French Language > Lexicalia, Verbs

Irregular Verb Groupings

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I. Small but Significant Groups of Similarly-Conjugated Irregular Verbs

A. Dormir Type

From Latin: 4th-conjugation verbs (e.g., dormio, dormīre, dormīvi, dormītum).

• Infinitive: -ir
• Present: Two stems. The infinitive has two consonants before the –ir ending: e.g., doRMir. The first of the two consonants appears in the singular forms; both consonants appear in the plural forms.
  

  doRs	doRMons
  doRs	doRMez
  doRt	doRMent

• Future-Conditional Stem: Regularly formed.
• Past Participle: doRMi
• Simple Past: (je) doRMis, etc. (See The Simple Past.)

Recall that regular –ir verbs always have an –i– in the present singular and an -iss– in the present plural forms. See Tex’s French Grammar for regular -ir verbs and the dormir-style –ir– verbs.

Learn all these verbs:

• dormir
  • And also s’endormir = “to go to sleep” (based on endormir = “to put to sleep”).
• mentir
  • And also un mensonge = “a lie”; menteur (-se) = “deceitful,” un(e) menteur (-se) = “a liar.”
• partir (a House-of-Being verb!)
  • In addition to meaning “to leave a place” (partir d’un endroit), partir also means “to begin from a certain point,” giving:
    1. à partir de = “beginning with/from”
    2. Je pars de la conviction que les hommes sont foncièrement bons. (I start from the conviction that human beans are basically good.)
    3. Connecting adverb partant = “consequently”
• se repentir (de)
  • Il s’est depuis longtemps repenti des erreurs de sa jeunesse. (He long ago repented of the errors of his youth.)
  • The infinitive doubles as a noun: le repentir = “repentance.”
• servir
  1. servir = “to serve” (a person or a dish)
     • Le dîner est servi. (Dinner is served.)
     • Madame est servie. (Madam is served.)
  2. servir de + noun = “to serve as a”
     • Monsieur Dufour nous servira de guide. (Mr Dufour will serve as our guide.)
  3. servir à + infinitive = “to serve to”
     • Ce pamphlet a servi à enflammer encore la situation. (This pamphlet served to enflame further the situation.)
  4. se servir de + noun = “to use”
     • Papa, puis-je me servir de la voiture ce soir? (Papa, may I use the carriage tonight?)
• sortir (a House-of-Being verb!)

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B1. Conduire Type

From Latin: derivatives of duco, ducere (the origin equally of our English “-duce” verbs)

• Infinitive: -duire
• Present: –duis, -duis, -duit, -duisons, -duisez, -duisent
• Future-conditional stem: Regularly formed (i.e., –duir-)
• Past Participle: –duit
• Simple Past: –duisis (je)

Learn ’em! (Except for the first.)

• duire
  • You’ll almost never run into this verb in modern French. See the TLFi entry.
• conduire
  • = “to guide-lead-conduct,” but also to drive a vehicle; hence, un conducteur = “a driver.”
• déduire
  • = “to deduce”
• induire
  • Usually found in expressions of the sort induire en erreur (to lead into error, to lead into some mistaken way of thinking). See the TLFi entry.
• produire
  • = “to produce,” but the pronominal form se produire can mean
    • to occur, to happen
    • to perform on stage
• réduire

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B2. Construire Type

From Latin: Verbs ending classically in –struo, -struere [then -strugo ?], the source also of our English “-struct” verbs.

Conjugated: Identically to the –duire type, except that you have “tr” instead of “d”

Learn:

• construire
• détruire
• instruire

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C. Devoir/Concevoir Type

From Latin: Verbs that sooner or later had a free [e] as the root vowel, followed by a labial consonant [b, p] (or in the case of video, a consonant [d] that disappeared).

• Infinitive: -oir
• Present: –ois, -ois, -oit, -evons, -evez, -oivent
• Future-conditional stem: for boire, it is boir– (ie, regularly formed); for other such verbs, it is –evr–
• Past Participle: –u
• Simple Past: –us (je)

1. Devoir

From Latin: debeo, debēre, debui, debitum (> *debūtum)

• Infinitive: devoir, also doubles as a noun: le devoir = “duty,” un, des devoir(s) = “homework”
• Past Participle: dû, with a circumflex, to distinguish it from du = the contraction of de + le. Other forms of the past participle do not have the accent: dus, due, dues.

Corresponding English Words: duty; due; debt

2. Boire

From Latin: bibo, bibere, bibi, bibitum (> *bibūtum). (The i of the root vowel bib- would also have changed into an e.)

Boire currently has present bois, bois boit, buvons, buvez, boivent, but in the Middle Ages the nous and vous forms were:

• bevons, bevez

–which is to say, similar to the forms for devoir.

Learn also:

• the noun une boisson = “a drink.”

3. Concevoir Type

From Latin: Derivatives of capio, capere (> –cip-). They correspond to our English words based on the same Latin words (e.g., conceive, conception).

Learn them all!

• concevoir
• décevoir†
  • Why the death mark (†)? Because modern French décevoir never (almost never) means “to deceive,” but “to disappoint” (similarly, une déception = “a disappointment”).
• recevoir
  • Also, a noun based on the past participle: un reçu = “a receipt”
  • Also, another noun une recette = “a recipe”
• percevoir
  • The basic meaning is “to be aware of something through the senses”; contrast with appercevoir below, “to become aware of something through the senses.”
  • A specialized financial meaning: to collect sums that are due (e.g., taxes).
• appercevoir
  • The pronominal form s’apercevoir (de) = se rendre compte (de) = “to realize” (= “to become aware of something”)

4. Voir Once Followed This Pattern More Closely

In the early CE period, video > vēdeo; the d disappeared entirely, but the [e] developed as expected, giving present forms:

voi	veons
vois	veez
voit	voient

The nous and vous forms were later normalized to voyons, voyez.

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D. Connaître Type

From Latin: Verbs ending –sco (eg. nascor, cognosco)

In these verbs, the i has a circumflex accent if t follows directly: hence, the infinitive, the present 3rd-person singular, and all the future & present conditional forms (e.g., connaîtrai, etc.).

• Present: –ais, -ais, -aît, -aissons, -aissez, -aissent
• Future-conditional stem: -aîtr-
• Past Participle: –u ¹
• Simple Past: –us (je) ²

Learn:

• naître
• connaître (reconnaître, méconnaître)
• paraître (apparaître, comparaître, ³ disparaître)

Present	Imperfect
connais	connaissais
connais	connaissait
connaît	connaissait

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E. Ouvrir/Offrir Type

From Latin: Verbs in which an –op– or –of– encountered an r

• Present: Endings as of an –er verb, e es e ons ez ent
  • ouvre, ouvres, ouvre, ouvrons, ouvrez, ouvrent
  • offre, offres, offre, offrons, offrez, offrent
• Future-conditional stem: Regularly formed
• Past Participle: -v/ff/ert (ouvert, offert)
• Simple Past: –is (je)

Learn:

• ouvrir, couvrir, découvrir, recouvrir
• offrir, souffrir

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F. Craindre Type

See -Vindre Verbs.

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G. Conquérir Type

From Latin: Verbs derived from –quæro, -quærere

• Present: Alternation -quier-/-quér-
  

  -quiers	-quérons
  -quiers	-quérez
  -quiert	-quièrent

• Future-conditional stem: –querr–
• Past Participle: –quis
• Simple Past: –quis (je)

Learn the ones in boldface:

• acquérir
• conquérir
• quérir ⁵
• requérir

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II. Verbs with Important Derivatives

A. Cueillir

From Latin: colligo, colligere

• Present: Endings as of an –er verb: –e -es -e -ons -ez -ent
  • E.g. cueille, cueilles, cueille, cueillons, cueillez, cueillent
• Future-conditional stem: cueiller-
• Past Participle: cueilli
• Simple Past: cueillis (je)

Corresp0nding English Words: to cull; collect; recollect

Learn:

• cueillir = “to pluck (e.g., a flower); to select”
• accueillir = “to welcome”
• recueillir = “to gather”
  • se recueillir = “to recollect oneself, to withdraw into oneself” (in meditation)
  • un recueil = “a selection/collection of writings” (e.g., of poems)

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B. Courir

• Present: Endings -s -s -t -ons -ez -ent are joined directly to the base -cour-.
  

  cours	courons
  cours	courez
  court	courent

• Future-conditional stem: -courr-
• Past Participle: -couru
• Simple Past: -courus (je)

Learn:

• courir
• accourir = “to run up to” (a house-of-being verb!)
• parcourir = “to travel through; to peruse”
• recourir (à) = “to have recourse to”
• secourir = “to help (succor)”

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C. Écrire

From Latin: scribo, scribere, scripsi, scriptum

• Present: The -i is everywhere, but the -v- appears only in the plural.
  

  écris	écrivons
  écris	écrivez
  écrit	écrivent

• Future-conditional stem: Regularly formed
• Past Participle: écrit (from the classical Latin form scriptum)
• Simple Past: écrivis (je)

Corresponding English Words: script; scripture; scribe; scrive

Learn:

• écrire
• circonscrire
• décrire
• s’inscrire
  • s’inscrire à la fac = “to enroll at the university”
  • s’inscrire en faux (contre) = “to announce your disagreement with something”
• prescrire
• proscrire

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D. Mettre

From Latin: mitto, mittere, misi, missus

• Present: Singular stem ends in a single -t-; plural stem ends in two -tt-.Vowel is [ɛ] throughout.
  

  mets	mettons	[mɛ]	[mɛtõ]
  mets	mettez	[mɛ]	[mɛte]
  met	mettent	[mɛ]	[mɛt]

• Future-conditional stem: Regularly formed
• Past Participle: mis (see note on mise below)
• Simple Past: mis (je)

Corresponding English Words: mission; commit, commission; omit, omission; permit, permission; promise; remission

Important Idiom: se mettre à = commencer à = “to begin”

Learn:

• commettre
• démettre = “to dismiss” = “to remove from one’s functions” (often pronominal)
• omettre
• permettre
• promettre
  • compromettre
• remettre – many meanings, including:
  1. to postpone
  2. to hand over (an object or document to someone)
  3. se remettre (de) = “to get over (a sickness)”

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E. Prendre

From Latin: pre(he)ndo, prendere, prendi, prensum

• Present: Three stems: i) the three singulars; ii) nous & vous; iii) ils/elles
  

  prends	prenons	[prɑ̃]	[prənõ]
  prends	prenez	[prɑ̃]	[prəne]
  prend	prennent	[prɑ̃]	[prɛn]

• Future-conditional stem: Regularly formed
• Past Participle: pris
• Simple Past: pris (je)

Corresponding English Words: prison, prisoner, to prise; apprise, apprentice; comprehend, comprise; entrepreneur, enterprise; misprision; reprise, reprehensible; surprise

Learn the ones in boldface:

• prendre = to take. Learn also:
  1. prendre un repas = “to have a meal”; prendre un bifteck = “to have a beefsteak.”
  2. prendre une décision = “to make a decision”
  3. prendre le parti de + infinitive = “to opt for”
  4. un parti pris =
     1. a position one has taken up;
     2. a bias, a prejudice, a preconception
• apprendre, meaning
  1. “to teach.” Marthe apprend à Georges à nager. (Martha is teaching George to swim.)
  2. “to learn.” Georges apprend à nager. (George is learning how to swim.)
• comprendre, meaning
  1. to understand. J’ai compris la question. (I understood the question.)
  2. to include = to be comprised of. Cette expérience comprend deux parties. (This experiment is comprised of two parts.)
  3. to sympathize (with a person’s situation or feelings). Je vous comprends. (I sympathize with you [= I appreciate what you’re going through].)
• entreprendre
• se méprendre = “to be mistaken” (= se tromper)
• reprendre, with many meanings, including:
  1. “to take back”
  2. “take over, adopt”
  3. “have a second helping of”
  4. “redo”
  5. “start up again”
  6. “criticize”
• surprendre, meaning not only
  1. “to surprise,” but also
  2. “to come upon by surprise,”
  3. “to take by surprise = to ambush,” and
  4. “to overhear”

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F. Tenir

From Latin: teneo, tenēre, tenui, tentum (> *tenūtum)

• Present: Three stems: i. the three singulars, ii. nous & vous, iii. ils/elles
  

  tiens	tenons	[tjɛ̃]	[tənõ]
  tiens	tenez	[tjɛ̃]	[tənõ]
  tient	tiennent	[tjɛ̃]	[tjɛn]

• Future-conditional stem: tiendr-
• Past Participle: tenu
• Simple Past: tins (je)

Corresponding English Words: our English “-tain” verbs: appertain, contain, entertain, obtain, maintain, retain, sustain

Learn these idioms with tenir

• tenir à (1)
  1. + noun: “to be very attached to.” Il tient / à son nounours / à sa sœur. (He is very attached / to his teddy-bear / to his sister.)
  2. + infinitive: “to insist on, to have one’s heart set on.” Il tient à visiter le musée d’Orsay. (He has his heart set on visiting the Orsay Museum.)
• tenir à (2) + nom = “to be due to, stem from, be caused by”⁶
  • L’état actuel de l’économie tient à plusieurs causes. (The present state of the economy is due to several causes.)
• tenir de: “to participate in the quality of.”
• tenir bon: “to hold firm, stand firm” = tenir le coup: “to withstand the blow”

Learn:

• appartenir (à) = “to belong (to)”
• contenir
• entretenir
• obtenir
• maintenir
• retenir
• soutenir

G. Venir

From Latin: venio, venire, veni, ventum (> *venutum)

Conjugation: Exactly like that of tenir

Must Know: The Recent Past (venir de + infinitive). See here and here.

Corresponding English Words: Too many to list!

Learn at least the words in boldface:

• advenir = “to happen” (very literary!)
• convenir
  • to agree
  • to suit
• parvenir (à)
  1. to reach (a place), to get as far as;
  2. to manage to (do something)
• prévenir
  1. to warn, to inform beforehand

     prévenant, adjective

     • “considerate” (i.e., a person who foresees and takes care of your needs before you have a chance to)
     • la grâce prévenante = “prevenient grace” = grace God sends you disposing you to good, without your even having thought to ask for it
  2. to take care (of someone’s needs, before that person expects you to), hence, to foresee someone’s needs.
  3. to “prevent” something from happening by taking action beforehand
  4.  prévenir en faveur de or contre = “to predispose (someone) for or against”
• une prévention = a prejudice, a bias, a pre-conceived notion
• se souvenir de = “to remember”
• revenir = “to return” (to one’s point of origin)
  • Learn also this idiom: revenir de = “to get over (something), recover (from something).”
    • Elle est revenue de sa maladie. (She recovered from her illness.)
    • Je n’en reviens pas. (I can’t get over it.)

1. Save for naître, which has past participle né.[↩]
2. Save for naître, which has simple past naquis.[↩]
3. = “To appear before a judge”[↩]
4. Do not confuse recouvrir with the –er verb recouvrer, which has has the meaning “to recover” in the sense of “to recuperate, to get back again.”[↩]
5. Old-fashioned, used after only aller, envoyer, etc., in place of chercher, e.g., aller quérir to go and get.[↩]
6. How did tenir à come to have this meaning? I think the literal meaning is something like “to be connected to,” indeed “to hold on by.” When the thing being held on to is itself in the nature of a cause, then the other meanings follow (“to be due to,” etc.). Consider this saying: Ça ne tient qu’à un fil. (It’s holding on only by a thread.) Consider also this sentence from François Mauriac’s Nœud de vipères: « Qui sait s’ils ne sont pas prisonniers, comme je l’ai été moi-même, d’une passion qui ne tient pas à cette part de leur être la plus profonde? » ((“Who knows if they are not prisoners, as I myself was, of a passion unconnected to that profoundest portion of their being?”) [↩]

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