No one said it was going to be easy and French irregular -RE verbs are testament to this popular adage. Still, you'll find that this family of verbs - with the exception of its out-and-out irregular subset - has plenty of slight disparities that are primarily seen and not heard.

There are five classes of -RE verbs that you'll routinely encounter in French, as well as two special cases, être and faire.

Les Verbes Irréguliers -RE | Irregular -RE Verbs

1. Regular -RE verbs
2. Irregular -RE verbs, such as prendre
3. Irregular -RE verbs, such as battre
4. Irregular -RE verbs, such as rompre
5. Completely irregular -RE verbs (faire, connaître etc.)
6. Être
7. Faire

1. Regular -RE verbs
As detailed in our regular 're' verbs section, to conjugate regular -re verbs, such as attendre or vendre, you remove the infinitive ending (the -RE) and add the appropriate suffix as per the table below.

2. Irregular -RE verbs, such as prendre

The first subset of irregular -RE verbs comprises prendre and its derivatives, like comprendre etc. The differences are thankfully subtle and are only really noted in when in written form.

As per the table below, drop the 'D' of the stem in the 1st and 2nd person plural forms and add a second 'N' to the 3rd person plural:

3. Irregular -RE verbs, such as battre

The second subset of irregular -RE verbs comprisess battre, mettre and their derivatives, like débattre, promettre etc. The irregularities are again subtle and noted only when in written form. As per the table below, drop the second 'T' of the stems in the singular form:

4. Irregular -RE verbs, such as rompre

The third subset of irregular -RE verbs comprisess rompre and its derivatives, like corrompre etc. The one difference between this subset and regular -RE verbs is that le présent 3rd person singular adds a 'T' after the stem, as illustrated below:

5. Completely irregular -RE verbs
The final subset of irregular -RE verbs aren't really a subset at all; they're more a collection of quite distinct and insubordinate verbs that don't follow a decipherable pattern to speak of. In short, you'll alas have to memorize each verb's various conjugations individually.

To help, try throwing a few new verbs into a casual conversation with a French-speaking friend, classmate or colleague - here goes:

6. Être
Être, like its non-conformist -RE cousins listed above, is an irregular verb. What differentiates it, however, is that it is one the most frequently used French verbs and can be somewhat ambiguous for non-natives when used in certain contexts. Translated directly as 'to be', être can be used in the following situations:

1. 'To be' in the traditional sense

   Il est drôle
   He is funny
   Je suis Européen
   I am European
   Je serai fatigué demain matin
   I'll be tired tomorrow morning

   * Note: The French use avoir (to have), and not être (to be), for a number of expressions that often can catch out English speakers, as detailed here.

2. To describe one's profession - note no indefinite article

   Mon père est ingénieur
   My father's an engineer
   Ma soeur est étudiant
   My sister's a student

3. Être is used in impersonal expressions

   C'est toujours la même histoire vieille
   It's always the same old story
   Il est presque l'hiver
   It's nearly winter
   c'est ça
   This is it / that's it
   N'est-ce pas?
   Is that not so?

4. Être is used in many idiomatic expressions

   Il est à côté de la plaque
   He doesn't have a clue

5. Être is used as an auxiliary verb

   Conjugated in its present tense form, être is a 'helper verb' for all reflexive verbs and some 'verbs of motion' - like arriver (to arrive) and partir (to leave) - to form le passé composé.
   

   Je me suis couché de bonne heure hier soir
   I went to sleep early last night
   Je suis allé à la boîte de nuit la nuit dernière
   I went clubbing last night

6. Below être is conjugated...

   ...in the present tense. To learn to conjugate être in other tenses, check out UC's uber-useful and highly recommended ARTFL Project, or see our tenses section.

   pronoun	stem
   Je	suis
   tu	es
   il / elle / on	est
   nous	sommes
   vous	êtes
   ils / elles	sont

7. Faire
Faire, like être and its aformentioned maverick cousins, is an irregular verb. It is also one the most commonly used French verbs and can itself be somewhat ambiguous for non-natives in certain contexts. Translated as 'to make' and 'to do', faire is used:

1. 'To make' and 'to do' in the traditional sense

   Je fais du bricolage
   I do odd jobs
   Fais-tu le ménage?
   Do you clean?
   Nous faisons des progrès
   We're making progress

2. 'To make' and 'to do' in a counter-intuitive sense

   Il fait chaud / froid / du soleil
   It's cold / hot / sunny
   Je fais du ski / du golf
   I ski / golf
   Cinq moins deux font trois
   Five minus two equals three

   Note: A number of English expressions that you'd assume use faire when translated directly to French don't; for instance, when 'to make' is followed by an adjective, you use the verb rendre - elle me rend heureux. Also, you don't make a decison in French, you take it (i.e. je prends une décision).

3. The causative uses faire and the infinitive form of a verb when something has caused something else to happen

   Elle m'a fait faire la cuisine
   She made me do the cooking
   Le froid fait geler l'eau
   The cold makes water freeze

4. Faire is used in idiomatic expressions

   Il fait à sa tête
   He acts impulsively

5. Below faire is conjugated...

   ...in the present tense. To learn to conjugate faire in other tenses, check out the Chicago University's recommended and bookmark-compulsory ARTFL Project, or see our dedicated French verb tenses section.

   pronoun	stem
   Je	fais
   tu	fais
   il / elle / on	fait
   nous	faisons
   vous	faites
   ils / elles	font