CONJUGATING ER, IR & RE VERBS Present Tense of regular verbs

STEPS FOR CONJUGATION: Find the root (aka, the stem or radical) of the verb by removing the last 2 letters from the infinitive (they will either be “er”, “ir” or “re”. Remember, an infinitive, is the most basic, unconjugated form of a verb. It is the “name” you will find it under, in a dictionary. A verb in the infinitive form usually translates as “to + verb”, in English. Ex: Manger = to eat Add the ending that matches your chosen subject (je, tu, il/elle, …) to the root.

Révisons! ER VERBS ~ LES VERBES EN “ER” Subject Pronoun Ending Je -e Tu -es Il / Elle / On Nous -ons Vous -ez Ils / Elles -ent

ALL ER VERBS FOLLOW THIS PATTERN, EXCEPT “ALLER” Subject Pronoun Ending Je vais Tu vas Il / Elle / On va Nous allons Vous allez Ils / Elles vont

REGULAR VS. IRREGULAR VERBS Regular verbs always follow the pattern I teach you. Irregular verbs don’t necessarily follow a set pattern and must be memorized. The most important irregular verbs are: être, avoir, aller, vouloir, pouvoir, faire & prendre.

THE NEAR FUTURE ~ LE FUTUR PROCHE Remember, you can also talk about things you’ll do in the near future by conjugating the verb “aller”, in the present tense, and adding an infinitive verb after it. NEAR FUTURE = ALLER (IN PRESENT) + INFINITIVE Je vais manger. ~ I am going to eat. Tu vas danser. ~ You are going to dance. Il va dormir. ~ He is going to sleep. Nous allons étudier. ~ We are going to study. Vous allez chanter. ~ You guys are going to sing. Ils vont travailler. ~ He is going to work.

IR VERBS~ LES VERBES EN “IR” Subject Pronoun Ending Je -is Tu Il / Elle / On -it Nous -issons Vous -issez Ils / Elles -issent

COMMON REGULAR IR VERBS accomplir = to accomplish finir to finish grandir to grow up grossir to put on weight maigrir to loose weight mincir to slim down obéir to obey remplir to fill réfléchir to think, to reflect réussir to succeed vieillir to grow old The green portions of these words should remind you of adjectives we’ve learned, that have a similar meaning to their verb counterparts.

RE VERBS~ LES VERBES EN “RE” Subject Pronoun Ending Je -s Tu Il / Elle / On -add nothing Nous -ons Vous -ez Ils / Elles -ent

COMMON REGULAR RE VERBS attendre (Careful! This one does not mean what it looks like it would mean!) = to wait descendre to go down entendre to hear perdre to lose rendre to give back, to return répondre to answer

COMPARISON CHART What patterns do you see ? ER IR RE Je e is s Tu es Il / Elle / On it Remove ending & don’t add anything Nous ons issons Vous ez issez Ils / Elles ent issent What patterns do you see ?

SEMI-REGULAR VERBS There is also a category of verbs called “semi-regular” verbs, which means they mostly follow the pattern taught, with the exception of minor spelling changes, for phonetic reasons. (“These spelling rules generally aim to keep the relationship consistent between a letter -or sequence of letters- and the sound represented.”) Ex: s’appeler = to call oneself Je m’appelle Madame Benford. Nous nous appelons. An additional “l” is added to the root, for pronunciation purposes, in certain forms, and removed for others.

SEMI-REGULAR VERBS Don’t worry too much about this category, for now, but if interested, you can read more about them here: http://www.french-linguistics.co.uk/grammar/presenttense_semireg_phon.shtml