Appendix:French verbs

Main category: French verbs

French verbs have been traditionally classified in three groups, based on their endings and conjugation.
One of these is, in fact, a "remnant" group including any verb that does not conjugate like the verbs of the
first two. With the caveat of the irregular third conjugation, these groupings are similar to the tripartite
system found in Italian (-are, -ere, -ire), Spanish/Portuguese (-ar, -er, -ir), and other Romance languages.

The three conjugations

-er verbs (verbes en -er) form the first conjugation and match roughly Latin verbs in -āre.
The prototypical verb is aimer ‎(“to love”‎).
-ir verbs (verbes en -ir) form the second conjugation. It is a slight misnomer as it
specifically includes verbs that use the -iss- infix (derived from the Latin inchoative infix -
esc-) in the indicative present and imperfect, and the subjunctive imperfect. They match
roughly Latin verbs in -ēre and -īre. The prototypical verb is finir ‎(“to end, to finish”‎).
Verbs of the third conjugation match a variety of Latin verbs in -īre, -ere, or -ēre whose
conjugation evolved in a fashion that gave them non-standard endings. As such, this family
is highly irregular: it includes verbs in -ir, in -oir and -re, as well as a few exceptional verbs in
-er.
Traditionally, the third conjugation consisted of verbs ending in -oir, and the fourth
conjugation was made up of -re verbs. This categorisation has, however, become unused.

General notes

Pronunciation
Some inflectional endings are pronounced irregularly relative to how they are spelled, with
many cases are well-represented on {{fr-conj-auto}}.
The third-person plural suffix -ent is silent, like word-final "e", except for in poetry where
it may be pronounced as an unstressed /ə/ sound.
The -ai ending of the first-person singular past historic (in the case of -er verbs) and
future is pronounced /e/, not /ɛ/.
The second-person plural suffix -ez is also pronounced /e/, not /ɛ/.
When the verb stem ends in -t, the ending -ions is pronounced with /tjɔ̃/ instead of /sjɔ̃/
(i.e. portions).
Endings
The second person singular always ends in -s, except in the first group's imperative and a
few verbs in -eux (where the -x used to be a scribal abbreviation for -us).
The plural endings almost always end in -ons, -ez and -ent (or -ont) in tenses other than
the past historic.
In the past historic, the first- and second-person plurals always end in -mes and -tes,
with the preceding syllable's vowel taking a circumflex (except haïr, which apparently
has a diaeresis on it).
In the subjunctive present, the first- and second-person plurals always end in -ions and
-iez, with the exception of auxiliary verbs avoir and être where both takes -ons and -ez,
respectively (ayons, ayez; soyons, soyez).
In the indicative present, some verbs end in -tes instead of -ez in the second-person
plural: être, dire, redire, faire, and faire's derivatives.
Also in the indicative present, some verbs end in -ont instead of -ent outside of the
future tense: être, avoir, aller, and faire.
The verb être is the only verb without -ons in the indicative present (it has nous
sommes).
The imperfect indicative always ends in -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.
The imperfect subjunctive always ends in -sse, -sses, -t, -ssions, -ssiez, -ssent, with the
preceding syllable's vowel taking a circumflex in the third person singular.
The conditional is always formed by adding the imperfect indicative endings to the future
stem, that stem being identical to the infinitive in the first two conjugations.
The missing forms of the imperative (the first person plural and second person plural forms)
were mainly supplied by indicative present tenses.
The verbs avoir, être, and vouloir are the only verbs of which have subjunctive present
forms on the missing imperative forms, latter are also the only verb having distinct
alternative missing forms.

First conjugation
The first conjugation is typified by the verb aimer. It includes all verbs in -er except for aller, and
envoyer and its derivatives. Some first-conjugation verbs take the regular endings but have spelling
changes in the verb root, usually to preserve pronunciation, or due to shifts in the location of the stress.

Base conjugation
Infinitive: stem + -er
Participle
Past: stem + -é
Present: stem + -ant
 Indicative
Present: stem + -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent
Imperfect: stem + -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient
Past historic: stem + -ai, -as, -a, -âmes, -âtes, -èrent
Future: stem + -erai, -eras, -era, -erons, -erez, -eront
Conditional: stem + -erais, -erais, -erait, -erions, -eriez, -eraient
Subjunctive
Present: stem + -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent
Imperfect: stem + -asse, -asses, -ât, -assions, -assiez, -assent
Imperative
tu form: stem + -e
nous form: stem + -ons
vous form: stem + -ez

Spelling variations: verbs in -cer and -ger

-cer
In French, a c is pronounced /s/ before e, i and y, and when it has a cedilla (ç), but it is pronounced /k/
before a, o, and u. When a verb stem ends in a c, it becomes ç before the endings that begin in a or o, in
order to maintain the pronunciation of the verb stem.

The prototypical verb of this type is placer ‎(“to place”‎), conjugated as follows:

Indicative
Present (nous form): plaçons
Imperfect: plaçais, plaçais, plaçait, placions, placiez, plaçaient
Past historic: plaçai, plaças, plaça, plaçâmes, plaçâtes, placèrent
Subjunctive
Imperfect: plaçasse, plaçasses, plaçât, plaçassions, plaçassiez, plaçassent
Imperative
nous form: plaçons

-ger
In the same way as the pronunciation of the letter c changes based on the following letter, so does the
pronunciation of the letter g. It is pronounced /ʒ/ before e, i and y, but pronounced /ɡ/ before a, o, and u.
This causes problems with verbs ending in -ger, as explained above. These verbs also change their
spelling: the g changes to ge before a and o.

The prototypical verb of this type is manger ‎(“to eat”‎), conjugated as follows:
 Indicative
Present (nous form): mangeons
Imperfect: mangeais, mangeais, mangeait, mangions, mangiez, mangeaient
Past historic: mangeai, mangeas, mangea, mangeâmes, mangeâtes, mangèrent
Subjunctive
Imperfect: mangeasse, mangeasses, mangeât, mangeassions, mangeassiez,
mangeassent
Imperative
nous form: mangeons
These spelling changes may combine with the vowel variation discussed in the next section with verbs
such as dépecer, rapiécer and protéger (there are no verbs in -eger).

Pronunciation variations
The pronunciation of some verbs changes when the ending begins with an unpronounced e (namely -e, -
es, -ent and the future/conditional endings). This is usually because these vowels (/ə/ and /e/) are
phonotactically not allowed in a stressed, closed syllable.

Verbs with vowel alternation

Verbs with a penultimate vowel of /e/ (é), such as répéter, or /ə/, such as acheter, change the last vowel
of the stem to è (/ɛ/) , if the first vowel of the ending is /ə/.

The prototypical verbs of these types are lever and céder:

lever

Indicative
Present: lève, lèves, lève, (levons, levez), lèvent
Future: lèverai, lèveras, lèvera, lèverons, lèverez, lèveront
Conditional: lèverais, lèverais, lèverait, lèverions, lèveriez, lèveraient
Imperative
tu form: lève

céder

Indicative
Present: cède, cèdes, cède, (cédons, cédez), cèdent
Future: cèderai, cèderas, cèdera, cèderons, cèderez, cèderont
Conditional: cèderais, cèderais, cèderait, cèderions, cèderiez, cèderaient
Imperative
tu form: cède
Exceptions
Instead of accenting the stressed vowel, the verbs appeler, interpeler, jeter and their
derivatives duplicate the l or t:

appeler

Indicative
Present: appelle, appelles, appelle, (appelons, appelez), appellent
Future: appellerai, appelleras, appellera, appellerons, appellerez, appelleront
Conditional: appellerais, appellerais, appellerait, appellerions, appelleriez,
appelleraient
Imperative
tu form: appelle

jeter

Indicative
Present: jette, jettes, jette, (jetons, jetez), jettent
Future: jetterai, jetteras, jettera, jetterons, jetterez, jetteront
Conditional: jetterais, jetterais, jetterait, jetterions, jetteriez, jetteraient
Imperative
tu form: jette
Verbs like céder may retain the original é spelling, and /e/ pronunciation, of the final e in the
future and conditional, reflecting a pronunciation where the schwa is not dropped. In such
cases, they are spelled with an acute accent in these two tenses:

ceder (alternative conjugation)

Indicative
Future: céderai, céderas, cédera, céderons, céderez, céderont
Conditional: céderais, céderais, céderait, céderions, céderiez, céderaient
Verbs with a penultimate vowel of /ɛ/, such as paresser, are conjugated normally like aimer,
as are verbs in -éer, such as créer, and -eyer, like grasseyer. Some verbs in -eller or -etter
exist as alternate spellings of equivalent forms in -eler and -eter; they do not vary either.

1990 spelling reform

Before 1990, the spelling of the forms of verbs in -eler and -eter was very complex. Some would always
duplicate the consonant, other would conjugate like lever, and others could take both. Very often
dictionaries would contradict each other, or even themselves, when giving conjugations. It is now
recommended that all these verbs, with the exception of the most common (appeler and jeter) be
conjugated like lever.

At the same time, it was recommended that verbs like céder conjugate the same way as lever in the future
and conditional, as modern pronunciation did not match the spelling for many people.
Verbs in -yer
Verbs ending in -oyer and -uyer (other than envoyer and renvoyer) replace the y with an i
before an unpronounced e, turning the preceding syllable in a diphthong. The prototypical
verbs are noyer and ennuyer, hence:

noyer

Indicative
Present: noie, noies, noie, (noyons, noyez), noient
Future: noierai, noieras, noiera, noierons, noierez, noieront
Conditional: noierais, noierais, noierait, noierions, noieriez, noieraient
Imperative
tu form: noie

ennuyer

Indicative
Present: ennuie, ennuies, ennuie, (ennuyons, ennuyez), ennuient
Future: ennuierai, ennuieras, ennuiera, ennuierons, ennuierez, ennuieront
Conditional: ennuierais, ennuierais, ennuierait, ennuierions, ennuieriez,
ennuieraient
Imperative
tu form: ennuie
Verbs ending in -ayer, however, may be conjugated either by turning the y into an i as
above, or by keeping the y and using the exact same conjugation as aimer (prototypical
example payer):

payer

Indicative
Present: paie, paies, paie, (payons, payez), paient —OR— paye, payes, paye,
(payons, payez), payent
Future: paierai, paieras, paiera, paierons, paierez, paieront —OR— payerai,
payeras, payera, payerons, payerez, payeront
Conditional: paierais, paierais, paierait, paierions, paieriez, paieraient —OR—
payerais, payerais, payerait, payerions, payeriez, payeraient
Imperative
tu form: paie —OR— paye

Irregular verb: envoyer

The verb envoyer has an irregular change of stem in the future and conditional tenses. The future stem of
this verb is enverr-, resembling voir more than envoyer. This gives the future tense j'enverrai, tu
enverras, etc., and the conditional tense j'enverrais, tu enverrais, etc.
Regular verbs with peculiar spellings
Verbs in -éer (mostly créer, recréer, agréer and béer) have unusual sequences of multiple
"e"s; the feminine past participles of créer and agréer are among the only words in French
to have sequences of three "e"s (créée, agréée).
Verbs ending in -ier are pronounced normally (that is, they rhyme with words in -ie like
manie), and the sequence of two "i"s found in the imperfect and subjunctive (and otherwise
very rare) is preserved: (que) nous copiions, (que) vous copiiez.

Second conjugation
The prototypical verb for the second conjugation is finir. The conjugation is marked by the vowel i and
the infix -iss- in the indicative present and imperfect. It has only one irregular verb and one that can take
an alternate conjugation.

Base conjugation
Infinitive: stem + -ir
Participle
Past: stem + -i
Present: stem + -issant
Indicative
Present: stem + -is, -is, -it, -issons, -issez, -issent
Imperfect: stem + -issais, -issais, -issait, -issions, -issiez, -issaient
Past historic: stem + -is, -is, -it, -îmes, -îtes, -irent
Future: stem + -irai, -iras, -ira, -irons, -irez, -iront
Conditional: stem + -irais, -irais, -irait, -irions, -iriez, -iraient
Subjunctive
Present: stem + -isse, -isses, -isse, -issions, -issiez, -issent
Imperfect: stem + -isse, -isses, -ît, -issions, -issiez, -issent
Imperative
tu form: stem + -is
nous form: stem + -issons
vous form: stem + -issez

Irregular -ir verb families

Verbs ending in -oir are usually considered part of the third conjugation (below).
 Some verbs ending in -rir (e.g., offrir, ouvrir) are conjugated in the present indicative,
imperfect, and present subjunctive as if they were of the first conjugation (i.e. "offrer",
"ouvrer", etc.):
Indicative
Present: offre, offres, offre, offrons, offrez, offrent
Imperfect: offrais, offrais, offrait, offrions, offriez, offraient
Subjunctive
Present: offre, offres, offre, offrions, offriez, offrent

Special -ir verbs

The verb fleurir can sometimes be conjugated as if its infinitive was florir when it means
“prosper”. This is systematic in the imperfect indicative (je florissais, etc.) and present
participle (florissant), and although much less common, also seen in all other tenses,
including the infinitive itself.
The verb haïr is conjugated exactly like finir, but its diaeresis remains for all the conjugation,
with the exception of the singular present indicative, where the forms are written without it
(je hais, tu hais, il hait) and pronounced accordingly /ɛ/, not /ai/. The verb was formerly
spelled hayir, and the corresponding indicative forms (haïs, haïs, haït) are still used
regionally (e.g. in Canadian French).
Although maudire is conjugated like finir in all other forms, it is considered a third-group verb
due to its irregular infinitive and past participle (maudit). Another third-group verb that often
conjugates in regular second-group conjugation is bruire.

Third conjugation
Main appendix: French irregular verbs
Verbs of the third group are an extremely disparate forms, several of which have missing, unresolved or
variable conjugations. The verbs can be broken into several broad groups:

The verb aller

Verbs in -ir with a stem that varies or that loses a syllable in some tenses.
Verbs in -re (-ore, -oire, -ire, -ure) and -oir
All in all, these verbs account for less than four hundred words and over seventy distinct conjugations.
Only some of the most common and important conjugations are given and described here.

Special verbs

être
Owing to its history as a mixture of two highly irregular Old French verbs (estre and ester), être ‎(“to be”‎)
contains a variety of unique and unpredictable forms.
 Participles
Past: été
Present: étant
Indicative
Present: suis, es, est, sommes, êtes, sont
Imperfect: étais, étais, était, étions, étiez, étaient
Past historic: fus, fus, fut, fûmes, fûtes, furent
Future: serai, seras, sera, serons, serez, seront
Conditional: serais, serais, serait, serions, seriez, seraient
Subjunctive
Present: sois, sois, soit, soyons, soyez, soient
Imperfect: fusse, fusses, fût, fussions, fussiez, fussent
Imperative
tu form: sois
nous form: soyons
vous form: soyez

avoir
Avoir ‎(“to have”‎) is another highly irregular auxiliary. It was worn down from frequent use, leading to its
current forms.

Participles
Past: eu (note pronunciation /y/)
Present: ayant
Indicative
Present: ai, as, a, avons, avez, ont
Imperfect: avais, avais, avait, avions, aviez, avaient
Past historic: eus, eus, eut, eûmes, eûtes, eurent
Future: aurai, auras, aura, aurons, aurez, auront
Conditional: aurais, aurais, aurait, aurions, auriez, auraient
Subjunctive
Present: aie, ais, ait, ayons, ayez, aient
Imperfect: eusse, eusses, eût, eussions, eussiez, eussent
Imperative
tu form: aie
nous form: ayons
vous form: ayez

faire
Faire ‎(“to do, to make”‎) is the second most frequent verb in French (after être), and is noticeably
irregular.
Note that fais- followed by an ending is always pronounced with a mute e sound (/fəz/) in this verb.

Participles
Past: fait
Present: faisant
Indicative

Present: fais, fais, fait, faisons /fəzɔ̃/, faites, font

Imperfect: faisais /fəzɛ/, faisais, faisait, faisions, faisiez, faisaient
Past historic: fis, fis, fit, fîmes, fîtes, firent
Future: ferai, feras, fera, ferons, ferez, feront
Conditional: ferais, ferais, ferait, ferions, feriez, feraient
Subjunctive
Present: fasse, fasses, fasse, fassions, fassiez, fassent
Imperfect: fisse, fisses, fît, fissions, fissiez, fissent
Imperative
tu form: fais
nous form: faisons
vous form: faites

aller
It is possible that aller is the single most irregular French verb. Its conjugation involves no less than three
distinct stems from synonymous Latin roots: all-/aill- (from the Late Latin alare, from Latin ambulare),
v- (from vadere) and ir- (from Latin ire). Aside from this, most endings are those of first conjugation (-er)
verbs.

Participles
Past: allé
Present: allant
Indicative
Present: vais, vas, va, allons, allez, vont
Imperfect: allais, allais, allait, allions, alliez, allaient
Past historic: allai, allas, alla, allâmes, allâtes, allèrent
Future: irai, iras, ira, irons, irez, iront
Conditional: irais, irais, irait, irions, iriez, iraient
Subjunctive
Present: aille, ailles, aille, allions, alliez, aillent
Imperfect: allasse, allasses, allât, allassions, allassiez, allassent
Imperative
tu form: va (but vas-y)
nous form: allons
vous form: allez
Rendre and prendre
Most verbs in -dre conjugate like rendre (major exceptions are those in -indre and -oudre). Prendre and
its compounds, however, have a very different conjugation, where the d is only kept in the future and
conditional.

Rendre

Participles
Past: rendu
Present: rendant
Indicative
Present: rends, rends, rend, rendons, rendez, rendent
Imperfect: rendais, etc.
Past historic: rendis, etc.
Future/conditional: rendrai, etc.
Subjunctive
Present: rende, rendes, rende, rendions, rendiez, rendent
Imperfect: rendisse, etc.
Imperative
tu form: rends
nous form: rendons
vous form: rendez

Prendre

Participles
Past: pris
Present: prenant
Indicative
Present: prends, prends, prend, prenons, prenez, prennent
Imperfect: prenais, etc.
Past historic: pris, etc.
Future/conditional: prendrai, etc.
Subjunctive
Present: prenne, prennes, prenne, prenions, preniez, prennent
Imperfect: prisse, etc.
Imperative
tu form: prends
nous form: prenons
vous form: prenez
Tenir and venir
Verbs derived from tenir and venir form a major group of verbs who reproduce the peculiarities of several
Spanish verbs like poner and gains a d in the future and conditional. These verbs are the only verb to
have a nasal vowel in the past historic and imperfect subjunctive.

Tenir

Participles
Past: tenu
Present: tenant
Indicative
Present: tiens, tiens, tient, tenons, tenez, tiennent
Imperfect: tenais, etc.
Past historic: tins, tins, tint, tînmes, tîntes, tinrent
Future/conditional: tiendrai, etc.
Subjunctive
Present: tienne, tiennes, tienne, tenions, teniez, tiennent
Imperfect: tinsse, tinsses, tînt, tinssions, tinssiez, tinssent
Imperative
tu form: tiens
nous form: tenons
vous form: tenez

Battre and mettre

For all purpose but spelling, battre and its derived verbs are conjugated like rendre. The only difference is
in spelling, as native French words may not end in tt or tts, thus the indicative present singular of these
verbs goes bats, bats, bat. Mettre and its family show the same changes, but additionally have a past
participle, past historic, and subjunctive imperfect in mi-:

Battre

Participles
Past: battu
Present: battant
Indicative
Present: bats, bats, bat, battons, battez, battent
Imperfect: battais, etc.
Past historic: battis, battis, battit, battîmes, battîtes, battirent
Future/conditional: battrai, etc.
Subjunctive
Present: batte, battes, batte, battions, battiez, battent
Imperfect: battisse, battisses, battît, battissions, battissiez, battissent
 Imperative
tu form: bats
nous form: battons
vous form: battez

Mettre

Participles
Past: mis
Present: mettant
Indicative
Present: mets, mets, met, mettons, mettez, mettent
Imperfect: mettais, etc.
Past historic: mis, etc.
Future/conditional: mettrai, etc.
Subjunctive
Present: mette, mettes, mette, mettions, mettiez, mettent
Imperfect: misse, etc.
Imperative
tu form: mets
nous form: mettons
vous form: mettez

Cuire
Verbs in -uire such as cuire, conduire and détruire conjugate as follows. The only exceptions are luire,
reluire and nuire, which have two possible forms in the past historic and no t to their past participles, and
bruire, which conjugated as regular -ir verbs except in the infinitive.

Cuire

Participles
Past: cuit
Present: cuisant
Indicative
Present: cuis, cuis, cuit, cuisons, cuisez, cuisent
Imperfect: cuisais, etc.
Past historic: cuisis, etc.
Future/conditional: cuirai, etc.
Subjunctive
Present: cuise, cuises, etc.
Imperfect: cuisse, etc.
 Imperative
tu form: cuis
nous form: cuisons
vous form: cuisez

Luire

Participles
Past: lui
Present: luisant
Indicative
Past historic: luis, etc.
Cuire is often, by analogy, conjugated the same in the past historic. The third person plural *cuirent in
particular is fairly common.

Origins
The examples below are from the verb faire ‎(“to do”‎). Some of singular tense endings have
etymologically erroneous -s which does not exist in either Old French or Latin; but there are few endings
that is not erroneous, like -is (the first-person singular present of regular -ir) from Vulgar Latin *-isciō,
but not in the case of irregular verbs like mentir because the -s on mens are rather erroneous, partially
from paradigm mergings by the influence of the regular -ir verbs.

The infinitive originates from Latin active present infinitive.

facere → faire

The present participle originates from Latin accusative gerund, from the passive future
participle.

faciendum → faisant

The past participle originates from Latin accusative supine, from the passive perfect
participle.

factum → fait

The indicative present originates from Latin active indicative present.

faciō → fais
facis → fais
facit → fait
facimus → faisons1
facitis → faites
faciunt → font

The indicative imperfect originates from Latin active indicative imperfect.

 faciēbam → faisais
faciēbās → faisais
faciēbat → faisait
faciēbāmus → faisions12
faciēbātis → faisiez2
faciēbant → faisaient

The past historic originates from Latin active indicative perfect.

fēcī → fis
fēcistī → fis
fēcit → fit
fēcimus → fîmes
fēcistis → fîtes
fēcērunt → firent

The future tense originates from Latin active present infinitive plus the active present
indicative forms of habeō.3

facere + habeō → ferai

+ habēs → feras
+ habet → fera
+ habēmus → ferons14
+ habētis → ferez4
+ habent → feront

The conditional tense originates from Latin active present infinitive plus endings that
resemble imperfect indicative, inherited the former usage with imperfect forms of habeō.34

facere + -ēbam → ferais

+ -ēbās → ferais
+ -ēbat → ferait
+ -ēbāmus → ferions12
+ -ēbātis → feriez2
+ -ēbant → feraient

The subjunctive present originates from Latin active subjunctive present.

faciam → fasse
facias → fasses
faciat → fasse
faciāmus → fassions12
faciātis → fassiez2
faciant → fassent

The subjunctive imperfect originates from Latin active subjunctive pluperfect.

fēcissem → fisse
fēcissēs → fisses
fēcisset → fît
fēcissēmus → fissions12
 fēcissētis → fissiez2
fēcissent → fissent

The imperative originates from Latin active present imperative. Missing forms (first-person
plural and second-person plural) are supplied by the indicative present, or the subjunctive
present in few verbs (see also § General notes).

face → fais

Notes:

1. The first-person plural ending -ons is likely from Frankish suffix *-ōmês, *-umês.
2. The suffixes -ions and -iez originate from Frankish *-ōmês and Latin -ātis added directly to
e-stem suffixes (e.g. present subjunctive); or by using paradigms of an -iō verb on the sense
of being an imperfect tense.
3. The future stems may come under analogy with Latin indicative pluperfect (vêneram hábeō
→ Old French vendrai → viendrai), except where the pluperfect stem contains -x- or -s- it
always use the infinitive stem. The pluperfect tense was once inherited as indicative
pluperfect in very early Old French.
4. All conditional endings, including 1st and 2nd plural future endings (not including stems in -
r-), are either comes from corresponding indicative imperfect and indicative present forms,
respectively, or from shortening of older *feravais, *feravais, *feravait, ... (conditional) and
*feravons, *feravez (future). In both sides, the endings always resembles endings
mentioned previously.

Hesitations and variations

For other hesitations see Appendix:French irregular verbs

In the 1990 spelling reform, it was recommended that receler and assener be written with an
accent: recéler and asséner. This may affect the conjugation of these verbs.
The verb faillir was traditionally conjugated similarly to falloir (which was, in fact, a variant of
it). Nowadays, it is more usually conjugated like finir or assaillir, although literary usage still
uses the original forms on occasion:
Indicative present: je faus, tu faus, il faut
Indicative future and imperfect: faudr- + first-conjugation endings
Chauvir is an uncommon verb for which usage hesitates between the conjugation of finir
(which classical pundits rejected) and that of offrir (except for the past participle, which
always ends in -i).
Traditional grammar holds that, depending on meaning, saillir is conjugated either like a
second-group verb or like assaillir. In practice, there is hesitation and a tendency to always
use the assaillir conjugation.

Auxiliary verbs
Main appendix: French auxiliary verbs
The vast majority of French verbs are conjugated with the auxiliary avoir. The traditional rule to know
which verbs take être is given as "verbs in the pronominal form, verbs of movement and verbs expressing
change". However, the second and third elements, although they encompass most of the verbs that take
être absolutely or most often, do not apply to a number of other verb where avoir is the only auxiliary
possible or is favored. Furthermore, the precise sense may affect the auxiliary: verbs used transitively
don't take être.

The following verbs always take être when used intransitively:

advenir
aller
arriver
décéder
devenir (and redevenir)
échoir
entrer (and rentrer)
intervenir
mourir
naître (and renaître)
partir (and repartir)
parvenir
provenir
retourner
sortir (and ressortir)
survenir
tomber (and retomber)
venir (and revenir)
In addition the following verbs usually are conjugated with être, but use avoir when used transitively:

descendre (and redescendre)

monter (and remonter)
passer (and repasser)
sortir (and ressortir)

See also
Appendix:French defective verbs
Appendix:French verbs taking subjunctive

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