Conjugation. For most students, this is the worst part of learning a foreign language, but it is essential to understanding and expressing yourself in any language. French is no different.

Once you've learned the basics of verb conjugation, don't give up when you reach the irregular verbs! Some basic rules for tackling irregular verbs:

1) Drill. It isn't exciting, but sheer repetition will make a huge difference and once you know a verb, you won't have to worry about whether or not it's irregular. Try writing the verb out, repeating it out loud, tracing an already written conjugation with your finger, putting the conjugation to music. Try as many drills as you can until anything but the right conjugation seems unthinkable.

2) Read. Read in French. This is a far more natural and less frustrating way to learn verb conjugation, but it is also slower for any specific verb. The more you read in French, the more you will develop a "feeling" for how to conjugate a verb and even for what tense or mood is right in a given sentence. Visit French websites, read French newspapers,read French books, read French magazines, read French comics...

3) Look for patterns. This one is key and I do not understand why more French teachers don't emphasize it. Even the "irregular" verbs often follow patterns. Why study 50 or even 10 different individual verbs when you can study one pattern?

For example, the "boot verb." Many verbs in French are what we call "boot verbs." This means that the conjugations for the "je" "tu" "il/elle" and "ils/elles" form follow one pattern while the conjugations for the "nous" and "vous" forms follow a different pattern. In this case, the "nous" and "vous" forms usually look a lot more like the infinitive. (The unconjugated verb.)

For example:
Aller - to go
Je vais Nous allons
Tu vas Vous allez
Il va Ils vont

See the boot? And how "allons" and "allez" look a lot like "aller"?

Here's another:
Vouloir - to want
Je veux Nous voulons
Tu veux Vous voulez
Elle veut Elles veulent

Again, the stem of the verb follows one pattern (eu) inside the "boot" and another pattern (ou) outside the boot.

Not the kind of pattern that is typically discussed, but still helpful are little points like this:

Remember the four core, essential, irregular French verbs?
Etre - to be
Avoir - to have
Aller - to go
Faire - to make or to do

These are four of the most common and most irregular verbs in French. And all of them end in -ont in the third person plural.

"Sont"
"Ont"
"Vont"
"Font"

What patterns can you find in the irregular verbs that are bothering you? Because here is my fourth and final point:

4) Think. That's right. Struggling with a verb? Think it through. Think you know it, but aren't sure? Try to remember or figure out the conjugation and *then* look it up to see if you are right. If you always look first, it will be that much harder to really remember the correct spelling. Trying to figure something out on your own makes it so much easier to remember later. This applies to patterns too. Think my patterns are helpful? Great! Think someone else has some pretty cool patterns too? Awesome! But don't neglect your own patterns. Look at verbs and see what patterns you can find. You'd be amazed how much it helps! http://anneelizabeth.typepad.com.