Learn irregular -RE verb conjugations in the simple past tense of the indicative

Le passé simple (littéraire) de l'indicatif
Regular -RE pattern:
Drop the final re from the infinitive form and use the following endings:
Je -is
Tu -is
Il -it
Nous -îmes
Vous -îtes
Ils -irent
[-us endings]
Je -us
Tu -us
Il -ut
Nous -ûmes
Vous -ûtes
Ils -urent
All verbs that take the -us endings have irregular stems except verbs that end in courir.

Example conjugation:
vendre
Je vend
Tu vend
Il vend
Nous vend
Vous vend
Ils vend
moudre
[-us endings]
Je moul
Tu moul
Il moul
Nous moul
Vous moul
Ils moul
All verbs that take the -us endings have irregular stems except verbs that end in courir.
Pattern legend:
Person is regular
Person is irregular
Person cannot be conjugated
Person has a new stem




NEW PATTERNS
'-AÎTRE' PATTERN
Description:
Use the base stem 'renaqu-' replacing the final '-ître' with 'qu' in the infinitive renaître.
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
naître
renaître
RENAÎTRE
[être] to be reborn
Je is > is
Tu is > is
Il it > it
Nous îmes > îmes
Vous îtes > îtes
Ils irent > irent
'-AÎTRE' PATTERN [-us endings]
Description:
Use the base stem 'compar-' dropping the final '-aître' from the infinitive comparaître and follow the '-us' pattern (found at the top of the page).
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
apparaître
comparaître
connaître
disparaître
méconnaître
paraître
réapparaître
recomparaître
reconnaître
repaître
reparaître
transparaître
COMPARAÎTRE
Je is > us
Tu is > us
Il it > ut
Nous îmes > ûmes
Vous îtes > ûtes
Ils irent > urent
'-AINDRE|EINDRE|OINDRE' PATTERN
Description:
Use the base stem 'enceign-' replacing the final '-ndre' with 'gn' in the infinitive enceindre.
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
adjoindre
astreindre
atteindre
éteindre
étreindre
ceindre
conjoindre
contraindre
craindre
dépeindre
déteindre
disjoindre
empreindre
enceindre
enfreindre
enjoindre
feindre
geindre
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ENCEINDRE
J' is > is
Tu is > is
Il it > it
Nous îmes > îmes
Vous îtes > îtes
Ils irent > irent
'-AIRE' PATTERN [-us endings]
Description:
Use the base stem 't-' dropping the final '-aire' from the infinitive taire and follow the '-us' pattern (found at the top of the page).
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
complaire
déplaire
plaire
taire
TAIRE
Je is > us
Tu is > us
Il it > ut
Nous îmes > ûmes
Vous îtes > ûtes
Ils irent > urent
'-AITRE' PATTERN
Description:
Use the base stem 'naqu-' replacing the final '-itre' with 'qu' in the infinitive naitre.
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
naitre
renaitre
NAITRE
[être] to be born
Je is > is
Tu is > is
Il it > it
Nous îmes > imes
Vous îtes > ites
Ils irent > irent
'-AITRE' PATTERN [-us endings]
Description:
Use the base stem 'repar-' dropping the final '-aitre' from the infinitive reparaitre and follow the '-us' pattern (found at the top of the page).
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
apparaitre
comparaitre
connaitre
disparaitre
méconnaitre
paraitre
réapparaitre
recomparaitre
reconnaitre
repaitre
reparaitre
transparaitre
REPARAITRE
Je is > us
Tu is > us
Il it > ut
Nous îmes > ûmes
Vous îtes > ûtes
Ils irent > urent
'-CRIRE' PATTERN
Description:
Use the base stem 'inscriv-' replacing the final '-re' with 'v' in the infinitive inscrire.
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
écrire
circonscrire
conscrire
décrire
inscrire
prescrire
proscrire
récrire
réinscrire
retranscrire
souscrire
transcrire
INSCRIRE
J' is > is
Tu is > is
Il it > it
Nous îmes > îmes
Vous îtes > îtes
Ils irent > irent
'-IRE' PATTERN
Description:
Use the base stem 'maud-' dropping the final '-ire' from the infinitive maudire.
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
circoncire
confire
contredire
dédire
dire
interdire
luire
maudire
médire
prédire
redire
rire
sourire
suffire
MAUDIRE
Je is > is
Tu is > is
Il it > it
Nous îmes > îmes
Vous îtes > îtes
Ils irent > irent
'-OÎTRE' PATTERN [-us endings]
Description:
Use the base stem 'accr-' dropping the final '-oître' from the infinitive accroître and follow the '-us' pattern (found at the top of the page).
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
accroître
croître
croitre
décroître
recroître
ACCROÎTRE
to aggrandize, to augment, to enlarge; to accrue
J' is > us
Tu is > us
Il it > ut
Nous îmes > ûmes
Vous îtes > ûtes
Ils irent > urent
'-OITRE' PATTERN [-us endings]
Description:
Use the base stem 'décr-' dropping the final '-oitre' from the infinitive décroitre and follow the '-us' pattern (found at the top of the page).
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
accroitre
décroitre
recroitre
DÉCROITRE
Je is > us
Tu is > us
Il it > ut
Nous îmes > ûmes
Vous îtes > ûtes
Ils irent > urent
'-OUDRE' PATTERN [-us endings]
Description:
Use the base stem 'résol-' replacing the final '-udre' with 'l' in the infinitive résoudre and follow the '-us' pattern (found at the top of the page).
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
émoudre
moudre
résoudre
remoudre
RÉSOUDRE
Je is > us
Tu is > us
Il it > ut
Nous îmes > ûmes
Vous îtes > ûtes
Ils irent > urent
'-PENDRE' PATTERN
Description:
Use the base stem 'repr-' dropping the final '-endre' from the infinitive reprendre.
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
apprendre
éprendre
comprendre
déprendre
désapprendre
entreprendre
méprendre
prendre
réapprendre
reprendre
surprendre
REPRENDRE
to resume; to take back
Je is > is
Tu is > is
Il it > it
Nous îmes > îmes
Vous îtes > îtes
Ils irent > irent
'-TTRE' PATTERN
Description:
Use the base stem 'transm-' dropping the final '-ettre' from the infinitive transmettre.
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
admettre
émettre
commettre
compromettre
démettre
entremettre
mettre
omettre
permettre
promettre
réadmettre
remettre
retransmettre
soumettre
transmettre
TRANSMETTRE
Je is > is
Tu is > is
Il it > it
Nous îmes > îmes
Vous îtes > îtes
Ils irent > irent
'-UIR' PATTERN
Description:
Use the base stem 'conduis-' replacing the final '-re' with 's' in the infinitive conduire.
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
autodétruire
éconduire
conduire
construire
coproduire
cuire
déconstruire
déduire
détruire
enduire
entre-détruire
entre-nuire
entredétruire
entrenuire
induire
instruire
introduire
nuire
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CONDUIRE
Je is > is
Tu is > is
Il it > it
Nous îmes > îmes
Vous îtes > îtes
Ils irent > irent
'-URE' PATTERN [-us endings]
Description:
Use the base stem 'incl-' dropping the final '-ure' from the infinitive inclure and follow the '-us' pattern (found at the top of the page).
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Verbs:
conclure
exclure
inclure
occlure
INCLURE
J' is > us
Tu is > us
Il it > ut
Nous îmes > ûmes
Vous îtes > ûtes
Ils irent > urent

ORTHOGRAPHIC CHANGES
C → qu
Description:
Change the 'c' to a 'qu' in all forms to keep the hard 'c' sound.
Endings' pattern:
-quis, -quis, -quit, -quîmes, -quîtes, -quirent
Verbs:
convaincre
vaincre
VAINCRE
Je vain > vain
Tu vain > vain
Il vain > vain
Nous vain > vain
Vous vain > vain
Ils vain > vain




COMPLETELY IRREGULAR
FAIRE (+ 9 prefixes)
Description:
Irregular verb
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Applicable verbs:
contrefaire
défaire
faire
forfaire
malfaire
méfaire
parfaire
redéfaire
satisfaire
surfaire
FAIRE
to do, to make; to result in; to turn into; (mieux de) to be better off doing something; to act like, to play the
Je is > is
Tu is > is
Il it > it
Nous îmes > îmes
Vous îtes > îtes
Ils irent > irent
LIRE (+ 3 prefixes)
Description:
Irregular verb
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Applicable verbs:
élire
lire
réélire
relire
LIRE
to read
Je is > us
Tu is > us
Il it > ut
Nous îmes > ûmes
Vous îtes > ûtes
Ils irent > urent
COUDRE (+ 2 prefixes)
Description:
Irregular verb
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Applicable verbs:
coudre
découdre
recoudre
COUDRE
Je is > is
Tu is > is
Il it > it
Nous îmes > îmes
Vous îtes > îtes
Ils irent > irent
VIVRE (+ 2 prefixes)
Description:
Irregular verb
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Applicable verbs:
revivre
survivre
vivre
VIVRE
to live
Je is > us
Tu is > us
Il it > ut
Nous îmes > ûmes
Vous îtes > ûtes
Ils irent > urent
CROIRE (unique)
Description:
Irregular verb
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Applicable verbs:
croire
CROIRE
to believe
Je is > us
Tu is > us
Il it > ut
Nous îmes > ûmes
Vous îtes > ûtes
Ils irent > urent
ÊTRE (unique)
Description:
Irregular verb
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Applicable verbs:
être
ÊTRE
to be
J' is > us
Tu is > us
Il it > ut
Nous îmes > ûmes
Vous îtes > ûtes
Ils irent > urent
BOIRE (unique)
Description:
Irregular verb
Endings' pattern:
, , , , ,
Applicable verbs:
boire
BOIRE
Je is > us
Tu is > us
Il it > ut
Nous îmes > ûmes
Vous îtes > ûtes
Ils irent > urent

CANCELED CONJUGATIONS




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-ER
-IR
-RE


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  ├ Participles
  ├ Indicative
    ├ Present ( -ER | -IR | -RE )
    └ Simple Past ( -ER | -IR | -RE )
  ├ Subjunctive
  ├ Conditional
  └ Imperative
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