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Conjugaison A
Conjugaison A
The undisputed most common verb in the French language. Take note of how often you use the verb “to
be” and its conjugations (am, are, is) in English, and you’ll see why être is so common in French.
Furthermore, even though this verb means “to be” by itself, it can also be used as a support verb for
compound verb tenses.
And even though être is irregular, once you have it memorized, it’s infinitely useful.
The second most common French verb, avoir (to have), is also irregular. As with être, this verb is used to
make compound verb tenses. But for now, let’s not worry about that.
On to conjugation:
It’s a bird, it’s a plane! No, it’s another irregular verb. In any case, aller is an extremely useful verb to
know, and it means “to go.” Like être and avoir, aller can be used in compound verbs, most notably in the
future tense.
While also an irregular verb, pouvoir carries the same meaning as “can” in English. It’s a very common
verb, and it’s commonly used in the conditional form in order to make requests and ask for things in
restaurants, at hotels and in stores.
In a lot of ways, the conjugation of vouloir is much like the conjugation of pouvoir. It means “to want” in
English, and once again, this verb is used to make requests and ask for things when it’s conjugated into
the conditional tense.
What we would do without the verb “to do”? Not much, I guess. Faire is the French verb meaning “to
do” or “to make,” and like the others on this list, it’s common not only in vocabulary but also in its
grammatical function. For example, it can be used in imperative or command phrases such as Faites vos
devoirs ! (Do your homework!). And you guessed it, this verb is also irregular.
Check it out:
At long last: a regular verb! The verb parler (to speak) is a regular verb and it follows the regular -er
ending conjugation pattern, which involves dropping the -er ending and adding other endings. This verb
is also very common in French, as it’s often used to ask the question Parlez-vous français (Do you speak
French?). And because it’s regular, you can learn these endings and use them with other verbs that end
in -er.
And what do we have here? Another regular verb! As with the verb parler, demander is a regular -er verb
that means “to ask.” Don’t get confused, though: Even though demander can be used to mean “to ask,”
the fixed expression poser une question means “to ask a question.” By the way, poser is also a regular -er
verb. Lucky you!
Nous demandons un café et un thé. (We ask for a coffee and a tea.)
Vous demandez que le professor explique le test. (You ask the professor to explain the test.)
Ils/elles demandent quelque chose à manger. (They ask for something to eat.)
Ready for another situation where French and English translations don’t quite match? Well, look no
further. Much in the same way there’s a distinction between demander (to ask) and poser (to ask [a
question]), savoir (to know) has a friend also: connaître (to know). The distinction is complex, so for now,
let’s just say that savoir means “to know something” like a fact or a skill.
Tu sais que j’aime les langues. (You know that I like languages.)
Last but not least, we have the verb venir (to come), and where would this list be without the final verb
being an irregular one?
Rendre means “to return/to give back,” and is a regular -re verb.
Comprendre means “to understand,” and is an irregular verb (conjugated like prendre).
Sortir/partir are two verbs that mean “to leave,” and they’re both irregular verbs