How to conjugate and what conjugation means… Er verbs How to conjugate and what conjugation means…
Er verbs are “regular verbs” Regular verbs use a stem based on the infinitive for conjugation. Regular -er verbs have the same endings for every verb. 95% of all French verbs are regular –er verbs (like –ar verbs in Spanish, like most verbs in English are similar)
How do I conjugate them? Let’s use Parler as an example: Drop the er…parler Add the following endings: Je parle Tu parles Il/Elle parle Nous parlons Vous parlez Ils/Elles parlent
This works for all of them Let’s now use arriver as an example Drop the –er…Arriver J’arrive Tu arrives Il/Elle arrive Nous arrivons Vous arrivez Ils/elles arrivent
What am I saying? Right now, we are only working in present tense. In English, we have three forms of the present tense. In French, we have one. In English, I speak, I am speaking, and I do speak are all forms of the present tense. In French, Je parle means any and all of those three.
WAIT! HOW DO THEY KNOW WHICH ONE I’M SAYING? ..context… So don’t worry about it. You’re saying it correctly. Don’t try to make it more difficult than it is.
Exceptions to the rule Unfortunately, every rule has exceptions. Fortunately, it’s not that hard to remember the exceptions. If a verb ends in –ger, then you leave the e on before ons. Ex. Nous mangeons, Nous nageons NOT nous mangons, or nous nagons If a word ends in –cer, then make the c a ç. Ex. Nous commençons, NOT nous commencons
Practice Let’s use regarder as an example: Conjugate it. Je Tu Il Nous Vous Ils
You should’ve gotten Je regarde Tu regardes Il regarde Nous regardons Vous regardez Ils regardent
Practice Let’s use manger Conjugate it. Je Tu Il Nous Vous Ils
You should’ve gotten Je mange Tu manges Il mange Nous mangeons Vous mangez Ils mangent
Let’s use adorer Conjugate it. Je Tu Il Nous Vous Ils
You should’ve gotten J’adore Tu adores Il adore Nous adorons Vous adorez Ils adorent
Negation You already know how to do this, but I’m just going to show you again. If I want to say, I am not dancing with you! I would say, Je ne danse pas avec toi! If I want to say, I don’t eat snails! Then I would say, Je ne mange pas les escargots. Just remember to put ne and pas around the verb (this requires that you know what the verb is).
Putting it all together Now you should be able to write compound sentences in French. See if you can figure out what these mean: Un jour, je veux danser avec Michael Jackson, mais je ne danse pas bien. Je danse comme un pingouin. Je suis espagnol. Je joue souvent au foot. Je joue bien parce que je suis espagnol. Je parle chinois mais je ne parle pas français. C’est bizarre parce que je parle français maintenant. Je lave mon scooter parce que toutes les filles pensent que je suis cool parce que j’ai un scooter.
What they said One day I want to dance with Michael Jackson, but I don’t dance well. I dance like a penguin. I’m spanish. I play soccer often. I play well because I’m spanish. I speak Chinese but I don’t speak French. That’s weird because I’m speaking French right now. I am washing my scooter because all the girls think I’m cool because I have a scooter.
Random ape