About the 1,000-verb library
A searchable French reference with English meanings, six tense and mood tables, listening, and practice. It is free to use without an account.
Where the entries come from
Meanings and simple conjugation forms adapted from English Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki.org / Wiktextract. Passé composé forms combine the source auxiliary and past participle. Frequency scores from wordfreq 3.1.1 by Robyn Speer and contributors. Adapted data is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- English Wiktionary contributors — CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Kaikki.org French dictionary / Wiktextract — Wiktionary data: CC BY-SA 4.0.
- wordfreq 3.1.1 — Robyn Speer and contributors — Frequency data: CC BY-SA 4.0; software: Apache 2.0.
Dictionary dump: 2026-10-01. Extraction: 2026-10-25. Library prepared: 2026-10-30. Each page links to its source entry and contributor history is available there.
Selection and order
The default order uses wordfreq’s French frequency score for each infinitive spelling. It does not combine conjugated forms or distinguish identical spellings with other meanings. This is a browsing aid, not a definitive ranking of the 1,000 most common French verbs.
Entries need an English meaning and source paradigms for the five simple tenses and moods. The passé composé combines the source auxiliary and past participle. The selection includes common beginner verbs and two explicitly constructed pronominal entries, se lever and se coucher, whose meanings differ from their base verbs. Alternate spellings with the same normalized route are not counted twice.
What the tables cover
The tables cover present, passé composé, imperfect, future, conditional, and present subjunctive. All six persons are included. Compound forms use the selected auxiliary and show subject agreement alternatives with être. Imperatives, literary past tenses, passive forms, and full direct-object agreement rules are outside this reference. A dash marks an absent source form.
Forms separated by a slash are accepted alternatives. With être, these include masculine and feminine agreement; vous may be singular or plural. With avoir, the unmarked participle is shown. Agreement with a preceding direct object needs the whole sentence and is not assessed by this form drill.
Some motion verbs use être without a direct object and avoir with one. Their notes identify the selected use. A dash marks a source gap and is excluded from practice. Literary tenses, commands, passive voice, and all regional variants are outside this edition.
“Regular pattern” compares all displayed forms with the usual parler, finir, or vendre pattern. “Form or spelling changes” includes irregularity, spelling adjustments, alternative forms, pronominal constructions, and auxiliary changes.
Meanings, examples, and audio
Short English meanings are selected from dictionary glosses and cannot cover every context or register. Every conjugation row includes an English rendering of one selected meaning. Each of the six tenses has a French example with an English translation, for 6,000 bilingual examples across the library. These original teaching examples use a context chosen for each verb and its displayed auxiliary. Many keep the same situation across tenses so you can compare the forms. English tense and mood do not map word for word onto French: the table gives one useful reading, not every possible translation. Automated checks verify coverage and known forms; this library has not received a complete independent linguistic review.
Listening uses synthesized Google audio when the service is configured, with device speech as a fallback. Pronunciation depends on the available voice. The site does not record or grade your voice.
Reuse the data
The adapted dictionary and frequency data is available under Creative Commons Attribution–ShareAlike 4.0. Attribution and ShareAlike requirements apply to adaptations. This data license does not cover unrelated code or branding.
Download the 1,000-verb dataset (JSON) · Full attribution and third-party notices
Using this reference
Choose a few verbs that matter to you. Recall a form, put it in a sentence, and look for it in listening or reading. Begin with the common-verb suggestions rather than trying to memorize the whole directory.
Return to the verb library → · Start the free beginner course →