How to Conjugate Regular -ER Verbs in French (2024)

FAQs

How to Conjugate Regular -ER Verbs in French? ›

The most common way to conjugate French verbs in the present tense is to add the appropriate ending to the infinitive form of the verb. For example, the verb parler (to speak) becomes je parle, tu parles, il/elle parle, nous parlons, vous parlez, and ils/elles parlent.

A regular verb is a verb that follows a common pattern of conjugation. The past tense of a regular verb is formed by adding an 'ed' or 'd' to the root verb and the past participle form of the verb is the same as its past form.

Simply put, to conjugate an -er verb, drop the -er and add the appropriate ending according to the person and tense. For example, in the present tense you add -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, or -ent to the remaining stem after removing -er.

In French, to conjugate a verb into another tense, you need the stem of the word, formed by taking the infinitive of the verb and removing its ending (-er, -ir, or -re). Those infinitive endings are then replaced with the appropriate new ending based on the tense and the subject.

To conjugate these verbs, drop the -er from the infinitive to form the stem. Next, add the -erendings to the stem. Different tenses have different endings. The endings given below (-e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent) are for forming the present tense.

In French, regular verbs are grouped into three main families — ‐ er, ‐ir, and ‐ re — because these are their endings in the infinitive form. Each regular verb within its respective family then follows the same rules of conjugation.

Regular French verbs are among the most common verbs you will come across as you learn how to speak French. You'll notice that regular verbs come in three types: verbs ending in -er, verbs ending in -ir, and verbs ending in -re.

Like être, the verb avoir (to have) is an irregular verb in the present tense. That means that its conjugation does not follow a regular pattern and all its forms must be memorized.

Which French verbs should I learn first? ›

The 4 most important French verbs are être (to be), aller (to go), faire (to do), and avoir (to have). Your can start to learn to conjugate with the present tense. Then, learn how to put an verb into the past tense.

Présent, imparfait, passé simple, and futur are simple (one-word) verb conjugations. Passé antérieur, passé composé, plus-que-parfait, and futur antérieur are compound (two-word) verb conjugations.

Regular verbs are predictable and follow specific patterns based on their verb endings. For example, when conjugating the verb “parler” (to speak), you simply replace the -er with -e to say “I speak,” resulting in “Je parle.” Irregular verbs are unpredictable and do not follow the standard conjugation rules.

Regular verbs follow a set, regular pattern. The patterns exist not only in the present tense but also in other tenses where the verb is used. Irregular verbs, on the other hand, do not follow a pattern. Their final letters do not determine what conjugated endings they'll receive.

Dormir is a French verb that is irregular in the past tense.

To conjugate a regular verb in the present tense, all you have to do is know your subject, remove the ending from the verb, and add the ending for the corresponding subject.

Find the infinitive (the most basic form of the verb) that you want to use in Spanish. Remove the ending (the -ar, -er, or -ir) so you're left with the stem. Figure out the subject (who you're talking about, e.g yourself, a group of people etc). Add the appropriate ending from the conjugation table.

Regular verbs follow a specific pattern when it comes to forming the past tense and past participle forms. In English, the top 10 regular verbs are want, look, use, work, start, try, ask, need, talk, and help.