How to Conjugate Regular -er Verbs in the Present Tense

Regular -er verbs are the most common type of verbs in French.

Knowing how to use them in the present tense is important for simple conversations.

Steps to Conjugate Regular -er Verbs

1. Find the infinitive: Regular -er verbs end with -er (like parler - to speak or aimer - to love).

2. Take off the -er ending: This will give you the stem (for example, parl- comes from parler).

3. Add the endings for the present tense based on who you're talking about:

| Subject Pronoun | Ending | Example with "parler" (to speak) | |------------------|----------|-------------------------------------| | je | -e | je parle (I speak) | | tu | -es | tu parles (you speak) | | il/elle/on | -e | il parle (he speaks) | | nous | -ons | nous parlons (we speak) | | vous | -ez | vous parlez (you speak) | | ils/elles | -ent | ils parlent (they speak) |

Some Common Irregular Verbs

While regular -er verbs have a pattern, some verbs do not follow this. Here are a few:

• avoir (to have): j’ai, tu as, il a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont
• être (to be): je suis, tu es, il est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont
• aller (to go): je vais, tu vas, il va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont
• faire (to do/make): je fais, tu fais, il fait, nous faisons, vous faites, ils font

How to Make Negations: Using "ne...pas"

In French, to say something is not true, we put ne before the verb and pas after it. For example:

• Sentence: Je parle français. (I speak French.)
• Negation: Je ne parle pas français. (I do not speak French.)

Understanding Subject Pronouns

It's important to use the right subject pronoun:

• je (I)
• tu (you, informal)
• il/elle/on (he/she/one)
• nous (we)
• vous (you, formal/plural)
• ils/elles (they)

Agreement of Adjectives

Remember that adjectives need to match the nouns they describe in gender and number. For example:

• un homme intelligent (an intelligent man)
• une femme intelligente (an intelligent woman)
• des hommes intelligents (intelligent men)
• des femmes intelligentes (intelligent women)

Learning how to conjugate regular -er verbs will really help you create sentences and share your thoughts in French.

Happy learning!