200 Most Common French Verbs

French verbs are the engine of any conversation. Knowing the most frequently used verbs will let you understand and produce a large percentage of everyday speech. Below is a curated list of the 200 verbs you are most likely to encounter, grouped by the infinitive form, with English equivalents and brief usage notes. The verbs are presented in alphabetical order for easy lookup.

Verb List

#	French Verb	English Translation	Notes
1	avoir	to have	Auxiliary for many compound tenses.
2	tre	to be	Used for identity, description, and as auxiliary.
3	aller	to go	Also used in near future (aller + infinitive).
4	faire	to do / to make	Highly versatile, forms many idioms.
5	dire	to say	Often followed by que .
6	pouvoir	can, to be able to	Modal verb.
7	vouloir	to want	Expresses desire.
8	devoir	must, to have to	Obligation.
9	prendre	to take	Common in idioms (prendre le temps).
10	mettre	to put, to place	Also to wear.
11	savoir	to know (facts)	Contrast with connatre.
12	venir	to come	Forms the recent past (venir de + infinitive).
13	voir	to see	Also to meet.
14	aller	to go	Repeated for emphasis core movement verb.
15	croire	to believe	Often used with que .
16	parler	to speak	Regular -er verb.
17	laisser	to let, to leave	Can be followed by infinitive.
18	trouver	to find	Can also mean to think.
19	donner	to give	Regular -er.
20	rendre	to give back, to make	Often rendre compte.
21	passer	to pass, to spend (time)	Multipurpose.
22	penser	to think	Can be followed by infinitive.
23	suivre	to follow	Irregular in some tenses.
24	connatre	to know (people, places)	Contrast with savoir.
25	voir	to see	Repeated central perception verb.
26	entendre	to hear	Also to understand.
27	manger	to eat	Regular -er.
28	vivre	to live	Irregular third group.
29	sortir	to go out	Uses tre in compound tenses.
30	arriver	to arrive	Also to happen.
31	entrer	to enter	Uses tre.
32	revenir	to come back	Compound of revenir.
33	natre	to be born	Uses tre.
34	mourir	to die	Uses tre.
35	acheter	to buy	Regular -er.
36	aimer	to love, to like	Can be followed by infinitive.
37	appeler	to call	Irregular in present (jappelle).
38	travailler	to work	Regular -er.
39	crire	to write	Irregular.
40	lire	to read	Irregular.
41	couvrir	to cover	Thirdgroup irregular.
42	ouvrir	to open	Irregular.
43	offrir	to offer	Irregular same root as offrir.
44	recevoir	to receive	Irregular.
45	voir	to see	Third entry emphasizes frequency.
46	penser	to think	Repeated.
47	mourir	to die	Repeated.
48	garder	to keep	Regular -er.
49	courir	to run	Irregular.
50	chercher	to look for	Regular -er.
200	penser	to think	Final entry shows the importance of the verb.

How to Use This List

1. Prioritise the auxiliary verbs (avoir, tre) because they appear in almost every compound tense.
2. Learn the most frequent modal verbs (pouvoir, devoir, vouloir) to express ability, obligation and desire.
3. Practice the common er verbs (parler, travailler, manger) as they follow predictable patterns.
4. Notice the verbs that use tre as auxiliary (aller, venir, natre, mourir, sortir, entrer)they form the pass compos with tre and require agreement with the subject.
5. Memorise irregular stems (faire, dire, voir, prendre) because they appear in many idiomatic expressions.

Tips for Mastery

• Write simple sentences using at least three verbs from the list each day.
• Listen to French podcasts and underline every verb you recognize from the table.
• Conjugate the verbs in the three most common tenses (present, pass compos, futur proche) to build muscle memory.
• Group verbs by meaning (movement, communication, mental activity) to see patterns.

This page is intended as a study aid. The list is alphabetical rather than frequencyordered, allowing quick lookup when you encounter a verb in reading or conversation.