Irregular Verbs in the Passé Simple
As you read French history and mythology, you will see the passé simple everywhere. Some of the most common verbs are highly irregular in this literary tense. Fortunately, you only need to recognize them to read!
Here are the third-person singular (il, elle, on) forms of five essential verbs:
- être (to be) becomes fut
- avoir (to have) becomes eut
- faire (to do/make) becomes fit
- voir (to see) becomes vit
- dire (to say/tell) becomes dit
| The god of this kingdom was very powerful. | Le dieu de ce royaume fut très puissant. |
| The god needed all his power. | Le dieu eut besoin de toute sa puissance. |
| After having visited the castle, the goddess made a sacred promise. | Après avoir visité le château, la déesse fit une promesse sacrée. |
| The archaeologist saw the ancient parchment in the temple. | L'archéologue vit le parchemin antique dans le temple. |
| The hero of the legend told the truth to the king. | Le héros de la légende dit la vérité au roi. |
Once you know these core irregulars, you can comfortably read the vast majority of classic French storytelling.
| The hero saw the sacred parchment and was afraid. | Le héros vit le parchemin sacré et eut peur. |
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