Aller, faire, prendre and venir
Four irregular verbs you need every day: to go, to do, to take and to come. They share patterns: -ons and -ez, and a double n in prennent and viennent.
Why
You are on an exchange in Lyon. How do you say that you take the bus to school and that your friend comes from Namur?
You need four irregular verbs straight away: Je prends le bus. Je vais à l'école. Mon ami vient de Namur. Le soir, nous faisons nos devoirs.
Aller, faire, prendre and venir are among the most frequent verbs in French. Later you also need aller for the near future: je vais manger.
See it
Four cards, one per verb. Go through the persons and look at what the verbs share: -ons and -ez with nous and vous, a double n in prennent and viennent.
With ils: vont and font end in -ont, prennent and viennent get a double n.
Description of the picture
Four cards side by side: aller, faire, prendre and venir. Each card shows the form for the chosen person, for example with ils: vont, font, prennent, viennent. The shared patterns light up: vont and font both end in ont, prennent and viennent have a double n. With nous and vous, ons and ez light up, with the exception vous faites.
Get it
These four verbs do not follow the usual rule for -er. You learn them by heart, but they are more alike than you think.
Aller (to go): je vais, tu vas, il va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont. With nous and vous you still hear the infinitive, the rest starts with v.
Faire (to do, to make): je fais, tu fais, il fait, nous faisons, vous faites, ils font. Watch vous faites (like vous êtes) and ils font (like ils vont, ils sont, ils ont).
Prendre (to take) and venir (to come) are built the same way: je prends, nous prenons, ils prennent and je viens, nous venons, ils viennent. With ils you get a double n. Apprendre and comprendre go like prendre, revenir and devenir like venir.
In the singular je and tu end in -s (je fais, tu prends). With il there is a -t (il fait, il vient) or, for prendre, a -d (il prend).
Aller: vais, vas, va, allons, allez, vont. Faire: fais, fais, fait, faisons, faites, font. Prendre: prends, prends, prend, prenons, prenez, prennent. Venir: viens, viens, vient, venons, venez, viennent.
Examples to listen to
Je vais à l'école à vélo.
Aller with je: vais.
Vous faites du sport le mercredi ?
Vous faites, not vous faisez.
Mes parents font les courses au marché.
Ils font, just like ils vont.
Nous prenons le train pour Bruxelles.
With nous: no d and one n.
Elles viennent de Charleroi.
With ils and elles: ie and a double n.
Tu comprends la question ?
Comprendre goes like prendre.
Worked example
Fill in: Mes cousins ___ (venir) de Liège et ils ___ (prendre) le train.
Mes cousins are more than one person, like ils.
Venir with ils: viennent, with a double n.
Prendre with ils: prennent, without d and with a double n.
- Answer
Mes cousins viennent de Liège et ils prennent le train.
Do it
Choose a level. You get a new exercise each time, checked straight away.
Pitfalls
Wrong: Vous faisez vos devoirs.
It sounds logical after nous faisons, but it is vous faites. Only être, faire and dire have a form like that.
Right: Vous faites vos devoirs.
Wrong: Ils allent au cinéma.
Aller ends in -er, but it is irregular. With ils it is vont.
Right: Ils vont au cinéma.
Wrong: Ils prenent le bus.
With ils and elles the n doubles: prennent. The same goes for viennent.
Right: Ils prennent le bus.
Wrong: Nous prendons un café.
With nous and vous the d drops out: nous prenons, vous prenez.
Right: Nous prenons un café.
In real life
- On the train from Brussels to Namur you hear: Le train va partir. Prenez place, s'il vous plaît.
- A friend from Quebec writes: Tu viens à ma fête samedi ?
- On a sign in a Paris park: Ici, on fait du sport ensemble tous les dimanches.
At the table
Play Cartes sur table. Write aller, faire, prendre and venir on four cards and the six persons on six others. Draw a card from each pile and say the form. Get vous faites or ils prennent right first time and you keep the card.
Something to do or talk about together, for parents and children. Mistakes are welcome.