- 1). Determine if the word in question is proceeded by an article or a pronoun. While there are exceptions, typically a verb is preceded by a noun or one of the following pronouns: je, tu, elle, il, nous, vous, elles or ils. A noun will often be preceded by a definite article such as le, la or les; an indefinite article such as un, une or des; or a possessive pronoun such as mon, ma, ton, ta, nôtre or vôtre.
- 2). Learn how to conjugate verbs, and then listen or look for conjugation. If a word is conjugated, it is a verb.
- 3). Use context clues in conjunction with the previous methods to determine which part of speech a particular French word belongs to. If a word is preceded and followed by nouns, it may be a verb connecting a subject to an object. If the word is at the beginning of a sentence, it may well be a noun, pronoun or article. If the word is at the beginning of a question, it may be a verb.
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