5 Most Confusing French Verbs Explained with Examples

Confusing French verbs can be difficult for learners and often result in incorrect usage. Many verbs translate into the same English word, while others have multiple meanings depending on the context. Our students, even at intermediate levels, still sometimes make mistakes with these verbs.

If you have ever hesitated between connaître and savoir, or wondered whether to use rentrer, retourner, or revenir, you are not alone. In this guide, we break down the most confusing French verbs: passer / se passer, visiter, connaître / savoir, manquer à / manquer de, and revenir / rentrer/retourner.

You will learn the key differences, clear grammar rules, and see practical examples in French with English translations.Plus, you can test your understanding with an exercise and a quiz to master these tricky verb distinctions.

Table of contents

1 - Passer vs Sr passer

2- Visiter vs Aller voir / Venir voir / Rendre visite à

3- Connaître vs Savoir

4- Manquer vs manquer à vs Manquer de

5-Revenir vs Rentrer vs Retourner

6- Exercice ( 15 phrases)

1️- Passer vs Se passer

🔹 PASSER

Passer is followed by:

·       a noun (Je passe un examen)

·       a time expression (passer deux heures)

·       an infinitive (passer voir quelqu’un)

Main meanings:

·       to spend (time)

·       to take (an exam)

·       to stop by / drop in

·       to pass

Examples:

·       Je passe te voir demain.
I’ll stop by to see you tomorrow.

·       Nous avons passé trois heures à discuter.
We spent three hours talking.

🔹 SE PASSER (reflexive verb)

You regularly hear questions in France such as “Ça s’est bien passé ?”, whether in a restaurant about a meal or in other contexts, such as a weekend or an evening. Of course, you understand the question, which can be translated as “Did it go well?”, but the answer is sometimes incorrect. Let’s review the grammar rules for the reflexive verb se passer.

Se passer is used:

·       alone (Qu’est-ce qui se passe ?)

·       with an adverb (bien, mal - Ca se passe bien - Ca s’est mal passé)

·       with a time/place expression

Meaning:

·       to happen

·       to take place

Examples:

·       Qu’est-ce qui se passe?
What is happening?

·       La réunion se passe très bien.
The meeting is going very well.

2️- Visiter vs Aller voir / Venir voir / Rendre visite à

 🔹 VISITER

In English, the verb “to visit” can refer to both a place and a person. It may seem natural to translate it literally into French, since the verb “visiter” does exist. So far, everything seems simple. However, in French, you cannot visiter a person. When referring to a person, the grammatical structure is different. Let’s quickly review the rule and its usage.

Visiter is followed by a place (direct object, no preposition).

Meaning:

To visit a place (museum, city, country).

Examples:

·       Nous visitons le musée.
We are visiting the museum.

·       Elle a visité Rome l’année dernière.
She visited Rome last year.

⚠️ You do NOT “visiter” a person in French. It’s a very common mistake that we often hear, even at sometimes advanced levels. The error, of course, comes from the literal translation of “to visit someone” in English. To avoid making this mistake, write the expression on a Post-it.

🔹 ALLER VOIR / VENIR VOIR

·       Aller / venir + infinitive (voir)

·       Followed by a person

Meaning:

To go see / come see someone or something.

Examples:

·       Je vais voir mes parents ce week-end.
I’m going to see my parents this weekend.

·       Elle vient voir son frère ce soir.
She’s coming to see her brother tonight.

🔹 RENDRE VISITE À

·       Followed by à + person

Meaning:

More formal way to say “to visit someone.”

Examples:

·       Il rend visite à sa grand-mère.
He is visiting his grandmother.

·       Nous avons rendu visite à nos amis.
We visited our friends.

3️- Connaître vs Savoir

 Both savoir and connaître are translated by a single verb in English: “to know.” In French, however, we use two different verbs to express the English verb “to know”: savoir and connaître. The choice between the two depends on the words (nouns or verbs) that follow them. There’s nothing very complicated about it, but let’s review the rule and its usage through examples.

🔹 CONNAÎTRE

Followed by:

·       a noun

·       a person

·       a place

It is NOT followed by a verb.

Meaning:

To know / be familiar with.

Examples:

·       Je connais ce restaurant.
I know this restaurant.

·       Elle connaît bien Paris.
She knows Paris well.

🔹 SAVOIR

Followed by:

·       a clause with a conjugated verb

·       an infinitive verb

·       short statements (la réponse, la vérité)

Meaning:

To know a fact / to know how to do something.

Examples:

·       Je sais qu’il arrive demain.
I know that he is arriving tomorrow.

·       Nous savons parler français.
We know how to speak French.

·       Oui je sais ( answering a question like « est-ce que tu sais que Paul est anglais ? »
Yes I know

👉 Quick rule:

·       Person/place → connaître

·       Fact/verb → savoir

4️- Manquer vs manquer à vs Manquer de

The verb to miss in French confuses almost everyone. The verb “to miss” in English is tricky because it covers several meanings that are expressed differently in other languages (especially in French, where there is no single equivalent).

🔹 MANQUER (most basic meaning: to fail to catch / reach / attend)

Subject + miss + noun

Meaning:

To fail to catch, reach, or attend something (bus, train, call, opportunity, etc.) This is the most basic and literal usage of “to miss” in English.

Examples:

• I missed the train. → J’ai manqué le train.

• She missed her flight. → Elle a manqué son vol.

• He missed the call. → Il a manqué l’appel.

• Don’t miss the opportunity. → Ne manque pas l’occasion.

🔹 MANQUER À

Structure:
Person (object pronoun) + manquer + subject

It works “backwards” compared to English.

Meaning:

To be missed by someone.

Examples:

·       Tu me manques.
I miss you.
(Literally: You are missing to me.)

·       Sa famille lui manque.
He misses his family.

🔹 MANQUER DE

Followed by:

·       a noun

·       an infinitive

Meaning:

To lack / to run out of.

Examples:

·       Nous manquons de temps.
We are lacking time.

·       Elle manque de confiance.
She lacks confidence.

5️- Revenir vs Rentrer vs Retourner

These three verbs in French all relate to the idea of returning, but they are not interchangeable in French. Each one expresses a different type of movement or context.

🔹 REVENIR

Often followed by:

• de + place

• time expressions

Meaning:

To come back / return to a previous place or situation.

Important nuance:

In French, “revenir” is used from the speaker’s current point of reference, meaning the place where the speaker is at the moment of speaking or mentally located in the situation.

👉 You cannot use “revenir” if you are referring to returning to a place that is not your current point of reference. If you live in the United States and you are currently in France, you would not say “je reviens aux États-Unis” in that situation. Instead, you would use another verb like “retourner”, because you are not speaking from the perspective of being there.

Examples:

• Je reviens dans cinq minutes.

  I’ll come back in five minutes.

• Elle revient de vacances demain.

  She is coming back from vacation tomorrow.

🔹 RENTRER

Often followed by:

• à + place

• or used without complement when the context is clear

Meaning:

To go home / to return home / to go back inside.

Examples:

• Je rentre à la maison à 18h.

  I’m going home at 6 pm.

• Il est rentré tard hier soir.

  He came home late last night

👉 Think: rentrer = going back to your “base” (home, inside, country)

🔹 RETOURNER

There is often confusion with this verb, because the French “retourner” does not always correspond directly to the English “to return”. The similarity in sound between the two verbs can also lead to mistakes. In French, “retourner” is a general verb meaning to go back to a place, but it is not used when referring to one’s main place of residence. In this case, the verb “rentrer”, studied earlier, is used instead. Here is a clear explanation.

Retourner” is a neutral, general verb of movement meaning to go back to a place you have already been.

👉 Unlike “rentrer”, it is not restricted to the idea of home or main residence, and unlike “revenir”, it does not depend on the speaker’s current point of reference.

👉 It is often used when the place is not necessarily “home”, or when the focus is simply on the action of going back.

Examples:
• J’ai adoré le Japon, je veux y retourner l’année prochaine.

I loved Japan, I want to go back there next year.

• Steeve m’a promis de retourner dans ce restaurant avec moi.

Steeve promised to go back to that restaurant with me.

6- Practice exercise to check your knowledge

🔹 QUIZ – Choose the correct answer

1. Passer / Se passer

1. Nous ______ le week-end à la campagne.
   a) nous passons
   b) nous se passons
   c) nous passons à

2. Le week-end______ , on a adoré ces deux jours.
   a) ça passe
   b) ça se passe
   c) S’est très bien passé

2. Visiter / Aller voir / Venir voir / Rendre visite à

1. Nous ______ le musée du Louvre demain.
   a) nous visitons
   b) nous rendons visite à
   c) nous allons voir

2. Je ______ mes parents ce week-end.
   a) je visite
   b) je rends visite à
   c) je vais voir

3. Connaître / Savoir

1. Je ______ très bien ce quartier de Paris.
   a) je connais
   b) je sais
   c) je connais de

2. Je ______ que le train arrive à 18h.
   a) je connais
   b) je sais
   c) je sais de

4. Manquer / Manquer à / Manquer de

1. Tu ______ beaucoup depuis ton départ.
   a) tu me manques
   b) tu me manques à
   c) tu me manques de

2. Elle ______ de confiance en elle.
   a) elle manque de
   b) elle manque à
   c) elle manque

5. Revenir / Rentrer / Retourner

1. Je ______ à la maison vers 19h.
   a) je rentre
   b) je reviens
   c) je retourne

2. Après ce voyage au Japon, je veux y ______.
   a) je reviens
   b) je rentre
   c) je retourne

6. Passer / Aller voir

1. Je ______ mon ami après le travail.
   a) je visite voir
   b) je vais voir
   c) je visite

🔹 CORRECTION

1. a) nous passons

2. b) s’est très bien passé

3. a) nous visitons

4. c) je vais voir

5. a) je connais

6. b) je sais

7. a) tu me manques

8. a) elle manque de

9. a) je rentre

10. c) je retourne

11. b) je vais voir

Complete the sentences with the correct verb from the list below.
👉 Make sure to conjugate the verbs correctly.

🔹 EXERCISE – Fill in the blanks with the correct verb

(passer / se passer / visiter / aller voir / venir voir / rendre visite à / connaître / savoir / manquer / manquer à / manquer de / revenir / rentrer / retourner)

1. Nous ______ le musée du Louvre pendant notre séjour à Paris.

2. Je ______ que la réunion commence à 10h précises.

3. Ça s’est très bien ______ malgré quelques imprévus.

4. Tu me ______ énormément depuis ton départ à l’étranger.

5. Elle ______ de confiance quand elle doit parler en public.

6. Nous avons ______ le train de seulement deux minutes.

7. Il ______ bien ce quartier car il y a habité pendant cinq ans.

8. Je vais ______ mes parents ce week-end à la campagne.

9. Elle ______ régulièrement à sa grand-mère depuis son déménagement.

10. Après ce voyage incroyable au Japon, je veux y ______ dès que possible.

11. Que ______-il dans ce quartier la nuit ?

12. Je ______ te voir demain pour discuter du projet.

13. Il ______ dans son pays natal chaque été.

14. Nous ne ______ pas encore toute la vérité sur ce crime

15. J’ai ______ deux heures à attendre le train

16. Il ______ parler trois langues étrangères.

17. Elle ______ son vol pour Londres car il y avait trop de traffic sur la route de l’aéroport

18. Je ______ chez moi vers 19h après le travail.

19. Ils ______ dans leur ville natale après dix ans à l’étranger.

20. Je_____ que le français n’est pas une langue facile, il y a des verbes difficiles à utiliser

🔹 CORRECTION

1. visitons

2. sais

3. passé

4. manques

5. manque de

6. manqué

7. connaît

8. aller voir

9. rend visite

10. retourner

11. se passe

12. vais

13. rentre (ou retourne selon contexte pédagogique)

14. savons

15. passé

16. sait

17. a manqué

18. rentre

19. retournent

20. sais

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