No matter the verb, whether regular, irregular, or stem-changing, the future / conditional stem always ends in -r.
Radicaux irréguliers au futur et au conditionnel
All regular French verbs and many irregular ones use their infinitives as future and conditional stems. But of course there are always exceptions – here are the few dozen verbs with irregular stems.
Stem-changing verbs
Stem-changing verbs have the same stem change in their future and conditional stems:
Similar verbs | ||
appeler | appeller- | épeler, rappeler, renouveler |
appuyer | appuier- | ennuyer, essuyer |
employer | emploier- | nettoyer, noyer, tutoyer, etc. |
essayer* | essaier- | balayer, effrayer, payer |
gérer* | gèrer– | célébrer, espérer, préférer, etc. |
jeter | jetter- | feuilleter, hoqueter, projeter, rejeter |
lever | lèver- | acheter, achever, mener, etc. |
*The future and conditional stem change is optional for these two types of stem-changing verbs.
Irregular verbs
About 20 French verbs have irregular future and conditional stems:
Similar verbs | ||
acquérir | acquerr- | conquérir, s’enquérir |
aller | ir- | |
avoir | aur- | |
courir | courr- | concourir, discourir, parcourir, etc. |
devoir | devr- | |
envoyer | enverr- | renvoyer |
être | ser- | |
faire | fer- | |
falloir | faudr- | |
pleuvoir | pleuvr- | |
pouvoir | pourr- | |
savoir | saur- | |
valoir | vaudr- | |
venir | viendr- | devenir, tenir, obtenir, etc. |
voir | verr- | revoir |
vouloir | voudr- |