Question

French Tutorial: Irregular Verbs

Answer 1

going to be splitting this into two parts since I have a lot of verbs to cover

please do not interrupt until I have posted the references at the end

Answer 2

\({\bf{Irregular~-ir~Verbs~Like~Venir*:}}\)

These verbs change their stems from e to ie for the je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles forms

Conjugations:
je viens (*not* vens)
tu viens
il/elle/ons vient
nous venons
vous venez
ils/elles viennent

ex: Je viens à la fête ce soir. (I am coming to the party tonight.)

related verbs:
devenir (to become)
tenir (to have/hold/keep. sometimes used figuratively/idiomatically)*
obtenir (to obtain)

ex: Il veut devenir médecin. (He wants to become a doctor.)
Elle ne peut pas tenir une promesse. (She cannot keep a secret.)
Nous obtenons des antiquités rares. (We obtain rare antiques.)

*venir and tenir also have alternative uses, which will be covered in the next reply

Answer 3

\({\bf{Expressions~with~Venir~and~Tenir:}}\)

venir
- venir de/d': to have just done something (use this to describe actions that have occured in the recent past. conjugate "venir" in the present tense.)

Ils viennent de terminer les devoirs. (They just finished the homework)

venir chercher: to come get/pick up something

Veuillez venir me chercher à l'entraînement demain. (Please pick me up from practice tomorrow.)

likewise, use allor chercher to mean to go get/pick up something

Je vais aller chercher des oeufs à l'épicerie. (I am going to pick up eggs from the grocery store.)

tenir
- tenir à (to be fond of/emotionally attached to)
Le enfant tient à son jouet. (The child is attached to his toy.)

- tenir compte de: to take account of/attend do, etc.
Les parents tiennent compte de leurs enfants. (Parents attend to their children)

Answer 4

\({\bf{Irregular~-re~Verbs~Like~Dire:}}\)
pay attention to the spelling in the vous form

Conjugations
Dire (to say)
je dis (not dirs/dires, etc.)
tu dis
il/elle/on dit
nous disons
vous dites
ils/elles disent

Lire (to read)
je lis
tu lis
il/elle/on lit
nous lisons
vous lisez
ils/elles lisent

Écrire (to write)
je écris
tu écris
il/elle/on écrit
nous écrivons
vous écrivez
ils/elles écrivent

examples:
Ils lisent dix livres par an. (They read ten books a year.)
Que dit le professeur? (What does the professor say?)
J'écris ma thèse. (I am writing my thesis/dissertation.)

Some patterns to notice: Words that are derived from/related to/similar to dire, lire, and écrire are often conjugated similarly.

ex:
dire ---> contredire (to contradict)
lire ---> élire (to elect)
écrire ---> décrire (to describe)

Answer 5

\({\bf{References:}}\)

Rochester, Myrna B. Easy French Step-by-Step, United States, McGraw-Hill Education, 2009, 140-145

https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/dire-ecrire-lire/

https://francais.lingolia.com/en/grammar/conjugator for French conjugations

CollinsDictionary for French and English translations

Forvo (https://forvo.com/), a French pronunciation database with samples from native French speakers