Le Présent: Map of irregular verbs in French

French has somewhere between 400 and 500 irregular verbs in active use — but they are not 500 random patterns. They cluster into about twenty stem-alternation families, and once you can recognize a family, you can predict the conjugation of every verb in it. Tenir, retenir, contenir, soutenir, devenir all conjugate identically. Comprendre, apprendre, surprendre all follow prendre. The lift is real, but it is finite.

This page is the navigation map for the entire irregular-verb territory. For each family, you get a two-line summary of the alternation, one or two prototypical examples, and a link to the dedicated page that walks through the full paradigm. Use this page as a top-down view: when you encounter an unfamiliar verb, ask yourself "which family does this belong to?" and the answer will be one of the entries below.

Why irregular verbs cluster

Irregularity in French verbs is mostly the residue of Latin sound changes that affected vowels and consonants differently before different endings. Venir alternates between vien- (singular and 3pl) and ven- (1pl/2pl) because Latin stressed vénio and unstressed venímus underwent different vowel changes — and the descendants kept both forms. The same logic produced prendre/prenons, boire/buvons, recevoir/recevons. Every "irregular" pattern in French has a historical reason.

For learners, the practical takeaway is simpler: irregular French verbs almost always show a two-stem or three-stem alternation in the present:

• One stem for the singular and the 3pl (the strong stem, historically stressed)
• One stem for 1pl/2pl (the weak stem, historically unstressed)
• Sometimes a third, distinct 3pl stem (peuvent, veulent, boivent)

Recognizing the alternation pattern is the key skill. Below, the families are organized roughly by frequency and pattern type.

The top of the frequency list: être, avoir, aller, faire

These four verbs are the most common in French, and they are also among the most unpredictable — none of them follow any regular template. They have to be memorized as standalone paradigms.

être (to be)

Je suis, tu es, il est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont. Three or four distinct stems, virtually no overlap with anything else. The most frequent verb in French — used as auxiliary, copula, and stand-alone "to be."
→ See être (present indicative).

avoir (to have)

J'ai, tu as, il a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont. Equally singular paradigm — like être, no template. Most frequent transitive verb; primary auxiliary for compound tenses.
→ See avoir (present indicative).

aller (to go)

Je vais, tu vas, il va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont. Three completely different stems — vai-, all-, vo- — historically from three different Latin verbs that fused into one. Used for motion and as the auxiliary of the futur proche (je vais partir).
→ See aller (present indicative).

faire (to make / to do)

Je fais, tu fais, il fait, nous faisons, vous faites, ils font. Two surprises: vous faites (no -ez) and ils font (no -ent). The 1pl nous faisons has an unexpected /ə/ pronunciation: /fəzɔ̃/.
→ See faire (present indicative).

The -ir-without-iss family: tenir/venir, sortir/partir/dormir, ouvrir

These are the historic third-group -ir verbs. They split into three sub-families.

venir / tenir family — -ien- / -en- / -ienn- alternation

Je viens, tu viens, il vient, nous venons, vous venez, ils viennent.
Includes: venir, tenir, devenir, revenir, retenir, contenir, soutenir, intervenir, parvenir, prévenir, appartenir, maintenir. The 3pl doubles the -n- in writing (viennent) and changes the vowel quality (/vjɛn/).
→ See venir / tenir family.

sortir / partir / dormir family — drop-the-final-consonant pattern

Je pars, tu pars, il part, nous partons, vous partez, ils partent.
Includes: sortir, partir, dormir, mentir, sentir, servir. The singular drops the final consonant of the stem (part- → par-); the plural keeps it (partons).
→ See sortir / partir / dormir.

ouvrir family — conjugates like an -er verb

J'ouvre, tu ouvres, il ouvre, nous ouvrons, vous ouvrez, ils ouvrent.
Includes: ouvrir, offrir, couvrir, découvrir, souffrir, cueillir. Despite the -ir infinitive, these verbs take 1^er-groupe endings (-e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent). The past participle ends in -ert (ouvert, offert, couvert, souffert).
→ See ouvrir family.

The -re families: prendre, mettre, conduire, peindre, suivre

The -re verbs are where French shows its richest stem alternations.

prendre / comprendre family — -end- / -en- / -enn- alternation

Je prends, tu prends, il prend, nous prenons, vous prenez, ils prennent.
Includes: prendre, apprendre, comprendre, surprendre, entreprendre, reprendre. Three stems: prend- (singular), pren- (1pl/2pl), prenn- (3pl). Note that the singular keeps a silent -d- (il prend).
→ See prendre (present indicative).

mettre / permettre family — -et- / -ett- alternation

Je mets, tu mets, il met, nous mettons, vous mettez, ils mettent.
Includes: mettre, permettre, promettre, admettre, remettre, transmettre, soumettre. The stem doubles its -t- before -ons/-ez/-ent and the past participle is -mis with no doubling (mis, permis, promis).
→ See mettre (present indicative).

conduire family — -uis- paradigm

Je conduis, tu conduis, il conduit, nous conduisons, vous conduisez, ils conduisent.
Includes: conduire, traduire, produire, construire, détruire, séduire, réduire, instruire, introduire. Almost regular within the family; the past participle is -uit (conduit, traduit, produit).
→ See conduire / traduire family.

peindre / craindre / joindre family — -ein-/-aint-/-oint- in singular, -eign-/-aign-/-oign- in plural

Je peins, tu peins, il peint, nous peignons, vous peignez, ils peignent.
Includes: peindre, craindre, plaindre, atteindre, éteindre, contraindre, rejoindre, joindre. Three sub-patterns by infinitive vowel: -eindre, -aindre, -oindre. All add a -gn- in 1pl/2pl/3pl. The past participle ends in -int / -aint / -oint (peint, craint, joint).
→ See peindre / craindre family.

suivre / vivre family — -i-/-iv- alternation

Je suis, tu suis, il suit, nous suivons, vous suivez, ils suivent.
Includes: suivre, poursuivre, vivre, survivre, revivre. Note: 1sg of suivre (je suis) is identical to 1sg of être — context disambiguates.
→ See suivre / vivre.

The -oir families: voir, savoir, devoir, recevoir, pouvoir, vouloir

The -oir group is the classic territory of multi-stem alternation.

voir family — -oi-/-oy- alternation

Je vois, tu vois, il voit, nous voyons, vous voyez, ils voient.
Includes: voir, revoir, prévoir, entrevoir. The -i- of the singular becomes -y- before -ons/-ez to mark the glide /j/.
→ See voir (present indicative).

savoir — three stems: sai- / sav- / save-

Je sais, tu sais, il sait, nous savons, vous savez, ils savent.
A standalone verb, but the alternation is similar to avoir (ai/av-) at a smaller scale. Imperative is unique: sache, sachons, sachez (with the subjunctive stem).
→ See savoir (present indicative).

devoir / recevoir family — -oi-/-ev-/-oiv- alternation

Je dois, tu dois, il doit, nous devons, vous devez, ils doivent.
Includes: devoir, recevoir, apercevoir, concevoir, décevoir, percevoir. Three stems: doi- (singular), dev- (1pl/2pl), doiv- (3pl). The -c- in recevoir takes a cedilla ç before -o- and -u- (je reçois, j'ai reçu).
→ See recevoir / devoir family.

pouvoir — three stems: peu-/peuv-/pouv-

Je peux, tu peux, il peut, nous pouvons, vous pouvez, ils peuvent.
1sg has an alternative form je puis, archaic except in the inversion puis-je ("may I?"). The future stem is pourr- (je pourrai).
→ See pouvoir (present indicative).

vouloir — three stems: veu-/voul-/veul-

Je veux, tu veux, il veut, nous voulons, vous voulez, ils veulent.
The 3pl veulent has a distinct stem from the singular veut — the only place where the -eul- form appears. Imperative is unusual: veuille, veuillons, veuillez (with subjunctive stem, used for polite requests: veuillez patienter).
→ See vouloir (present indicative).

falloir / pleuvoir — impersonal only

Il faut. Il pleut.
These two verbs exist only in the third-person singular with a dummy il subject. Falloir expresses necessity (il faut partir, il faut que je parte); pleuvoir expresses rain.
→ See falloir and pleuvoir.

The -aître and -oire families

connaître / paraître family — -ai-/-aiss- alternation

Je connais, tu connais, il connaît, nous connaissons, vous connaissez, ils connaissent.
Includes: connaître, reconnaître, paraître, apparaître, disparaître, naître, croître. The 3sg traditionally takes a circumflex on the i (il connaît); the 1990 reform makes it optional (il connait is now accepted). The plural stem inserts -ss- to preserve the /s/ before vowels.
→ See connaître (present indicative).

boire / croire family — -oi-/-uv-/-oiv- and -oi-/-oy-/-oi-

Boire: je bois, tu bois, il boit, nous buvons, vous buvez, ils boivent. (Three stems: boi-/buv-/boiv-.)
Croire: je crois, tu crois, il croit, nous croyons, vous croyez, ils croient. (Two stems: croi-/croy-.)
Boire is the more irregular of the two — the -uv- stem in 1pl/2pl is unique to it. Croire follows the same -oi-/-oy- logic as voir.
→ See boire / croire.

The -ire families: dire, lire, écrire

dire — three stems plus a unique -vous form

Je dis, tu dis, il dit, nous disons, vous dites, ils disent.
The 2pl vous dites (no -ez) is one of the rarest forms in French — only être (êtes) and faire (faites) share this archaic ending. Redire follows the same pattern (vous redites); but contredire, médire, prédire, interdire take the regular -isez (vous contredisez).
→ See dire (present indicative).

lire / écrire family — -i-/-iv- and -i-/-iv- alternation

Lire: je lis, tu lis, il lit, nous lisons, vous lisez, ils lisent. (Stems li-/lis-.)
Écrire: j'écris, tu écris, il écrit, nous écrivons, vous écrivez, ils écrivent. (Stems écri-/écriv-.)
Écrire's family includes décrire, prescrire, transcrire, inscrire, souscrire.
→ See lire / écrire.

Three small irregular clusters: rire, conclure, plaire

These don't fit any larger family but are common enough to require dedicated coverage.

rire (to laugh)

Je ris, tu ris, il rit, nous rions, vous riez, ils rient. Past participle ri. Includes sourire. The imparfait gives the famous double -i-: nous riions, vous riiez.

conclure (to conclude)

Je conclus, tu conclus, il conclut, nous concluons, vous concluez, ils concluent. Past participle conclu (no -s). Family: exclure, occlure. Trap: inclure has past participle inclus with -s.

plaire (to please)

Je plais, tu plais, il plaît, nous plaisons, vous plaisez, ils plaisent. Past participle plu. The famous "inverted-subject" verb: ce livre me plaît = "I like this book." Source of s'il vous plaît.
→ All three covered together at rire, conclure, plaire.

A special case: s'asseoir (dual paradigm)

S'asseoir ("to sit down") is the only common French verb with two officially correct paradigms in modern use:

• Pattern 1 (more common): je m'assois, nous nous assoyons, ils s'assoient
• Pattern 2 (slightly more formal): je m'assieds, nous nous asseyons, ils s'asseyent

Both are accepted; both appear in published French. As a pronominal verb, it takes être in compound tenses with the past participle assis(e) agreeing with the subject.
→ See s'asseoir (pronominal).

A summary table of the patterns

How to study this map

The table above is dense — and that is the point. Once you have a single mental image of the irregularity space, individual verbs become recognizable. Here is a workflow that works:

1. Master the top four (être, avoir, aller, faire). They are unique paradigms but also the highest-frequency verbs in French. Without them you cannot speak.
2. Learn one prototype per family. Memorize venir and you have tenir, devenir, retenir, contenir, soutenir, parvenir, prévenir, intervenir, appartenir, maintenir — eleven verbs in one. Memorize prendre and you have apprendre, comprendre, surprendre, entreprendre, reprendre. Memorize mettre and you have permettre, promettre, admettre, remettre, transmettre, soumettre.
3. Recognize the pattern when you encounter a new verb. When you see poursuivre, ask: "what does it look like?" The infinitive ends in -suivre, so it follows suivre. Done.
4. Memorize the singletons separately. Falloir, pleuvoir, s'asseoir, dire, faire don't fit into bigger families. Learn them as standalone units.

The total memorization load is much smaller than 500 verbs. Roughly twenty patterns + four irregular giants + a handful of singletons covers everything you will hear in everyday French.

What about regular verbs?

Most French verbs are not on this page. They follow one of the regular templates:

• 1^er groupe (-er verbs like parler, manger, donner) — about 90% of all French verbs by count, all new verbs are formed in this group.
  → See regular -er verbs.
• 2^e groupe (-ir verbs with the -iss- infix like finir, choisir, réussir) — a productive secondary group.
  → See regular -ir verbs (-iss-).
• 3^e groupe (irregular -ir, -re, -oir) — closed class, no new verbs added, but high-frequency.
  → See regular -ir 3rd group and regular -re verbs.

The "irregular" verbs above are technically a sub-set of the 3^e groupe — but the boundaries are blurry, because every 3^e-groupe verb has some irregular feature. The distinction between "regular -re" and "irregular -re" is partly conventional.

A note on what not to memorize

Some verbs that appear "irregular" in tables actually follow a predictable orthographic rule rather than a true stem alternation. These are covered separately:

• -cer / -ger verbs (lancer, manger): cedilla and -e- before -a- and -o- (nous lançons, nous mangeons). Pure orthographic adjustment.
• -eler / -eter verbs (appeler, jeter): double consonant before silent e (j'appelle, je jette).
• -yer verbs (payer, employer): y → i before silent e (je paie, j'emploie).

These are covered in spelling changes overview. They are not "irregular" in the sense of having multiple stems — they are regular -er verbs with predictable orthographic adjustments.

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Treating each irregular verb as a unique paradigm.

Mistake 2: Assuming the -ir infinitive predicts the conjugation.

Mistake 3: Over-extending the venir/tenir pattern to verbs that don't belong.

Mistake 4: Confusing je suis (être) with je suis (suivre).

The two forms are spelled and pronounced identically; only context tells them apart. The same is true of (il) plu — past participle of both plaire and pleuvoir.

Mistake 5: Forgetting that vous dites, vous faites, vous êtes are exceptions.

These three forms (êtes, faites, dites) preserve archaic 2pl endings that all other French verbs have lost.

Key takeaways

• Irregular verbs cluster into about twenty stem-alternation families. Learning the prototypes is an enormous shortcut.
• The four highest-frequency irregular verbs (être, avoir, aller, faire) are unique paradigms and must be learned standalone.
• Most irregular verbs show a two-stem or three-stem alternation: a "strong" stem in singular/3pl, a "weak" stem in 1pl/2pl, sometimes a third stem in 3pl.
• Some apparent irregularities (-cer, -ger, -eler, -eter, -yer verbs) are actually predictable orthographic rules in the regular -er group — see spelling changes overview.
• Use this map as your top-down view: when you encounter an unfamiliar verb, identify its family, and the conjugation follows.