List of French Action Verbs
Are you looking to expand your French vocabulary and speak more fluently? Mastering action verbs is a crucial step in your language learning journey. This comprehensive guide introduces you to 100 essential French action verbs with clear examples, helping you understand their usage in everyday conversations. Let’s dive in!
Action verbs are the core of any language, allowing you to express actions, movements, and daily activities. In this post, we will explore 100 common French verbs, providing you with practical example sentences that will help you better understand and use them correctly.
Movement & Basic Actions
- marcher – walk
Je marche dans la rue. = I walk in the street. - courir – run
Il court dans le parc. = He runs in the park. - sauter – jump
Elle a sauté de joie. = She jumped for joy. - s’asseoir – sit down
Julie s’assoit sur la chaise. = Julie sits down on the chair. - se lever – stand up
Levez-vous, s’il vous plaît. = Stand up, please. - s’allonger – lie down
Elle s’allonge sur le canapé. = She lies down on the couch.
Shopping & Finance
- acheter – buy
Elle a acheté des vêtements. = She bought some clothes. - vendre – sell
Je vends du poisson au marché. = I sell fish at the market. - emprunter – borrow
J’emprunte un livre. = I’m borrowing a book.
Entertainment & Hobbies
- jouer – play
Mes enfants jouent dans le parc. = My children play in the park. - chanter – sing
Marc chante très bien. = Marc sings very well. - danser – dance
On danse tous les samedis soirs. = We dance every Saturday night. - lire – read
Ils lisent un livre ensemble. = They read a book together. - écrire – write
Luc écrit dans son cahier. = Luc writes in his notebook. - dessiner – draw
Je dessine une fraise. = I draw a strawberry.
Eating & Cooking
- manger – eat
Il mange tout le temps. = He eats all the time. - boire – drink
Je bois un verre d’eau. = I drink a glass of water. - cuisiner – cook
Elle ne cuisine pas souvent. = She doesn’t cook very often.
Emotions & Reactions
- rire – laugh
Nous rions beaucoup au travail. = We laugh a lot at work. - pleurer – cry
Arthur pleure pour un rien. = Arthur cries over nothing. - rougir – blush
Je rougis facilement. = I blush easily.
Sports & Activities
- nager – swim
Je nage chaque semaine. = I swim every week. - plonger – dive
Il a plongé dans la piscine. = He dived into the pool. - sprinter – sprint
Elle a sprinté jusqu’au parc. = She sprinted to the park.
Transportation & Travel
- conduire – drive
Je conduis lentement. = I drive slowly. - naviguer – sail
Il navigue sur le lac. = He’s sailing on the lake. - voler – fly
Les avions volent à haute altitude. = Planes fly at high altitude. - ramer – row
J’ai ramé jusqu’au rivage. = I rowed back to shore. - pédaler – pedal
Pédale plus vite dans la montée. = Pedal faster on the climb.
Water & Movement
- flotter – float
Elle flotte sur sa bouée. = She floats on her buoy.
Climbing & Crawling
- grimper – climb
Martin grimpe à l’arbre. = Martin climbs the tree. - ramper – crawl
Mon bébé rampe depuis un mois. = My baby’s been crawling for a month.
Slipping & Cutting
- glisser – slip
Elle a glissé sur le carrelage. = She slipped on the tiles. - couper – cut
Je coupe les tomates en rondelles. = I cut the tomatoes into slices. - éplucher – peel
J’épluche les pommes de terre. = I peel the potatoes. - râper – grate
Il a râpé deux carottes. = He grated two carrots. - hacher – chop
J’ai haché les carottes. = I chopped the carrots.
Cooking Process
- bouillir – boil
L’eau bout depuis 10 minutes. = The water has been boiling for 10 minutes. - égoutter – strain
Il faut égoutter les pâtes. = The pasta must be strained.
Moving Objects
- déplacer – move
Ils ont déplacé un gros rocher. = They moved a large rock. - soulever – lift
Aide-moi à soulever cette boîte. = Help me to lift this box. - plier – bend
Il a facilement plié la barre. = He bent the bar easily. - porter – carry
Elle porte son bébé. = She carries her baby. - tirer – pull
Il m’a tiré les cheveux. = He pulled my hair. - pousser – push
Il l’a poussé dans le dos. = He pushed him in the back.
Directions & Turning
- avancer – move forward
Avancez, vous bloquez la route. = Keep moving, you’re blocking the road. - reculer – reverse
Attention, la voiture recule. = Watch out, the car is reversing. - tourner – turn
Tournez à droite après le pont. = Turn right after the bridge.
Opening & Closing
- ouvrir – open
Jean a ouvert la fenêtre. = Jean opened the window. - fermer – close
Fermez la porte, s’il vous plaît. = Close the door, please.
Electronics
- allumer – turn on
Marie allume la lampe. = Marie turns on the lamp. - éteindre – turn off
J’éteins la télé. = I’m turning off the TV. - débrancher – unplug
Martin a débranché l’ordinateur. = Martin unplugged the computer. - désactiver – deactivate
L’alarme est désactivée. = The alarm is deactivated.
Physical Actions
- frapper – hit
Il m’a frappé au visage. = He hit me in the face. - attraper – catch
Elle a attrapé un papillon. = She caught a butterfly. - lancer – throw
Lance-moi la balle s’il te plaît. = Throw me the ball please.
Looking & Finding
- chercher – look for
Je cherche mes clés. = I’m looking for my keys. - trouver – find
Ils ont trouvé un trésor. = They’ve found a treasure.
Exploring & Speaking
- explorer – explore
Nous explorons la ville. = We explore the city. - parler – speak
Justine parle fort. = Justine speaks loudly. - écouter – listen
Luc écoute notre conversation. = Luc listens to our conversation. - répondre – answer
J’ai répondu à la question. = I’ve answered the question.
Creating & Organizing
- créer – create
Il crée des œuvres d’art. = He creates artworks. - organiser – organize
Vous organisez une fête ? = Are you organizing a party? - préparer – prepare
Elle prépare le dîner. = She’s preparing dinner.
Learning & Teaching
- étudier – study
J’étudie pour l’examen. = I’m studying for the exam. - enseigner – teach
Pierre enseigne le français. = Pierre teaches French. - apprendre – learn
Ils apprennent à lire. = They learn to read.
Emotions & Actions
- sourire – smile
Ma mère sourit tout le temps. = My mother smiles all the time. - embrasser – kiss
Elle a embrassé Franck. = She kissed Franck. - pleurer – cry
Arthur pleure de joie. = Arthur is crying with joy.
Inviting & Gathering
- inviter – invite
J’ai invité tous mes amis. = I invited all my friends. - réunir – gather
Ils ont réuni les meilleurs joueurs. = They gathered the best players. - distribuer – distribute
Elle distribue des tracts. = She distributes leaflets.
Choosing & Deciding
- choisir – choose
J’ai choisi ma nouvelle voiture. = I chose my new car. - accepter – accept
Son visa a été accepté. = His/her visa was accepted. - refuser – refuse
Il a refusé notre aide. = He refused our help.
Evaluating & Analyzing
- évaluer – evaluate
Ils évaluent les résultats. = They evaluate the results. - analyser – analyze
L’ordinateur analyse les données. = The computer analyses the data.
Modifying & Repairing
- modifier – modify
J’ai modifié les paramètres. = I’ve modified the settings. - réparer – repair
Ma voiture a été réparée. = My car was repaired.
Breaking & Demolishing
- casser – break
Julien a cassé un vase. = Julien broke a vase. - démolir – demolish
Cette usine sera bientôt démolie. = This factory will soon be demolished.
Reacting & Insisting
- réagir – react
Il a mal réagi en voyant le résultat. = He reacted badly when he saw the result. - insister – insist
Elles insistent pour venir avec nous. = They insist on coming with us.
Clarifying & Celebrating
- préciser – clarify
Peux-tu préciser ta question ? = Can you clarify your question? - fêter – celebrate
On fête un anniversaire. = We’re celebrating a birthday.
Having Fun & Sharing
- s’amuser – have fun
Ils se sont amusés à la piscine. = They had fun at the pool. - partager – share
Victor a partagé son goûter avec Marie. = Victor shared his snack with Marie.
Managing & Controlling
- gérer – handle
La police a bien géré la situation. = The police handled the situation well. - contrôler – control
Ils contrôlent la qualité. = They control the quality. - superviser – supervise
Laura supervise cette équipe. = Laura supervises this team.
Imagining & Planning
- imaginer – imagine
J’imagine qu’ils ont eu peur. = I imagine they were scared. - planifier – plan
Je planifie mes prochaines vacances. = I’m planning my next vacation. - décider – decide
Nous déciderons demain. = We will decide tomorrow.
Sleeping & Resting
- se coucher – go to bed
Ma sœur se couche tôt. = My sister goes to bed early. - dormir – sleep
Il dort profondément. = He sleeps deeply. - se réveiller – wake up
Louis se réveille à 7 heures . = Louis wakes up at 7 AM. - se reposer – rest
J’ai besoin de me reposer. = I need some rest.
Training & Stretching
- s’entraîner – train
On s’entraîne tous les mardis. = We train every Tuesday. - s’étirer – stretch
Elle s’étire après son jogging. = She stretches after her jog.
Congratulations, you’ve just learned 100 essential French action verbs! Incorporating these verbs into your daily practice will significantly improve your speaking and comprehension skills. Remember to practice them regularly to build confidence.
Don’t forget to check out the video version of this lesson available on my YouTube channel, Learn French with Escargot, for a visual and auditory learning experience.
