French guides · Verb tables + audio
Boire: to drink — three stems in six forms.
Boire means “to drink”, and it is one of the more theatrical irregular verbs: six présent forms built on three different stems, one of which — buv- — looks unrelated to the infinitive entirely. There is no rule that produces it. The consolation is that the rest of the verb is calm, and that when you actually order a drink in France you will probably use a different verb anyway.
Présent — boi-, buv-, boiv-
Three stems. Boi- for the singular, buv- for nous and vous, boiv- for ils. Buv- is the one that has to be memorised — it is a survival from the Latin and nothing in modern French predicts it.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je bois | I drink | |
| tu bois | you drink | |
| il / elle boit | he / she drinks | |
| nous buvons | we drink | |
| vous buvez | you drink | |
| ils / elles boivent | they drink |
A stressed stem for the singular and ils, an unstressed one for nous and vous, and a v appearing in the plural. Devoir does it with doi- / dev- / doiv-. Once you see the pattern it stops feeling arbitrary, even if the exact letters still have to be learnt.
The three singular forms are one sound, “bwa”. Boivent is “bwav” — clearly different, because the v is pronounced.
Ordering a drink — and why it is not boire
You will conjugate boire far less than you expect, because French orders drinks with prendre or asks for them with vouloir.
| Say this | Means | Not |
|---|---|---|
| je vais prendre un café | I’ll have a coffee | je vais boire un café |
| je voudrais une bière | I’d like a beer | je veux boire une bière |
| tu veux boire quelque chose ? | do you want a drink? | — this one is fine |
| on va boire un verre ? | shall we go for a drink? | — and so is this |
Use it for the act itself rather than the order: je ne bois pas d’alcool (“I don’t drink”), bois de l’eau (“drink some water”), il boit trop (“he drinks too much”). Note that on its own, as in English, il boit implies alcohol.
Je bois du vin becomes je ne bois pas de vin — the partitive du, de la and des all collapse to plain de after a negative. This catches learners far more often than the conjugation does.
Passé composé — bu
With avoir, participle bu — built off the buv- stem, which is the one place that stem starts to feel less arbitrary.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’ai bu | I drank / have drunk | |
| tu as bu | you drank / have drunk | |
| il / elle a bu | he / she drank / have drunk | |
| nous avons bu | we drank / have drunk | |
| vous avez bu | you drank / have drunk | |
| ils / elles ont bu | they drank / have drunk |
Imparfait — all buv-
Because the imparfait is always built from the nous form, the whole tense uses buv-: je buvais. The boi- stem does not appear here at all.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je buvais | I used to drink / was drinking | |
| tu buvais | you used to drink / was drinking | |
| il / elle buvait | he / she used to drink / was drinking | |
| nous buvions | we used to drink / was drinking | |
| vous buviez | you used to drink / was drinking | |
| ils / elles buvaient | they used to drink / was drinking |
Futur and conditionnel — boir-
Back to the infinitive, minus the e: boir-. Completely regular — je boirai.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je boirai | I will drink | |
| tu boiras | you will drink | |
| il / elle boira | he / she will drink | |
| nous boirons | we will drink | |
| vous boirez | you will drink | |
| ils / elles boiront | they will drink |
Conditionnel — would drink
Je boirais bien un café — “I could murder a coffee”. The bien again doing the idiomatic work.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je boirais | I would drink | |
| tu boirais | you would drink | |
| il / elle boirait | he / she would drink | |
| nous boirions | we would drink | |
| vous boiriez | you would drink | |
| ils / elles boiraient | they would drink |
Subjonctif — the boot
Boiv- inside the boot, buv- outside it — exactly mirroring the présent. Il faut que tu boives plus d’eau.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| je boive | (that) I drink | |
| tu boives | (that) you drink | |
| il / elle boive | (that) he / she drink | |
| nous buvions | (that) we drink | |
| vous buviez | (that) you drink | |
| ils / elles boivent | (that) they drink |
Impératif — drink up
Bois ! and buvez !, straight from the présent and so carrying both stems. The toast, though, is neither: santé !
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| bois ! | drink! (to one person you know) | |
| buvons ! | let’s drink! | |
| buvez ! | drink! (formal, or to a group) |
Plus-que-parfait — had drunk
J’avais bu — most often, in practice, followed by an explanation.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’avais bu | I had drunk | |
| tu avais bu | you had drunk | |
| il / elle avait bu | he / she had drunk | |
| nous avions bu | we had drunk | |
| vous aviez bu | you had drunk | |
| ils / elles avaient bu | they had drunk |
Hear it, then say it
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Quick answers
Boire, answered.
The questions that come up while you are learning the table.