However, a handful of verbs, including être, are highly irregular and the seven principal parts are not sufficient to conjugate the verb fully.įrench verbs are conventionally divided into three conjugations ( conjugaisons) with the following grouping: With the knowledge of these seven principal parts of a verb one can conjugate almost all French verbs. parler) however irregular verbs require the knowledge of more than just the infinitive form known as the principal parts of which there are seven in French.
Most verbs are regular and can be entirely determined by their infinitive form (ex. For broader coverage of this topic, see French verbs.įrench conjugation refers to the variation in the endings of French verbs ( inflections) depending on the person (I, you, we, etc), tense (present, future, etc) and mood (indicative, imperative and subjunctive).
