There are over 7,000 verbs in French. You don't need most of them.

According to corpus studies of spoken French (the same data the FSI and CEFR use to build their A1–B2 syllabi), the top 30 verbs cover the majority of everyday speech. Learn their conjugations cold and you'll understand 80%+ of what people actually say around you.

Here's the list, ordered by frequency rank.

The "you literally can't speak French without these" tier

These five aren't optional. They're the auxiliaries, the connectors, and the most common action verbs in the language. Every other verb you learn assumes you can conjugate these in your sleep.

Rank Verb Meaning Why it matters
1 être to be The most-used verb in French. Also the auxiliary for passé composé of motion verbs.
2 avoir to have #2 verb, and the auxiliary for passé composé of most verbs.
3 aller to go Powers the futur proche (je vais manger = I'm going to eat).
4 faire to do, to make Idiom soup, weather (il fait beau), sports (faire du sport), tasks.
5 dire to say, to tell Every conversation cites someone saying something.

The "modal" tier: these multiply every other verb

These verbs combine with infinitives to express can, want, should, must. Learn them, and you instantly double your expressive range.

Rank Verb Meaning
6 pouvoir can, to be able to
7 vouloir to want
8 savoir to know (a fact / how to)
10 devoir must, to have to
17 falloir must (impersonal, only il faut)

⚠️ savoir and connaître both mean "to know" but aren't interchangeable. savoir = facts and skills (je sais nager, I know how to swim). connaître = people and places (je connais Paris).

The "everyday action" tier

These are the verbs you'll use to describe what you and the people around you do, every day.

Rank Verb Meaning
9 voir to see
11 venir to come (also: venir de = to have just done sth)
13 parler to speak
14 prendre to take (food, transport, time)
15 croire to believe, to think
16 aimer to like, to love
19 penser to think
20 attendre to wait
21 trouver to find
24 donner to give
25 regarder to look at, to watch
27 partir to leave
28 mettre to put, to place

The "I'm moving through space" tier

French distinguishes movement verbs more than English. These are the ones that take être in compound tenses (not avoir), and you'll trip over them constantly if you don't memorize that fact.

Rank Verb Meaning Aux.
3 aller to go être
11 venir to come être
23 arriver to arrive être
27 partir to leave être
29 rester to stay être
18 passer to pass / spend (time) both (depends on meaning)

Memorize the aux: Je suis allé ✓, J'ai allé ✗.

The "fills the gaps" tier

Slightly less common, still essential. You'll hear all of these every day.

Rank Verb Meaning
12 suivre to follow
22 laisser to leave (sth) / to let
26 appeler to call
30 arrêter to stop
, demander to ask

How to actually learn these

Three things tend to derail beginners on this list:

  1. They try to learn all 30 at once. Don't. Lock down être, avoir, and aller in présent and passé composé first. Add the modals (pouvoir, vouloir, devoir). Then layer in the action verbs.
  2. They learn the infinitive but not the conjugations. Knowing aller is useless if you can't produce je vais, tu vas, nous allons, vous êtes allés. Practice the conjugations, not the infinitives.
  3. They use multiple-choice apps. Recognition ≠ production. You need to type out the form to retain it.

The Bonjour Verbs app is built around exactly this list. The free tier covers all 30 verbs above in présent indicatif and gives you a Custom Quiz builder to drill them however you want. Pro unlocks them across the other 14 tenses (passé composé, imparfait, futur, conditionnel, subjonctif, impératif and more), plus Smart Quiz and the full guided roadmap so you're never wondering what now. Browse all 30 conjugation tables →