Present tense irregular verbs in French

• Irregular verbs do not follow a set pattern.

• Some irregular verbs are key verbs: avoir (to have), être (to be), aller (to go) and faire (to do/make).

• The subject pronouns require different forms of the verb.

• Some other important verbs, such as écrire (to write) and connaître (to know a person, be familiar with) are not regular, but there are other verbs which follow the same pattern as them.

• For Foundation Tier, the je, tu, il, elle and on subject pronoun forms of key irregular verbs should be learned.

• Higher Tier only – the verbs écrire and connaître should be learned in full, for all subject pronouns.

An irregular verb is one which does not follow a set pattern. Regular verbs, on the other hand, do follow a set pattern.

Many of the irregular verbs in French are key verbs, which are used on a regular basis.

The four most important irregular verbs in French are avoir (to have), être (to be), aller (to go) and faire (to do/make).

Here is the present tense of the verb avoir (to have) for all subject pronouns:

Avoir is often used in the same way as ‘to have’ in English. For example:

J’ai un chien. – I have a dog.

Ils ont une maison en France. – They have a house in France.

Sometimes avoir translates as ‘to be’ in English, instead of 'to have'. Common expressions in French which use avoir are:

For example:

J'ai froid. – I am cold.

Clément a chaud. – Clément is hot.

On a faim ! – We are hungry!

Nous avons soif. – We are thirsty.

Vous avez peur ? – Are you afraid?

Les filles ont seize ans. – The girls are 16 years old.

Here is the present tense of the verb être (to be):

• Être is often used with an adjective.

For example:

Ma mère est française. – My mother is French.

Je suis très grand(e). – I am very tall.

Ils sont travailleurs. – They are hardworking.

• It is also used with nouns, such as jobs:

Je suis médecin. – I am a doctor.

Mon père est professeur. – My father is a teacher.

• It is used to show location:

Paris est en France. – Paris is in France.

Les stylos sont dans le sac. – The pens are in the bag.

• It is also used to tell the time:

Il est onze heures et demie. – It is half past eleven.

Here is the present tense of the verb aller (to go):

Aller is used to say where someone goes or is going.

For example:

Sacha et Louis vont au collège à pied. – Sacha and Louis go to school on foot.

Je vais au cinéma ce soir. – I’m going to the cinema this evening.

On va en ville demain ? – Are we going into town tomorrow?

Remember

The present tense of aller can also be used to form the ‘near’ future tense. This is used to say what you are ‘going to (do)’ in the future.

For example:

Je vais faire mes devoirs ce soir. – I'm going to do my homework this evening.

Choose the correct form of aller to complete these sentences.

Here is the present tense of the verb faire (to do/make):

Faire is used to say what someone does or makes, or what they are doing or are making.

For example:

Que fais-tu ? – What are you doing?

Je fais mon lit. – I am making my bed.

Jules fait du café pour le petit-déjeuner. – Jules makes coffee for breakfast.

Faire is also used to talk about sports. Sometimes the verb form translates to something other than ‘do’ or ‘make’.

For example:

Emma fait du vélo. – Emma goes bike riding.

Vous faites de l’athlétisme ? – Do you do athletics?

Nous faisons de la natation. – We go swimming.

Here are some other useful irregular verbs to know:

boire – to drink

For example:

• On boit du thé. – We drink tea.

connaître – to know (a person), be familiar with

For example:

• Je connais ta tante. – I know your aunt.

courir – to run

For example:

• Je cours vers l’accident. – I run towards the accident.

croire – to believe

For example:

• Il croit que la réponse est correcte. – He believes that the answer is correct.

écrire – to write

For example:

• Elle écrit son nom sur le papier. – She writes her name on the paper.

recevoir – to receive

For example:

• Je reçois une lettre. – I receive a letter.

rire – to laugh

For example:

• On rit beaucoup. – We laugh a lot.

suivre – to follow

For example:

• Luis suit les instructions. – Luis is following the instructions.

voir – to see

For example:

• Tu vois le lapin là-bas ? – Do you see the rabbit over there?

Practise what you've learned about irregular verbs in the present tense with this quiz.

The verbs connaître (to know, be familiar with) and écrire (to write) should be learned in full at Higher Tier, for all subject pronouns.

There are other useful verbs in French that follow the same patterns as connaître and écrire.

For more information on this, look at this guide on present tense regular verbs in French.

Watch these two videos for further information on using the irregular verbs avoir and être.

Now you’ve learned about present tense irregular verbs in French, why not explore the imperfect tense?