-er verbs

Noun – a word that refers to a person, place, thing, or idea. In order to read and write in French, we need to be able to make sentences. Sentences in French are made up of the same elements as in English: Noun – a word that refers to a person, place, thing, or idea. Pronoun – a word that takes the place of a noun. Verb – an action word. A sentence must have at least a noun (or pronoun) and a verb!

Sentences can be written from 1 of 3 points of view: 1st person: Used to talk about yourself. 2nd person: Used to talk to someone else. 3rd person: Used to talk about someone else.

There are 9 subject pronouns in French: singular plural nous = we je = I you vous = you tu = (1 person polite OR more than 1 person) (1 person, familiar) he ils = they il = (all males OR males and females) elle = she elles = they on*= one (all females) *On is an impersonal pronoun. Literally translated it means “one”. Sometimes it will also be translated as “they” or “we”. You will get used to it with time!

We do this a little bit in English: To put a verb in to a sentence in French, you must conjugate (or change it) to go with the subject. We do this a little bit in English: I jump. You jump. But: She jumps.

To conjugate a regular –er verb: You drop off the –er at the end of the infinitive. ( the unconjugated form; also the form found in the dictionary) This gives you the stem. Then, you add the verb ending which matches the subject.

Verb endings: je –e tu – es il –e elle – e on - e nous – ons vous -ez ils –ent elles – ent

A conjugated verb chart looks like this: Parler = to speak Je parle Nous parlons Tu parles Vous parlez Il Elle parle On Ils parlent Elles parlent

There are a few exceptions to the rule. (Quelle Surprise!)

je becomes j’ before a vowel: J’aime… J’adore… J’invite But: Je parle.

If a verb ends in –ger we add an -e before the nous ending –ons: Nous mangeons. Nous changeons. But, Vous changez.

Now, you are ready to start using sentences in French!