A verb is a word that expresses

action (run)or a state of being

(is).

Verbs / Les Verbes

An infinitive / l’infinitif is

1) the name of a verb

2) the unconjugated form

of a verb

3) the form of the verb that

means “to” + the meaning

of the verb (to play, to have)

The 2 big categories of verbs in French are:

1. regular verbs / les verbes réguliers

2. irregular verbs / les verbes irréguliers

What do you do when asked to conjugate a verb : “conjugez le verbe [verb infinitive] “ ?

You take a verb’s infinitive and you break it down into parts that match the pro/noun subjects.

CONJUGATINGREGULAR -ER

VERBSSO YOU CAN

TALK ABOUT A LOT OF THINGS

First, you need to remember exactly what the subject

pronouns mean:je = I nous = we

tu = you (informal) vous = you (formal and

plural)

il = he, it ils = they (m and coed)

elle = she, it elles = they (f only)

on = we (informal)

All regular -er verbsare conjugated the same way.

Memorize one, and you can use the same pattern for all of them

STEP 1

Find the stem of the verb -To do that, take off the last two letters of the infinitive.

Exemple: jouer – to playjouer - er jouto play the stem (la racine)

STEP 2

List the subject pronouns in this way:

je nous tu vousil/elle/on ils/elles

STEP 3

List the stem after each subject pronoun:

je jou nous jou

tu jou vous jou

il/elle/on jou ils/elles jou

STEP 4

Add the following endings to

the stem:

je [stem] e nous [stem] ons

tu [stem] es vous [stem] ez

il/elle/on [stem] e ils/elles [stem] ent

So here is an example of a regular -er verb conjugated.

je joue nous jouons tu joues vous jouez il/elle/on joue ils/elles jouent

jouer = to play

je joue = I am playing, I play, I do playtu joues = you are playing, you play, you do play

il joue = he is playing, he plays, he does play elle joue = she is playing, she plays, she does play

on joue = we are playing, we play, we do play nous jouons = we are playing, we play, we do play vous jouez = you are playing, you play, you do play ils jouent = they are playing, they play, they do play elles jouent = they are playing, they play, they do play

jouer = to play

je regarde nous regardons tu regardes vous regardez il/elle/on regarde ils/elles

regardent

regarder = to watch

je cherche nous cherchons tu cherches vous cherchez il/elle/on cherche ils/elles

cherchent

chercher = to search/look for

j‘étudie nous étudions tu étudies vous étudiez il/elle/on étudie ils/elles étudient

étudier = to study

j'habite nous habitons tu habites vous habitez il/elle/on habite ils/elles habitent

habiter = to live

je mange nous *mangeons tu manges vous mangez il/elle/on mange ils/elles

mangent

manger = to eat

je commence nous *commençons tu commences vous commencez il/elle/on commence ils/elles

commencent

commencer = to begin

au négatif

je ne regarde pas nous ne regardons pas tu ne regardes pas vous ne regardez pas il/elle/on ne regarde pas ils/elles ne regardent pas

regarder = to watch

All regular -ir verbsare conjugated the same way.

Memorize one, and you can use the same pattern for all of them

STEP 1

Find the stem of the verb -To do that, take off the last two letters of the infinitive.

Exemple: finir – to finishfinir - ir finto finish the stem (la racine)

STEP 2

List the subject pronouns in this way:

je nous tu vousil/elle/on ils/elles

STEP 3

List the stem after each subject pronoun:

je fin nous fintu fin vous finil/elle/on fin ils/elles fin

STEP 4

Add the following endings to

the stem:

je [stem] is nous [stem] issons

tu [stem] is vous [stem] issez

il/elle/on [stem] it ils/elles [stem] issent

So here is an example of a

regular -ir verb conjugated.

je finis nous finissons

tu finis vous finissez

il/elle/on finit ils/elles finissent

finir = to finish

So here is an example of a

regular -ir verb conjugated.

je ne finis pas nous ne finissons pas

tu ne finis pas vous ne finissez pas

il/elle/on ne finit pas ils/elles ne finissent pas

finir = to finish

All regular -re verbsare conjugated the same way.

Memorize one, and you can use the same pattern for all

of them

STEP 1

Find the stem of the verb -To do that, take off the last two

letters of the infinitive.

Exemple: vendre – to sell vendre - re vend

to sell the stem (la racine)

STEP 2

List the subject pronouns in this way:

je nous tu vousil/elle/on ils/elles

STEP 3

List the stem after each subject pronoun:

je vend nous vendtu vend vous vendil/elle/on vend ils/elles vend

STEP 4

Add the following endings

to the stem:

je [stem]s nous [stem] ons

tu [stem] s vous [stem] ez

*il/elle/on [stem]* ils/elles [stem] ent

* Add nothing; leave stem only

So here is an example of a regular -re verb conjugated au

négatif. je ne vends pas nous ne vendons pas tu ne vends pas vous ne vendez pas il/elle/on ne vend pas ils/elles ne vendent pas

vendre = to sell

So here is an example of a

regular -re verb conjugated

au négatif

je vends nous vendons

tu vends vous vendez

il/elle/on vend ils/elles vendent

vendre = to sell