3 Irregular French Verbs
with a similar conjugation pattern
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In the present tense, the irregular –ir verbs devoir (to have to), pouvoir (to be able to), and vouloir (to want) are conjugated according to a similar pattern:
1. Like boot verbs, these three verbs have two stems: one for the singular and third person plural conjugations, and another for the nous and vous conjugations.
2. The nous / vous stems are the infinitive minus –oir: dev-, pouv-, and voul-, respectively.
3. The stems for the other four conjugations are doi-, peu-, and veu-, respectively, but
- For the first and second person singular, the ending for devoir is –s, while it’s –x for the other two verbs.
- The third person plural keeps the consonant from the middle of the infinitive.
| Endings | Devoir | Pouvoir | Vouloir | |||
| -s | je dois tu dois |
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| -x | je peux tu peux |
je veux tu veux |
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| -t | il doit | il peut | il veut | |||
| -ons | nous devons | nous pouvons | nous voulons | |||
| -ez | vous devez | vous pouvez | vous voulez | |||
| -ent | ils doivent | ils peuvent | ils veulent |
Related lessons
- Usage lessons: Devoir | Pouvoir | Vouloir
- Conjugations: Devoir | Pouvoir | Vouloir
- Irregular -ir verbs
- Present tense
- Verb conjugations
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Verb conjugation tables for more than 1,600 French verbs in all the simple and compound tenses and moods.
In English, we say that the vowels are “a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y.” The last couple of words hint at one of the keys to understanding pronunciation: a vowel is not so much a letter as the sound represented by a letter or combination of letters.
