You don't need a list of the 100 most common French verbs. You need about 20, and for most of them only the je form, because you're the one talking. This guide covers the most common French verbs in the order I'd learn them, with the forms you'll actually say, example sentences from real conversations with native audio (▶), and two shortcuts that give you the past and the future without learning a single new tense.

Why 20 verbs is enough to start

A handful of verbs does most of the work in spoken French. In a corpus of recorded spoken French, the ten most frequent verbs are avoir, aller, être, dire, faire, voir, pouvoir, vouloir, savoir and falloir. Add another ten everyday ones and you can say most of what you need to in a day.

That matches my experience. In my first months in Bordeaux, nearly every sentence I said started with je voudrais, je peux, je vais or j'ai. I got through whole dinners with my girlfriend's family on maybe a dozen verbs and a lot of pointing. Nobody minded. The verbs you can say without thinking are worth far more than the ones you can conjugate on paper.

The big four: être, avoir, aller, faire

These four are irregular, and they're the four you'll use most, so they're the only ones worth learning in full right away.

être (to be) avoir (to have) aller (to go) faire (to do, make)
je / j' suis ai vais fais
tu es as vas fais
il / elle / on est a va fait
nous sommes avons allons faisons
vous êtes avez allez faites
ils / elles sont ont vont font

On (literally "one") is how people say "we" in everyday French: on y va ? (shall we go?). It takes the same form as il, so you can mostly skip the nous column for speaking.

Être, to be:

Avoir, to have, which French also uses where English uses "to be":

Aller, to go, and also how you are:

Faire, to do or make, and the weather:

Basic expressions: Expressions — French lesson French lesson · 42 phrases with audioBasic expressions: ExpressionsPractise this conversation →

Vouloir, pouvoir, devoir: the verbs that carry other verbs

These three are followed by a second verb in its dictionary form (the infinitive), which you don't have to conjugate. That's what makes them so useful: learn je peux once and you can attach any verb you know to it.

The rest of the 20

For these, start with the je form and add the others when you hear them. The table gives the form you'll say most and a sentence to learn it with.

Verb Meaning Say Example
dire to say, tell je dis / il dit Comment on dit... ? How do you say...?
savoir to know (a fact) je sais Je ne sais pas: I don't know
voir to see je vois Je vois: I see (also "I understand")
venir to come je viens Je viens du Canada: I'm from Canada
prendre to take, have (food) je prends Je prends le menu: I'll have the set menu
mettre to put, put on je mets Je mets mon manteau: I'm putting my coat on
parler to speak je parle Je parle un peu français: I speak a little French
aimer to like, love j'aime J'aime beaucoup: I really like it
penser to think je pense Je pense que oui: I think so
trouver to find je trouve Je trouve ça super: I think it's great
comprendre to understand je comprends Je ne comprends pas: I don't understand
attendre to wait (for) j'attends J'attends un ami: I'm waiting for a friend
chercher to look for je cherche Je cherche la gare: I'm looking for the station

A few you'll hear in real lessons:

Savoir and connaître both mean "to know": savoir for facts and how to do things (je sais nager, I can swim), connaître for people and places (je connais Paris). Learn je sais first.

Telling my landlord the hot water is broken: Explaining the problem — French lesson French lesson · 43 phrases with audioTelling my landlord the hot water is broken: Explaining the problemPractise this conversation →

Shortcut one: the future with aller

You don't need the future tense to talk about the future. Use aller plus any verb in its dictionary form, the way English says "I'm going to":

This is how French people talk about plans in everyday speech, so it doesn't sound like a learner's workaround.

Shortcut two: the past with avoir

For the past, French mostly uses avoir plus a past form of the verb (the passé composé). You already know j'ai, so you only need the past forms of the verbs you use most:

A small group of verbs, mostly about movement, use être instead: je suis allé (I went), je suis venu (I came), je suis parti (I left). Get these wrong and you'll still be understood.

Talking about my day: Easy day at the coffee shop — French lesson French lesson · 40 phrases with audioTalking about my day: Easy day at the coffee shopPractise this conversation →

What about the 100 most common French verbs?

After these 20, learn verbs when you need them, not from a list. The good news is that most French verbs are regular -er verbs like parler, and they all follow the same pattern:

parler (to speak)
je parle nous parlons
tu parles vous parlez
il / elle / on parle ils / elles parlent

In speech, parle, parles and parlent all sound the same, so for speaking you really only need three forms: parle, parlons and parlez. Once you know that, aimer, chercher, trouver, penser, manger, travailler and hundreds more come for free.

Practise them in sentences, not tables

A verb you've only seen in a table won't come out when you need it. Say these in whole sentences, out loud, until je voudrais and j'ai come out before you've thought about them. For the phrases to put them in, see common French phrases and how to learn to speak French. The lessons below use these verbs in real situations, from talking about your day to telling your landlord the hot water's broken, with native audio for every line.