A2 · The present tense
More irregular verbs: partir, voir, boire
A short stem in the singular, a long stem in the plural.
At a glance
- Remember
- Short stem in the singular, long stem in the plural.
- When
- Before the past
- The past
- Past linked to the present
- The present
- The future
- Completed in the future
The present — What holds at the moment, what is under way, or what is always the case.
- Form
- je parsI leave
- Signal words
- partir
- sortir
- dormir
- mettre
- voir
- boire
- écrire
- dire
- Trap
- Wrong:Nous dormissons bien ici.Right:Nous dormons bien ici.
Your turn
5 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
stem (regular) stem (irregular) person ending
| I leave | je pars |
| you leave | tu pars |
| he, she leaves | il, elle part |
| we leave | nous partons |
| you leave (plural, polite) | vous partez |
| they leave | ils, elles partent |
| I put | je mets |
| you put | tu mets |
| he, she puts | il, elle met |
| we put | nous mettons |
| you put (plural, polite) | vous mettez |
| they put | ils, elles mettent |
| I see | je vois |
| you see | tu vois |
| he, she sees | il, elle voit |
| we see | nous voyons |
| you see (plural, polite) | vous voyez |
| they see | ils, elles voient |
| I drink | je bois |
| you drink | tu bois |
| he, she drinks | il, elle boit |
| we drink | nous buvons |
| you drink (plural, polite) | vous buvez |
| they drink | ils, elles boivent |
| I write | j’écris |
| you write | tu écris |
| he, she writes | il, elle écrit |
| we write | nous écrivons |
| you write (plural, polite) | vous écrivez |
| they write | ils, elles écrivent |
| I say | je dis |
| you say | tu dis |
| he, she says | il, elle dit |
| we say | nous disons |
| you say (plural, polite) | vous dites |
| they say | ils, elles disent |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
partir, sortir and dormir lose the last consonant of the stem in the singular.
Je pars demain, nous partons ensemble.I am leaving tomorrow, we are leaving together.
voir and croire take a y with nous and vous.
Nous voyons la mer d’ici.We can see the sea from here.
écrire takes a v in the plural, lire and dire an s.
Ils écrivent une lettre, elles lisent le journal.They are writing a letter, they are reading the paper.
vous dites ends in -tes, like vous faites.
Qu’est-ce que vous dites ?What are you saying?
Example sentences
Il met la table pendant que je cuisine.He lays the table while I cook.
Le dimanche, on dort jusqu’à dix heures.On Sundays people sleep until ten.
Vous buvez du café ou du thé ?Do you drink coffee or tea?
Je ne vois pas bien sans lunettes.I cannot see well without glasses.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
dormir, partir and sortir look like finir and are not conjugated like it. Apply the rule of the -ir verbs and you write nous dormissons — no such form exists. The -iss- belongs only to the group of finir, choisir and réussir.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Besides aller, faire, prendre and venir there is a second row of irregular verbs you need in the first weeks. They are tamer than they look: almost all of them have a short stem in the singular and a long one in the plural.
partir stands for a whole group: sortir, dormir, sentir and servir go the same way. In the singular the last consonant of the stem drops — je pars, je dors — and in the plural it is back: nous partons, nous dormons. These verbs end in -ir but have no -iss-.
With voir, boire, écrire and dire the long stem shows in nous, vous and ils: nous voyons, nous buvons, ils écrivent. lire goes like écrire with s instead of v (nous lisons), croire like voir (nous croyons), and mettre doubles the t in the plural (nous mettons). English verbs have no stems to change at all — «we see», «we drink» are the bare verb — so the pattern has to be learnt as a shape, not converted.
Three forms break the pattern and cause the most mistakes: vous dites (not disez), ils boivent (with oi and v) and il met with no ending.
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