French Essential Verbs: 250 Verbs With Conjugation Notes

The infinitive is the easy half. This deck carries the pattern that goes with it.

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Front	Back
être	to be. Conjugation: Irregular: je suis, tu es, il est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont. Example: Elle est professeure de musique. — She is a music teacher.
aller	to go. Conjugation: Irregular: je vais, tu vas, il va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont. Example: Je vais au marché le samedi. — I go to the market on Saturdays.
faire	to do, to make. Conjugation: Irregular: je fais, nous faisons, vous faites, ils font. Example: Je fais la cuisine tous les soirs. — I cook every evening.
dire	to say, to tell. Conjugation: Irregular: je dis, nous disons, vous dites, ils disent. Example: Il dit toujours la vérité. — He always tells the truth.
vouloir	to want. Conjugation: Irregular: je veux, tu veux, il veut, ils veulent. Example: Je veux apprendre le français. — I want to learn French.
servir	to serve. Conjugation: Irregular -ir: je sers, nous servons. Example: On sert le dîner à vingt heures. — Dinner is served at eight.
offrir	to offer, to give as a gift. Conjugation: Irregular -ir with -er endings: j'offre. Example: Je lui ai offert un livre. — I gave him a book as a present.
conduire	to drive. Conjugation: Irregular: je conduis, nous conduisons. Example: Je conduis très prudemment. — I drive very carefully.
regarder	to look at, to watch. Conjugation: Regular -er verb; no preposition after it. Example: Je regarde les photos du voyage. — I am looking at the photos from the trip.
marcher	to walk, to work (of a machine). Conjugation: Regular -er verb. Example: L'ascenseur ne marche pas. — The lift is not working.
finir	to finish. Conjugation: Regular -ir: je finis, nous finissons. Example: J'ai fini le rapport à minuit. — I finished the report at midnight.
vendre	to sell. Conjugation: Regular -re: je vends, nous vendons. Example: Ils vendent des fruits très bon marché. — They sell very cheap fruit.
se coucher	to go to bed. Conjugation: Reflexive; regular -er. Example: Je me couche vers onze heures. — I go to bed around eleven.
se promener	to go for a walk. Conjugation: Reflexive with an accent change: je me promène. Example: Nous nous promenons au bord du fleuve. — We walk along the river.
s'intéresser	to be interested. Conjugation: Reflexive; takes à. Example: Je m'intéresse à l'architecture. — I am interested in architecture.
remercier	to thank. Conjugation: Regular -er; remercier quelqu'un de or pour. Example: Je vous remercie de votre aide. — Thank you for your help.
refuser	to refuse. Conjugation: Regular -er; takes de before an infinitive. Example: Il a refusé de signer. — He refused to sign.
oser	to dare. Conjugation: Regular -er; followed directly by an infinitive. Example: Je n'ose pas lui demander. — I do not dare ask him.
utiliser	to use. Conjugation: Regular -er verb. Example: J'utilise l'ordinateur pour travailler. — I use the computer for work.
prêter	to lend. Conjugation: Regular -er; prêter quelque chose à quelqu'un. Example: Je lui ai prêté mon vélo. — I lent him my bicycle.
tourner	to turn. Conjugation: Regular -er verb. Example: Tournez à droite au feu. — Turn right at the lights.
dîner	to have dinner. Conjugation: Regular -er verb. Example: Nous dînons vers vingt heures. — We have dinner around eight.
remettre	to hand in, to postpone. Conjugation: Irregular like mettre. Example: J'ai remis le devoir vendredi. — I handed the assignment in on Friday.
paraître	to seem. Conjugation: Irregular like connaître. Example: Il paraît qu'il va neiger. — Apparently it is going to snow.
résoudre	to solve. Conjugation: Irregular: je résous, nous résolvons. Example: Nous avons résolu le problème ensemble. — We solved the problem together.
cueillir	to pick. Conjugation: Irregular -ir with -er endings: je cueille. Example: Nous cueillons des fraises en juin. — We pick strawberries in June.
souhaiter	to wish. Conjugation: Regular -er verb. Example: Je te souhaite un bon voyage. — I wish you a good trip.
avoir peur	to be afraid. Conjugation: Fixed phrase with avoir; takes de. Example: J'ai peur des chiens. — I am afraid of dogs.
faire du sport	to do sport. Conjugation: Fixed phrase with faire. Example: Je fais du sport trois fois par semaine. — I do sport three times a week.
se taire	to be quiet. Conjugation: Reflexive and irregular: je me tais. Example: Tais-toi une minute. — Be quiet for a minute.

About this deck

Knowing that prendre means to take gets you nowhere mid-sentence, because French almost never leaves a verb in the infinitive. What you need at the moment of speaking is the pattern: whether the nous form doubles a consonant, whether the verb takes être in the perfect, whether it needs à or de before the next infinitive, whether it is one of the fixed avoir phrases where English uses to be. A word list that gives only the meaning leaves out exactly that half, and it is the half that stops you. This deck covers 250 verbs, and every card carries three things: the English meaning, the conjugation pattern in one line, and an original French sentence with its translation. Cards are tagged by pattern — regular -er, regular -ir, regular -re, irregular, reflexive — and by theme, so you can drill only reflexives, or only the verbs a trip needs. Import it and the deck joins your spaced-repetition schedule: the verbs whose pattern you can produce stretch out and disappear, and what stays in front of you is the set you still have to think about.

Frequently asked

Does importing this deck use AI credits?: No. Importing uses the saved deck as published; it does not run AI generation or use AI credits. The complete deck can therefore be imported on the free plan.
What happens if I import the deck twice?: Nothing is duplicated. Cards you already have are skipped and only newly added cards come across. Including re-imports after deleting, each official deck can be imported three times per account.
Can I use it on the web app and the phone app?: Yes. The deck is added to your account, so the same cards and the same progress are available in the web app, the iOS app and the Android app.
Can I edit the cards after importing?: Yes. Imported cards are yours: you can edit both sides, delete cards you do not need, change tags, and move cards to another deck.
What is in the deck?: 94 regular -er verbs, 17 regular -ir verbs, 11 regular -re verbs, 96 irregular verbs and 32 reflexive verbs, 250 in total. One verb per card, so no verb appears twice.
Are full conjugation tables included?: No, and that is deliberate. A table of six forms across every tense is something you look up, not something a flashcard can drill. Each card gives the pattern instead — which stem breaks, whether the perfect takes être, which preposition follows — because that is the part you have to recall while speaking. Keep a conjugator open for the tables.
Does it cover the avoir expressions?: Yes. Avoir faim, avoir raison, avoir envie and the rest are included as their own cards, because they are exactly where English speakers reach for être and get it wrong. The same goes for the faire phrases and for venir de, which is how French says you have just done something.
Is this enough on its own?: It covers the verb layer, which is the part most learners are missing when they stall. Import it and open it daily, and the only verbs that come up are the ones whose pattern you cannot yet produce. Spend the time that frees up on speaking practice and on reading real French.

Verb selection reflects frequency in everyday spoken and written French; it is not an official list from any examining body. Every entry, example and translation is written by Memly. Scope reviewed 2026-08-17.