait) + bu
J'avais déjà bu mon café quand le téléphone a sonné.
I'd already drunk my coffee when the phone rang.
Futur antérieur
avoir (futur) + bu
Quand tu arriveras, on aura déjà bu l'apéro sans toi.
By the time you get here, we'll already have had drinks without you.
Conditionnel passé
avoir (conditionnel) + bu
J'aurais bu un café si j'avais su qu'il fallait être réveillé.
I would have had a coffee if I'd known I needed to be alert.
Subjonctif passé
avoir (subjonctif) + bu
Je doute qu'il ait bu autant que ça.
I doubt he drank that much.
Core uses
1. Drink (something)
The basic transitive use. Boire takes a direct object — water, coffee, wine, anything potable.
Tu veux boire quelque chose ?
Do you want something to drink?
Je ne bois pas de café après seize heures.
I don't drink coffee after four p.m.
Elle a bu son thé en silence.
She drank her tea in silence.
2. Drink (absolute) — drink alcohol, be drinking
Without an object, boire often means "drink alcohol" or "have a drinking problem." This is exactly parallel to English absolute "drinking."
Il a complètement arrêté de boire il y a deux ans.
He completely stopped drinking two years ago.
Je ne bois pas, mais je suis content de venir au bar avec vous.
I don't drink, but I'm happy to come to the bar with you.
3. Boire à + person / thing — drink to (someone's health, success, etc.)
A formal toast structure. Boire à la santé de quelqu'un is the full form; boire à alone with an abstract object is also fixed.
Je bois à votre santé, mes amis !
I drink to your health, my friends!
On a bu à sa réussite toute la soirée.
We drank to her success all evening.
Buvons à nos retrouvailles !
Let's drink to our reunion!
High-frequency idioms and collocations
- boire un coup / un verre — have a drink (informal)
- boire un pot / boire des coups — have drinks (informal/colloquial)
- boire à la santé de — drink to someone's health
- boire à petites gorgées — sip
- boire d'un trait / cul sec — drink in one go / down it (the latter informal)
- boire les paroles de quelqu'un — hang on someone's words (literally: drink someone's words)
- boire la tasse — swallow water (when swimming and surprised by a wave)
- boire comme un trou / un poisson — drink like a fish (informal)
- en boire un coup — figurative: take a hit, have a tough time (informal)
- quand le vin est tiré, il faut le boire — there's no turning back now (proverb: "once the wine is drawn, you have to drink it")
On va boire un coup au bar du coin ?
Shall we go have a drink at the corner bar?
Elle buvait ses paroles comme s'il prononçait une vérité divine.
She hung on his every word as if he were proclaiming divine truth.
J'ai bu la tasse en plongeant — c'était humiliant.
I swallowed water when I dove in — it was humiliating.
Il boit comme un trou depuis qu'il a perdu son boulot.
He's been drinking like a fish since he lost his job. (informal)
Comparison with English
Three friction points for English speakers:
- The three-way stem split has no English parallel. English "drink/drank/drunk" changes the vowel three times in a single direction (i → a → u). French splits boi- / buv- / boiv- across persons of the same tense, then adds yet another stem (boir-) for the futur. Don't try to map; memorize the four stems and where each lives.
- No "drink" without object meaning "drink alcohol" needs context. In English, "he's drinking" ambiguously suggests alcohol unless context says otherwise. In French, il boit without object similarly leans toward alcohol — but in many contexts il boit son café is the natural completion, so French speakers often add the object more readily.
- "To have a drink" is boire un coup / boire un verre. English "have a drink" doesn't translate as avoir une boisson — that sounds wrong. The standard idiom uses boire with a measure noun (un coup, un verre, un pot).
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Using buv- for the third-person plural.
❌ Ils buvent du vin.
Wrong — the third-person plural uses the *boiv-* stem: *ils boivent*.
✅ Ils boivent du vin.
They drink wine.
Mistake 2: Using boi- in the imparfait.
❌ Je boyais du café.
Wrong — the imparfait is built on the *buv-* stem: *je buvais*. The form *boyais* doesn't exist for this verb.
✅ Je buvais du café.
I used to drink coffee.
Mistake 3: Using a single subjunctive stem.
❌ Il faut que nous boivions plus d'eau.
Wrong — *nous* and *vous* keep the *buv-* stem in the subjunctive: *que nous buvions, que vous buviez*.
✅ Il faut que nous buvions plus d'eau.
We need to drink more water.
Mistake 4: Adding a circumflex to the past participle.
❌ J'ai bû trop de café.
Wrong — the past participle is bare *bu*. The circumflex appears only on *nous bûmes / vous bûtes* in the literary passé simple.
✅ J'ai bu trop de café.
I drank too much coffee.
Mistake 5: Translating "have a drink" as avoir une boisson.
❌ Tu veux avoir une boisson ?
Wrong — French uses *boire un coup / un verre / quelque chose*, not *avoir une boisson*.
✅ Tu veux boire quelque chose ?
Do you want something to drink?
Key takeaways
Boire has a three-way stem split in the present indicative: boi- (singular), buv- (1st and 2nd plural), boiv- (3rd plural). The split returns in the subjunctive: boive / boive / boive / buvions / buviez / boivent. The imparfait, the futur, and the past participle each pick a single stem: imparfait buv-, futur boir-, past participle bu.
The literary passé simple (je bus, nous bûmes) follows the u-pattern, with the circumflex on nous / vous. The past participle bu is bare — no circumflex.
Auxiliary in compound tenses is avoir: j'ai bu, j'avais bu, j'aurai bu. With avoir, the past participle agrees only with a preceding direct object: la bouteille que j'ai bue, but j'ai bu la bouteille.
The verb covers literal drinking, drinking alcohol absolutely (il a arrêté de boire), and ceremonial toasting (boire à la santé de quelqu'un). The high-frequency idioms — boire un coup, boire un verre, boire les paroles de quelqu'un, boire la tasse — are essential for natural French.
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