Skip to main content
Humanities LibreTexts

7.9: Structure - Le verbe boire

  1. Last updated
  2. Save as PDF
  • Page ID
    120653

    • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    Objectif 

    In this section, you will learn how to use the verb boire

    Media Alternative

    Listen to the audio clips that follow on this page to hear the French pronunciation of vocabulary and examples presented.

    On étudie !

    Le verbe boire

    There are two main ways to say "to drink" in French: prendre and boire.

    Prendre is a a little more general than boire because it can translate "to have", "to take", and "to drink", as in: Je prends du café. You can also use it for transportation (Je prends le bus) or buying things you don’t drink (Je vais prendre 3 baguettes).

    To refer more precisely to the idea of swallowing a liquid, we can use the verb boire (to drink):

    Conjugaison du verbe boire (to drink)
    Singulier Pluriel
    je bois nous buvons
    tu bois vous buvez
    il, elle, on boit ils, elles boivent

    The plural forms are irregular and should be memorized. Notice how the noun boisson (drink) is similar to the singular forms of the verb.

    On approfondit !

    Ressources en ligne

    Use the following resources to type accents and/or search for words:

    • Accents: ç, à, é, è, â, ê, î, ô, û, ù, ë, ï, ü 
    • Dictionnaire français-anglais

    Exercice 1 : verbe 'boire'

    Exercice 2 : verbes 'boire' et 'prendre'

    This page titled 7.9: Structure - Le verbe boire is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by William J. Carrasco, Shahrzad Zahedi, & Caren Barnezet Parrish.