Lesson 11: Irregular verbs of the present tense

Part 1: The good news — French modals work like English modals

In English, can, must, want, may are followed directly by a bare infinitive:

• I can speak French.
• We must leave.
• She wants to come. (want, technically a regular verb, takes "to" — but the modal feeling is the same)

French does the exact same thing. pouvoir, vouloir, devoir + infinitive, no preposition in between:

• Je peux parler français. — I can speak French.
• Nous devons partir. — We must leave.
• Elle veut venir. — She wants to come.

The one difference that trips up English speakers: English modals are frozen — I can, you can, she can, they can — the verb never changes. French modals conjugate fully in all six persons. You have to learn six forms of each, not one. That's the whole work of this lesson.

No preposition between modal and infinitive! Don't write je peux à venir or je veux de manger. Just: je peux venir, je veux manger.

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Part 2: The three modals — pouvoir, vouloir, devoir

These three live together. They share a conjugation shape called the boot pattern: singular forms + 3rd-person plural have one stem; nous and vous have a different, weaker stem.

pouvoir — can, to be able to

Person	Form	Pronunciation
je	peux	"puh"
tu	peux	"puh"
il / elle	peut	"puh"
nous	pouvons	"poo-VOHN"
vous	pouvez	"poo-VAY"
ils / elles	peuvent	"puhv"

vouloir — to want

Person	Form	Pronunciation
je	veux	"vuh"
tu	veux	"vuh"
il / elle	veut	"vuh"
nous	voulons	"voo-LOHN"
vous	voulez	"voo-LAY"
ils / elles	veulent	"vuhl"

devoir — must, have to, owe

Person	Form	Pronunciation
je	dois	"dwah"
tu	dois	"dwah"
il / elle	doit	"dwah"
nous	devons	"duh-VOHN"
vous	devez	"duh-VAY"
ils / elles	doivent	"dwahv"

The boot pattern, visualized: picture a cowboy boot lying on its side. The four "strong" forms (je, tu, il, ils) — that's the sole and the heel: peux, peux, peut, peuvent. The two "weak" forms (nous, vous) — that's the leg of the boot, sticking up: pouvons, pouvez. Same shape, same stress pattern, in dozens of irregular verbs. Once you see the boot, you stop being surprised.

Modal scenes — what each one does

Construction	Meaning	Example
pouvoir + infinitive	can / be able / be allowed to	Je peux venir demain. — I can come tomorrow.
vouloir + infinitive	want to (do something)	Tu veux manger ? — Do you want to eat?
devoir + infinitive	must, have to	Nous devons partir. — We have to leave.

The polite forms — memorize as fixed phrases

These look complicated; they aren't. They're the conditional, which we'll explain properly in Lesson 28. For now, just learn them as ready-made templates of politeness:

French	English
Je voudrais…	I would like… (softer than "I want")
Pourriez-vous… ?	Could you… ?
Vous devriez…	You should… (advice, not order)

In a café, je voudrais un café is the polite, native-sounding order. Je veux un café is grammatically correct but sounds like a demand — what a 3-year-old says.

Traps

• vouloir + a noun (no infinitive) = "to want something": Je veux un café. — I want a coffee.
• devoir + an amount = "to owe": Tu me dois dix euros. — You owe me ten euros.
• pouvoir in formal inverted questions has one weird form: Puis-je…? (NOT peux-je). It's the only anomaly. Puis-je vous aider ? — May I help you?

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Part 3: savoir vs connaître — the two flavors of "know"

English has one verb, to know. French splits it in two, and you have to choose every time.

savoir — to know a fact, to know how to

Person	Form
je sais	nous savons
tu sais	vous savez
il/elle sait	ils/elles savent

savoir is for information and skills. After it, you'll usually find:

• a clause introduced by que, où, quand, pourquoi, si, comment …

• or an infinitive (= to know how to do something)

• Je sais où il habite. — I know where he lives.

• Tu sais nager ? — Do you know how to swim? (Note: French doesn't add "how" — savoir + infinitive already means "know how to".)

• Elle sait que c'est vrai. — She knows that it's true.

• Nous savons parler français. — We know how to speak French / We can speak French.

connaître — to be familiar with

Person	Form
je connais	nous connaissons
tu connais	vous connaissez
il/elle connaît	ils/elles connaissent

connaître is for people, places, works of art, songs, books — anything you can be acquainted with. After it, you'll always find a noun, never an infinitive, never a clause.

• Je connais Paris. — I know Paris (I've been there, I'm familiar with it).
• Tu connais Marie ? — Do you know Marie?
• Nous connaissons cette chanson. — We know this song.

The English test that almost always works

If you can replace "know" with "know how to" or "know that…" → it's savoir. If you can replace "know" with "be familiar with" or "have met" → it's connaître.

English	French
I know how to drive.	Je sais conduire.
I know that he's coming.	Je sais qu'il vient.
I know Paris. (= I'm familiar with Paris)	Je connais Paris.
I know Marie. (= I've met Marie)	Je connais Marie.

Sneaky case: "Do you know the answer?" → Tu sais la réponse ? (because a réponse is a fact, an info). But "Do you know this song?" → Tu connais cette chanson ? (a song is something you're familiar with, not a fact you can recite cold). When in doubt, ask: can I act on this information (savoir) or am I just acquainted with the thing (connaître)?

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Part 4: voir, dire — short but tricky

voir — to see

Person	Form
je vois	nous voyons
tu vois	vous voyez
il/elle voit	ils/elles voient

• Je vois la mer. — I see the sea.
• Vous voyez la différence ? — Do you see the difference?
• Ils voient leurs amis. — They see their friends.

Pattern note: vois / vois / voit are pronounced "vwah" (all three identical, last letter silent). The y shows up only in nous voyons / vous voyez — pronounced "vwah-YOHN / vwah-YAY". Voient drops the y-sound again and sounds just like voit: "vwah".

dire — to say, to tell

Person	Form
je dis	nous disons
tu dis	vous dites ⚠
il/elle dit	ils/elles disent

Big trap! It's vous dites, NOT vous disez. This is one of only three verbs in all of French where the vous form doesn't end in -ez. Learn the trio together as a single irregular pack:

Verb	The irregular vous form
être	vous êtes
faire	vous faites
dire	vous dites

Every other verb in the language — every single one — has vous ending in -ez. These three are the exceptions. They're also among the most common verbs in the language, so the form comes up constantly. Getting it wrong is a flashing neon "I'm a learner" sign. Drill vous dites, vous faites, vous êtes until they're automatic.

• Je dis la vérité. — I'm telling the truth.
• Qu'est-ce que tu dis ? — What are you saying?
• Vous dites que c'est fini ? — You're saying it's over?

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Part 5: mettre, lire, écrire — daily actions

mettre — to put, to place, to put on (clothes)

Person	Form
je mets	nous mettons
tu mets	vous mettez
il/elle met	ils/elles mettent

mettre is one of the most useful verbs in French. It covers a wide range — put, place, set, put on:

• Je mets le livre sur la table. — I'm putting the book on the table.
• Elle met un manteau. — She's putting on a coat.
• Nous mettons la table. — We're setting the table.
• Ça met combien de temps ? — How long does it take? (lit. "that puts how much time")

Whole family conjugates the same way: permettre (to allow), promettre (to promise), remettre (to return, to postpone), admettre (to admit). Learn one paradigm, get five verbs.

lire — to read

Person	Form
je lis	nous lisons
tu lis	vous lisez
il/elle lit	ils/elles lisent

écrire — to write

Person	Form
j'écris	nous écrivons
tu écris	vous écrivez
il/elle écrit	ils/elles écrivent

Pattern: in the singular, a short stem (lis-, écri-). In the plural, a longer stem (lisons / écrivons). The letter v in écrire appears only in the plural — that's the verb's signature kink.

• Je lis un livre intéressant. — I'm reading an interesting book.
• Nous écrivons une lettre. — We're writing a letter.
• Ils écrivent en français. — They write in French.

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Part 6: The ils-form — foundation for the future

Memorize this column now. In Lesson 31 you'll see that the subjunctive is built directly from it: take the ils-form, drop -ent, add personal endings.

Verb	ils/elles form	(Future subjunctive root)
pouvoir	ils peuvent	que je puisse (special)
vouloir	ils veulent	que je veuille (special)
devoir	ils doivent	que je doive
savoir	ils savent	que je sache (special)
voir	ils voient	que je voie
dire	ils disent	que je dise
mettre	ils mettent	que je mette
lire	ils lisent	que je lise
écrire	ils écrivent	que j'écrive

Don't worry about the right-hand column today — that's future curriculum. Just notice that nailing the ils-form now pays huge interest later.

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Part 7: Idioms and stock phrases

French	English
Vouloir, c'est pouvoir.	Where there's a will, there's a way. (lit. "To want is to be able.")
Ça veut dire…	That means… (lit. "that wants to say")
Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire ?	What does that mean?
On dit que…	They say that… / It's said that…
Comme on dit.	As they say.
Voir, c'est croire.	Seeing is believing.
Voyons !	Come on! / Let's see!
Tu vois ce que je veux dire ?	You see what I mean?
Il faut + infinitif	One must… / It is necessary to… (Il faut partir. — We have to go.)

il faut is impersonal — "one must, it is necessary". It only exists in this one form (il faut) and is followed by an infinitive. It's the most natural way to express general obligation, with no specific subject: Il faut manger pour vivre — One must eat to live.

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