French Regular -ER Verbs

How to conjugate regular -ER verbs in French There are five main kinds of verbs in French: regular -ER, -IR, -RE; stem-changing; and irregular. Once you’ve learned the rules of conjugation for each of the first three kinds of verbs, you should have no problem conjugating regular verbs in each of those categories. The majority of French verbs are regular -ER verbs – see the next page for a list of some common -ER verbs. The verb form that ends in -ER is called the infinitive (in English, the infinitive is the verb preceded by the word “to”), and -ER is the infinitive ending.

The verb with the infinitive ending removed is called the stem or radical. To conjugate -ER verbs, remove the infinitive ending to find the stem and add the endings in the table below.

How to conjugate regular -ER verbs in French

FRENCH REGULAR -ER VERB CONJUGATIONS

To conjugate an -ER verb in the present tense, remove the infinitive ending and then add the appropriate endings. For example, here are the present tense conjugations for the regular -ER verbs parler (to speak), donner (to give), and visiter (to visit):
Pronoun Ending parler > parl- donner > donn- visiter > visit-
 je  -e parle donne visite
 tu  -es parles donnes visites
 il  -e parle donne visite
 nous  -ons parlons donnons visitons
 vous  -ez parlez donnez visitez
 ils  -ent parlent donnent visitent
Regular -ER verbs share conjugation patterns in all tenses and moods.

SOME COMMON FRENCH REGULAR -ER VERBS

French regular -ER verbs, by far the largest group of French verbs, share a conjugation pattern.

Here are just a few of the most common regular -ER verbs: aimer   to like, to love arriver   to arrive, to happen chanter   to sing chercher   to look for commencer*   to begin danser   to dance demander   to ask for dépenser   to spend (money) détester   to hate donner   to give écouter   to listen to étudier**   to study fermer   to close goûter   to taste

jouer   to play laver   to wash manger*   to eat nager*   to swim parler   to talk, to speak passer   to pass, spend (time) penser   to think

porter   to wear, to carry regarder   to watch, to look at rêver   to dream sembler   to seem skier*   to ski travailler   to work trouver   to find visiter   to visit (a place) voler   to fly, to steal *All regular -ER verbs are conjugated according to the regular -ER verb conjugation pattern, except for one small irregularity in verbs that end in -ger and -cer, which are known as spelling-change verbs.

**Though conjugated just like regular -ER verbs, watch out for verbs that end in -IER.

How to conjugate regular -ER verbs in French]]>

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