A1
-ir and -re verbs, and the irregular ones
How regular French -ir and -re verbs conjugate, and the irregular verbs frequent enough to learn at A1.
Beyond the -er family there are two smaller regular groups and a set of very common irregulars.
-ir verbs
| je finis | I finish |
| tu finis | |
| il / elle finit | |
| nous finissons | |
| vous finissez | |
| ils / elles finissent |
The -iss- in the plural is the mark of this group: choisir, réussir, grandir all take it.
Nous finissons à six heures.
we finish at six hours
We finish at six.
-re verbs
| je vends | I sell |
| tu vends | |
| il / elle vend | |
| nous vendons | |
| vous vendez | |
| ils / elles vendent |
The third person singular has no ending at all — just the bare stem, vend.
The irregulars you cannot avoid
These are the most frequent verbs in the language, which is exactly why they are irregular: heavy use protects old forms.
| aller | je vais, tu vas, il va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont |
| faire | je fais, tu fais, il fait, nous faisons, vous faites, ils font |
| pouvoir | je peux, tu peux, il peut, nous pouvons, vous pouvez, ils peuvent |
| vouloir | je veux, tu veux, il veut, nous voulons, vous voulez, ils veulent |
| venir | je viens, tu viens, il vient, nous venons, vous venez, ils viennent |
Je ne peux pas venir ce soir.
I not can not to-come this evening
I can’t come this evening.
Note that pouvoir and vouloir are followed by a bare infinitive, with nothing between them.
Je veux à venir.
Je veux venir.
Vouloir, pouvoir and devoir take the infinitive directly. The preposition belongs to other verbs — j’essaie de venir, j’apprends à nager — and has to be learnt with each one.
aller is worth extra attention
It is irregular, it means to go, and it also builds the near future — see aller + infinitive.