This page is a quick-reference table for B2 readers. The aim is not to teach the passé simple from scratch — the family pages do that — but to give you a single page you can come back to when you are mid-novel and want to confirm an infinitive or a family. Forty of the most frequent verbs in literary French are listed here, grouped by family, with the third-person singular and third-person plural side by side.
The third-person forms are the ones you will see overwhelmingly often. Literary narration is mostly about he, she, it, they — the narrator describing characters in a third-person frame. First and second persons are less common and live mostly in dialogue. If you can recognize fut, eut, fit, dit, prit, mit, vint, tint, lut, but, voulut, dut, you are ready to read most of nineteenth-century French prose.
How to read the table
Each row gives the infinitive, the 3sg passé simple, the 3pl passé simple, and the family label. The four families are:
- -er — regular -er verbs (1er groupe). 3sg ends in -a, 3pl in -èrent. Most frequent family by raw verb count.
- -i — regular -ir/-re verbs and many irregulars. 3sg ends in -it, 3pl in -irent. Pronunciation /i/.
- -u — irregular family with /y/ vowel throughout. 3sg ends in -ut, 3pl in -urent. Includes the modal verbs and many high-frequency irregulars.
- -ins — closed family limited to venir, tenir, and compounds. 3sg ends in -int, 3pl in -inrent. Pronunciation /ɛ̃/.
A bold family label flags an irregular stem (one that does not match the infinitive root in a predictable way). Verbs with a regular family label have stems that follow from the infinitive directly.
Master table: the top 40 verbs
| Infinitive | Meaning | 3sg passé simple | 3pl passé simple | Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| être | to be | il fut | ils furent | -u (irreg. stem f-) |
| avoir | to have | il eut | ils eurent | -u (irreg. stem e-) |
| faire | to do, make | il fit | ils firent | -i (irreg. stem f-) |
| dire | to say | il dit | ils dirent | -i |
| aller | to go | il alla | ils allèrent | -er (regular) |
| voir | to see | il vit | ils virent | -i (NOT -u, despite participle vu) |
| pouvoir | to be able to | il put | ils purent | -u |
| vouloir | to want | il voulut | ils voulurent | -u |
| devoir | to have to | il dut | ils durent | -u |
| savoir | to know | il sut | ils surent | -u |
| venir | to come | il vint | ils vinrent | -ins |
| tenir | to hold | il tint | ils tinrent | -ins |
| prendre | to take | il prit | ils prirent | -i |
| mettre | to put | il mit | ils mirent | -i |
| lire | to read | il lut | ils lurent | -u |
| écrire | to write | il écrivit | ils écrivirent | -i (stem écriv-) |
| connaître | to know (be acquainted) | il connut | ils connurent | -u |
| vivre | to live | il vécut | ils vécurent | -u (stem véc-) |
| boire | to drink | il but | ils burent | -u |
| rire | to laugh | il rit | ils rirent | -i |
| sortir | to go out | il sortit | ils sortirent | -i (regular) |
| partir | to leave | il partit | ils partirent | -i (regular) |
| mourir | to die | il mourut | ils moururent | -u |
| naître | to be born | il naquit | ils naquirent | -i (stem naqu-) |
| falloir | to be necessary | il fallut | — | -u (impersonal only) |
| pleuvoir | to rain | il plut | — | -u (impersonal only) |
| devenir | to become | il devint | ils devinrent | -ins |
| revenir | to come back | il revint | ils revinrent | -ins |
| parvenir | to reach, succeed | il parvint | ils parvinrent | -ins |
| se souvenir | to remember | il se souvint | ils se souvinrent | -ins |
| retenir | to retain | il retint | ils retinrent | -ins |
| obtenir | to obtain | il obtint | ils obtinrent | -ins |
| croire | to believe | il crut | ils crurent | -u |
| recevoir | to receive | il reçut | ils reçurent | -u |
| courir | to run | il courut | ils coururent | -u |
| finir | to finish | il finit | ils finirent | -i (regular) |
| répondre | to answer | il répondit | ils répondirent | -i (regular) |
| parler | to speak | il parla | ils parlèrent | -er (regular) |
| regarder | to look at | il regarda | ils regardèrent | -er (regular) |
| entendre | to hear | il entendit | ils entendirent | -i (regular) |
Reading the table by family
If you find that the table above is dense, here is the same content reorganized as a quick scan by family.
-er family (1er groupe — always regular)
The largest family by far in everyday French, but not the most common in literary narration because most action verbs sit in the -i and -u families. 3sg ends in -a (no -t), 3pl in -èrent.
| Infinitive | 3sg | 3pl |
|---|---|---|
| aller | il alla | ils allèrent |
| parler | il parla | ils parlèrent |
| regarder | il regarda | ils regardèrent |
| donner | il donna | ils donnèrent |
| arriver | il arriva | ils arrivèrent |
| entrer | il entra | ils entrèrent |
-i family (regular -ir/-re plus several irregulars)
The largest irregular family. 3sg ends in -it, 3pl in -irent. The vowel is /i/ throughout.
| Infinitive | 3sg | 3pl | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| finir | il finit | ils finirent | regular -ir |
| partir | il partit | ils partirent | regular -ir |
| sortir | il sortit | ils sortirent | regular -ir |
| répondre | il répondit | ils répondirent | regular -re |
| entendre | il entendit | ils entendirent | regular -re |
| faire | il fit | ils firent | irreg. stem f- |
| dire | il dit | ils dirent | irreg. stem d- |
| voir | il vit | ils virent | irreg. stem v- |
| prendre | il prit | ils prirent | irreg. stem pr- |
| mettre | il mit | ils mirent | irreg. stem m- |
| rire | il rit | ils rirent | irreg. stem r- |
| écrire | il écrivit | ils écrivirent | stem écriv- |
| naître | il naquit | ils naquirent | stem naqu- |
-u family (irregulars with /y/ vowel)
3sg ends in -ut, 3pl in -urent. Vowel is /y/ throughout. Stem usually equals past participle minus -u.
| Infinitive | 3sg | 3pl | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| être | il fut | ils furent | irreg. stem f- |
| avoir | il eut | ils eurent | silent e-, stem e- |
| pouvoir | il put | ils purent | — |
| vouloir | il voulut | ils voulurent | — |
| devoir | il dut | ils durent | — |
| savoir | il sut | ils surent | — |
| connaître | il connut | ils connurent | — |
| croire | il crut | ils crurent | — |
| boire | il but | ils burent | — |
| lire | il lut | ils lurent | — |
| vivre | il vécut | ils vécurent | stem véc- |
| recevoir | il reçut | ils reçurent | cedilla before u |
| courir | il courut | ils coururent | — |
| mourir | il mourut | ils moururent | — |
| falloir | il fallut | — | impersonal only |
| pleuvoir | il plut | — | impersonal only |
-ins family (venir/tenir + compounds only)
3sg ends in -int, 3pl in -inrent. Vowel /ɛ̃/ throughout. Used by no other verbs.
| Infinitive | 3sg | 3pl |
|---|---|---|
| venir | il vint | ils vinrent |
| tenir | il tint | ils tinrent |
| devenir | il devint | ils devinrent |
| revenir | il revint | ils revinrent |
| parvenir | il parvint | ils parvinrent |
| se souvenir | il se souvint | ils se souvinrent |
| retenir | il retint | ils retinrent |
| obtenir | il obtint | ils obtinrent |
Examples in narrative context
The point of the recognition table is fast parsing during reading. Here are passé simple forms in literary contexts so you can see how they sit on the page.
Il fit un pas en arrière et la regarda longuement.
He took a step back and looked at her for a long time. (fit = passé simple of faire)
Elle prit la lettre, la lut deux fois, puis la mit dans sa poche.
She took the letter, read it twice, then put it in her pocket. (prit, lut, mit — three -i / -u family forms in one sentence)
Personne ne sut jamais ce qui se passa cette nuit-là.
Nobody ever knew what happened that night. (sut = passé simple of savoir; passa = regular -er)
Il devint pâle, voulut dire quelque chose, puis se tut.
He turned pale, wanted to say something, then fell silent. (devint, voulut, se tut — three irregular families in one phrase)
Quand elle vit le navire à l'horizon, elle eut soudain peur.
When she saw the ship on the horizon, she was suddenly afraid. (vit from voir, eut from avoir)
Ils naquirent à quelques mois d'intervalle, dans le même village.
They were born a few months apart, in the same village. (naquirent — irregular -i family form of naître)
Il plut toute la nuit, et le lendemain matin la rue ressemblait à une rivière.
It rained all night, and the next morning the street looked like a river. (plut from pleuvoir, impersonal -u)
Elle se souvint alors de la promesse qu'elle avait faite à son père.
She then remembered the promise she had made to her father. (se souvint — -ins family)
Quick parsing strategy
If you encounter an unfamiliar form mid-sentence and suspect it is a passé simple, check the ending:
- ends in -a (3sg) or -èrent (3pl) → regular -er verb. Strip the ending and you have the infinitive root.
- ends in -it (3sg) or -irent (3pl) → -i family. Could be regular -ir/-re (sortit, répondit) or irregular (fit, prit, mit, dit, vit). The stem will guide you.
- ends in -ut (3sg) or -urent (3pl) → -u family. Stem is usually the past participle minus -u. Check for fut (être), eut (avoir), or one of the modals.
- ends in -int (3sg) or -inrent (3pl) → -ins family. The verb is venir, tenir, or one of their compounds. Always.
Once you know the family, the infinitive falls out within a couple of seconds. With the most-frequent forty verbs in muscle memory, this becomes automatic for any reader at B2 and above.
Comparison with English
English has nothing like this typology. The English simple past flattens regular verbs into -ed (walked, talked, asked) and irregular verbs into one-off shapes (went, took, said, came, was). The literary register is unmarked: was is was whether in casual chat or in Middlemarch. French, by contrast, encodes register morphologically — and the passé simple's family system is the inheritance mechanism.
This is why a recognition table makes sense for French and would be slightly absurd for English. English speakers reading French need a shortcut to map vint back to come, fut back to be, put back to be able to. Memorizing the families is that shortcut.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Mistaking voir's passé simple as a -u family form.
❌ Il vut le voleur et appela la police.
Incorrect — voir's passé simple is in the -i family: il vit. The participle vu is misleading.
✅ Il vit le voleur et appela la police.
He saw the thief and called the police.
Mistake 2: Putting -t on a 3sg -er passé simple.
❌ Il parlat à voix basse.
Incorrect — the 3sg passé simple of regular -er verbs ends in -a, with no -t. The correct form is il parla.
✅ Il parla à voix basse.
He spoke in a low voice.
Mistake 3: Confusing 3sg passé simple of finir (il finit) with 3sg present (il finit).
❌ Aujourd'hui il finit son travail.
Stylistically off if intended as past — context is everything. In a present-tense passage, finit is present indicative; in a past narrative, it is passé simple. Same form, different tense. Disambiguation by surrounding tense is the only cue.
✅ Aujourd'hui il finit son travail à dix-sept heures. (present)
Today he finishes work at five p.m.
✅ Hier soir il finit son travail tard. (passé simple — literary)
Last night he finished work late.
Mistake 4: Treating naître as a regular -re verb.
❌ Il naîtrit en 1899.
Incorrect — naître's passé simple stem is naqu-: il naquit. There is no regular pattern that gives naîtrit.
✅ Il naquit en 1899.
He was born in 1899.
Mistake 5: Adding circumflex to non-nous-vous forms.
❌ Il fût en retard.
Wrong tense — fût (with circumflex) is the imperfect subjunctive. The passé simple 3sg of être is fut (no circumflex). The circumflex appears only on nous fûmes / vous fûtes in this paradigm.
✅ Il fut en retard.
He was late.
Key takeaways
The passé simple has four families: regular -er (3sg -a, 3pl -èrent), regular -i (3sg -it, 3pl -irent) plus irregular -i family verbs sharing the same endings, irregular -u (3sg -ut, 3pl -urent), and the closed -ins family limited to venir/tenir and compounds.
The forty verbs in this table cover the overwhelming majority of passé simple forms you will encounter in reading. Recognition is the goal: see the form, recover the infinitive, keep reading. The family pages (-er regular, -i family, -u family, -ins family) cover formation rules and full paradigms; this page is the reference card you can come back to whenever you encounter a passé simple in the wild.
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Start learning French→Related Topics
- Le Passé Simple: OverviewB2 — Le passé simple is French's literary perfective past — used in novels, history writing, and formal narrative. It does the same aspectual work as the passé composé in spoken French, but with its own morphology and a register that signals literary or formal prose. For learners, this is a recognition skill at B2 and a production skill only at C1+.
- Passé Simple of Regular -er VerbsB2 — Regular -er verbs form the passé simple with the endings -ai, -as, -a, -âmes, -âtes, -èrent. The 1sg form is homophonous with the imparfait in casual speech, and the 3sg form is homophonous with the imparfait when the final consonant is dropped — so spelling and context carry the contrast in writing.
- Passé Simple of Regular -ir and -re VerbsB2 — Regular -ir and -re verbs form the passé simple with the endings -is, -is, -it, -îmes, -îtes, -irent. The 3sg form is identical to the present tense in both spelling and pronunciation, so context alone disambiguates — a unique trap in the French verb system.
- Le Passé Simple: Le Modèle en -uB2 — Many high-frequency irregular French verbs form their passé simple with a -u stem and the endings -us, -us, -ut, -ûmes, -ûtes, -urent. This page covers être, avoir, pouvoir, vouloir, devoir, savoir, vivre, boire, lire, connaître and the rest of the family — recognition skill for reading literary French.
- Le Passé Simple: Le Modèle en -ins (venir, tenir)B2 — A tiny but distinctive passé simple family: only venir, tenir, and their compounds. The endings -ins, -ins, -int, -înmes, -întes, -inrent appear nowhere else in French — recognizing them is a short, sharp recognition skill for any literary reader.
- Le Passé Simple et l'Imparfait: La Trame Narrative LittéraireC1 — In literary French, the passé simple and the imparfait pair up the way the passé composé and the imparfait pair up in speech: foreground events versus background description. Understanding this pairing is the key to reading Hugo, Balzac, Flaubert, and Maupassant the way native readers do.