French -RE Verbs: How to Conjugate Regular -RE Verbs in French (Complete Guide)

So you've hit -RE verbs in French. Maybe you just finished learning -ER verbs (the easy ones) and -IR verbs (slightly less easy), and now you're staring at "vendre" wondering why the hell the il/elle form has no ending at all.

Here's the thing: -RE verbs are the smallest group of verbs in French. There are only about 50 regular -RE verbs. That's actually good news. But they come with a catch that trips up almost every French student—what you see written down is not what comes out of your mouth when you pronounce it.

Let me explain.

What makes French -RE verbs different from other verb endings

French verbs are divided into three groups based on their infinitive endings: -ER, -IR, and -RE. The verbs that end in -RE are part of what French grammarians call the "verbes du troisième groupe" (third group), which is basically the catch-all category for everything that doesn't fit neatly into the first two groups of verbs.

Technically, according to traditional French grammar, there's no such thing as "regular -RE verbs." All verbs ending in -RE get lumped together with irregular verbs under that third group heading. But for learning purposes, it makes way more sense to separate the regular pattern from the irregular verbs. You learn how to conjugate the regular -RE verb conjugation pattern once, then tackle the irregular -RE verbs separately.

The basic conjugation pattern is straightforward. Take the verb, remove the infinitive ending (-RE), and then add the appropriate verb endings:

See that il/elle/on form? No ending. You just use the stem by itself. That's unique to -RE verbs and it's the first thing that makes this verb conjugation pattern weird compared to -ER verbs and -IR verbs.

But the real weirdness is in the pronunciation.

The pronunciation problem with French verb conjugation nobody warns you about

This is where most people learning French mess up, and it's not their fault. Textbooks show you conjugation tables, you memorize the spellings of each verb in the present tense, and then you try to speak—and it sounds wrong.

Here's what's actually happening when you pronounce these verbs:

In je vends, tu vends, and il vend, the final consonants are completely silent. You don't pronounce the -s. You don't pronounce the -d. All three present tense conjugations sound exactly the same. The last thing you hear is the "n" from "ven-".

So "je vends," "tu vends," and "il vend" are all pronounced the same way: something like "zhuh vahn."

But then in the plural forms, suddenly the consonant before the ending IS pronounced:

This is a massive disconnect between written and spoken French. If you're just studying conjugation charts and never hearing native French speakers use these verbs, you're going to sound weird when you actually try to speak everyday French.

Common -RE verbs: The vocabulary you'll actually use

You could memorize all 50 regular -RE verbs in French, but that's a waste of time. Focus on these common regular -RE verbs first—they show up constantly in the French language:

Attendre (to wait, to wait for)

Vendre (to sell)

Répondre (to answer)

Entendre (to hear)

Descendre (to go down)

Perdre (to lose)

Rendre (to give back, to return; also used in "rendre visite" = to visit)

Défendre (to defend)

Master these eight common -RE verbs first. Use them until they're automatic. Then add more vocabulary.

How to conjugate regular -RE verbs in the present tense (step by step)

Let me break down the regular -RE verb conjugation pattern more clearly so you can learn how to conjugate any regular French verb that ends in -RE.

Step 1: Take the infinitive form of the verb (like vendre, attendre, or répondre)

Step 2: Remove the infinitive ending (-RE) to find the stem

Step 3: Add the endings according to the subject pronoun:

So to conjugate attendre in the present tense:

This same pattern of endings works for all regular French -RE verbs. Once you've internalized this regular pattern, you can conjugate these verbs automatically.

Passé composé: How to conjugate -RE verbs in the past tense

For the passé composé (the past tense you'll use most often in conversation), French -RE verbs follow a pretty simple verb conjugation pattern:

So:

Examples:

The past participle ending in -u is consistent across regular -RE verbs, which makes the passé composé relatively easy to form once you know the pattern.

One exception to know: The verb descendre uses être instead of avoir in the passé composé (it's a movement verb). So it's "je suis descendu" not "j'ai descendu." And when you use être, the past participle has to agree in gender and number with the subject—so "elle est descendue" with an extra -e.

Irregular -RE verbs: The French verbs you can't avoid

Here's where French grammar gets annoying. Some of the most common verbs ending in -RE don't follow the regular conjugation pattern at all. And unfortunately, these irregular verbs show up everywhere in everyday French.

The prendre family (prendre, apprendre, comprendre, surprendre):

These verbs that end in -prendre drop the "d" in plural forms and add an extra "n" in the ils/elles form:

Notice "prennent" has a double-n. This applies to all verbs in the prendre family. It's not the regular -RE verb pattern, but at least it's consistent within this group of verbs.

The mettre family (mettre, permettre, promettre):

These verbs drop one "t" from the stem in singular forms:

Other irregular -RE verbs you'll see constantly:

Each of these irregular verbs has its own quirks in French conjugation. The good news? Because they're so common in the French language, you'll be exposed to them constantly, which makes them easier to memorize than you'd think.

The imperfect tense is actually easy to conjugate

Here's some relief for anyone trying to learn French verb conjugation: for the imperfect tense (imparfait—used for ongoing or habitual past actions), there are basically no irregular -RE verbs. Even être, which is irregular in almost every other tense, is the only exception.

The formula to conjugate regular French verbs in the imperfect tense:

So for vendre: nous vendons → vend- → je vendais, tu vendais, il vendait, etc.

This regular conjugation works for basically every verb in the French language—even the ones that are irregular in other tenses. Master French verb conjugation in the imperfect tense, and you've got a reliable pattern that almost never breaks.

Future tense: One small trick for -RE verb endings

For the future tense (futur simple), -RE verbs have one quirk: you only drop the final -e from the infinitive, not the whole -RE ending. So you keep the -r.

vendre → vendr- → je vendrai, tu vendras, il vendra, etc.

The verb endings are: -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont

Same idea for the conditional mood, except you use the imperfect tense endings instead: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.

Why conjugation tables aren't enough to master French

Look, I can give you all the conjugation charts in the world. But here's the honest truth: conjugation tables are helpful for understanding patterns, but they're terrible for actually remembering French verbs long-term.

Your brain needs context. Instead of drilling "je vends, tu vends, il vend" over and over, you need to see these verbs used in real sentences by native French speakers.

This is the same principle behind how spaced repetition actually works for language learning—you retain things better when you encounter them in meaningful context, spaced out over time, rather than cramming everything in one study session.

And because the pronunciation of French -RE verbs diverges so much from the written form, you need to practice these skills separately:

Trying to do all three at once will just slow you down.

Where -RE verbs fit in your journey to learn French online

If you're wondering why French is worth the effort in the first place—fair question. It's a lot of French grammar to absorb.

But -RE verbs are the smallest group in the language, and they're not actually that bad once you internalize a few things:

The biggest mistake people trying to learn French make is trying to memorize everything at once. Focus on the common regular verbs. Get comfortable with those present tense conjugations. Then expand to other tenses and irregular verbs.

And if you want to tackle other French verb conjugation challenges, we've covered saying "what" in French (which has like six different words, because of course it does)—that one's worth checking out once you've got your verb basics down.

If you want to actually hear these French verbs used in context—not just stare at conjugation tables—Migaku's browser extension lets you learn French directly from Netflix shows, YouTube videos, and whatever else you're watching. You can look up any verb instantly, hear how native French speakers actually pronounce it, and add sentences to your spaced repetition deck with one click.

It's a way better approach than drilling verb conjugation charts in isolation. You see how the verbs actually get used in everyday French, you hear the pronunciation from real speakers, and you build your vocabulary from content you actually enjoy.

There's a free 10-day trial if you want to try it out.

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