irréguliers

Irréguliers is the term used in French grammar to describe verbs whose conjugation does not follow the regular patterns associated with the three verb classes (-er, -ir, -re). While most French verbs are regular, a substantial subset shows irregularities in one or more tenses or moods, requiring memorization and study beyond basic rules.

Common irregular verbs in the present tense include être, avoir, aller, and faire. Their present-tense forms are: être: je suis, tu es, il est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont; avoir: j'ai, tu as, il a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont; aller: je vais, tu vas, il va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont; faire: je fais, tu fais, il fait, nous faisons, vous faites, ils font.

In addition to present-tense irregularities, many verbs form irregular past participles used in compound tenses: être été; avoir eu; faire fait; voir vu; prendre pris; venir venu. Other irregularities involve stem changes in the present (for example, venir: je viens, tu viens, il vient, nous venons) or in related forms (prendre: je prends, nous prenons; comprendre: je comprends, nous comprenons). Some verbs group with patterns that recur across related members of a word family.

Reasons for irregularity include historical sound changes and later analogy. In learning French, irregular verbs are among the most frequent and thus most important for learners to memorize, because they appear often across speech and writing and do not always follow predictable patterns. See also irregular verbs and French conjugation.