The verb être ("to be") is one of the cornerstones of French. In the present tense it conjugates as je suis, tu es, il/elle est, nous sommes, vous êtes, and ils/elles sont. Although irregular, it is short enough to memorize fully and is used in countless descriptions, identities, and as an auxiliary verb in compound tenses. Avoir ("to have") is the other pillar: j'ai, tu as, il/elle a, nous avons, vous avez, and ils/elles ont. It too serves as an auxiliary, helping to form the passé composé and other compound tenses.
Aller ("to go") conjugates as je vais, tu vas, il/elle va, nous allons, vous allez, and ils/elles vont. Beyond its basic meaning, aller is the key to expressing the near future: je vais manger means "I am going to eat," equivalent to English "I'm going to." The verb faire ("to do" or "to make") follows an irregular pattern: je fais, tu fais, il/elle fait, nous faisons, vous faites, and ils/elles font. The vous faites form is worth memorizing specifically because it is irregular. Faire appears in many common expressions such as faire du sport ("to play sports").
The modal verbs vouloir ("to want") and pouvoir ("to be able to," "can") round out the essentials. Vouloir conjugates as je veux, tu veux, il/elle veut, nous voulons, vous voulez, and ils/elles veulent. Its conditional form je voudrais ("I would like") is the polite way to make requests. Pouvoir follows a similar irregular pattern: je peux, tu peux, il/elle peut, nous pouvons, vous pouvez, ils/elles peuvent. In formal yes-or-no questions, je peux rearranges into the inversion form puis-je. Most other French verbs follow the regular -er pattern, modeled by parler ("to speak"): je parle, tu parles, il/elle parle, nous parlons, vous parlez, ils/elles parlent. Note that the singular endings -e, -es, -e and the plural -ent are all silent, so three of the six forms sound identical. Parler can be followed directly by a language name without a preposition: Je parle français ("I speak French"). Some -er verbs undergo small spelling changes to preserve a soft consonant sound; for example, manger ("to eat") keeps the soft /ʒ/ sound by adding an -e- in nous mangeons: je mange, tu manges, il/elle mange, nous mangeons, vous mangez, ils/elles mangent.