One of the foundation of French language is its conjugation. As seen in the sentence structure building, verbs are the foundation of the sentence.
So it’s more than important to know how to use them in the sentence building.
There are several tenses in French. The basic one that any beginner should learn is present tense. That will build solid foundation before jumping to more complex tenses like past tense, conditional, subjunctive, …
In this post, we will focus on getting the skills needed for conjugating the most commonly used tense, which is present tense.
1. What’s the difference between an infinitive and a conjugated verb?
When conjugating a verb, it is essential to distinguish the infinitive and the conjugated form.
The infinitive is the initial form of the verb, the raw verb which has not yet been used in a tense. For example : Parler, finir, dire, avoir….
The conjugated form is when we start using the verb with or without a subject.
Example : Venir > To come > Infinitive
Je viens > I come > Conjugated form
Viens ! > Come ! > Conjugated form
2. Types of verbs based on their ending
Identifying the different types of verbs will help you learn more about the way they are conjugated.
French verbs are classified in 3 types of verbs :
The first group verbs : this includes all the verbs ending with ER. Example : Parler, manger, regarder, écouter ,…
⛔The verb aller ends with ER but is not considered as a 1st group verb as its conjugation is irregular.
The second group : the verbs ending with IR are classified in this category. Example . Finir, choisir, franchir, réfléchir,…
⛔Some verbs end with IR but they are not classified in the 2nd group as their conjugation is irregular. Example : dormir, partir, venir, tenir, mourir,…
The 1st and 2nd group verbs are called the regular verbs and today, our focus will be on understanding how to conjugate the French regular verbs.
3. Conjugating the French regular verbs in present tense
For this, you need to keep in mind two things : in general, a conjugated verb has a root and an ending. Both combined gives the conjugated form.
Now, how would you recognise the root and the endings to use?
That’s very simple. The choice will depend on the type of verb ; Wether it’s a 1st, or 2nd group verb. Let’s see how to conjugate each type of verbs.
Conjugating the first group verbs (ER)
The root is the verb without “ ER “. Example : Parler > Root = PARL
The general endings of present tense changes according to the subject.
Subject Endings
Je e
Tu es
Il/elle/on e
Nous ons
Vous ez
Ils/elles ent
Then the verb parler in present tense would be conjugated as follow :
Je parles
Tu parles
Il/elle/on parle
Nous parlons
Vous parlez
Ils/elles parlent
⛔Some verbs ending with ER have an irregular conjugation when using the pronoun Nous.
That’s the case of the verbs ending with GER like Manger, déménager, ranger, partager, ... To conjugate them, you should add the ending “eons” to the root of the “nous” form. Example : Nous mangeons, nous partageons.
For those ending with CER like commencer, avancer, for pronunciation purpose, we should add the cedille for the nous form. Example : Nous avançons, nous commençons
⛔ Other exceptions
For Verbs ending with OYER and UYER like envoyer, s'ennuyer, you sould replace the "Y" by an "I" for all the pronouns except nous and vous. The verb envoyer will then be conjugated as shown below.
J'envoie
Tu envoies
Il/elle envoie
Nous envoyons
Vous envoyez
Ils/elles envoient
For verbs ending with é + Consonant + ER like préférer, répéter and for most of those who end with e + Consonant + ER like acheter, amener, you should replace é or e by è for all the pronouns except nous and vous. The verb acheter will then be conjugated as shown below.
J'achète
Tu achètes
Il/elle achète
Nous achetons
Vous achetez
Ils/elles achètent
For some verbs like jeter et appeler, you have to double the consonant for all the pronouns except nous and vous. Example : Je m'appelle / je jette, Nous nous appelons, nous jetons.
Conjugating the 2nd group verbs (IR)
The radical is the verb without “ IR “. Example : Finir > Root = FIN
The general endings of present tense changes according to the subject.
Subject Endings
Je is
Tu is
Il/elle/on it
Nous issons
Vous issez
Ils/elles issent
Then the verb Finir in present tense would be conjugated as follow :
Je finis
Tu finis
Il/elle/on finit
Nous finissons
Vous finissez
Ils/elles finissent
We have just seen how to conjugate French regular verbs in present tense. If you manage to understand how to build the roots, and learn by heart the endings (yes, you have to learn it by heart like a school boy/girl😊 ), you’ll then be able to conjugate proprerly the regular verbs.
To make sure you picked up something form this lesson, do our quiz to test your knowledge.
You can also take this test on ER verbs of the website LePointduFLE .
If you like this, please join our members. It’s free and you will be able to leave comments, interact with other members of the community and also ask questions.
And if you find this content useful, then do not hesitate to share it with your friends and family. That would be a great way of supporting us. Merci !