Les verbes (Verbs)

What is the definition of “verb”? Verb: (noun) a word that characteristically is the grammatical center of a predicate and expresses an act, occurrence, or mode of being, that in various languages is inflected for agreement with the subject, for tense, for voice, or for mood. Simply: It’s an action word!  Can you think of some verbs in English?

Les Verbes stem ending Verbs in the French language have to parts: It has a root (also called a stem) An ending, which is either “-er”, “-ir”, or “-re” stem ending

Understanding the two parts STEM: this part of the verb contains the action word, for example: run, walk, talk, swim ENDING: the ending is what we call an “inflectional suffix”- basically, this is the part of the verb that is changed when we conjugate (we’ll talk about this in a moment)

Divide these verbs into the two parts Aimer Aller Chanter Danser Marcher Nager Parler Avertir Bénir Choisir Courir Finir Réussir Punir Attendre Défendre Descendre Entendre Perdre Répondre Vendre

Part One: The Stems (The meaning of the verb) Aim- like/love All- go Chant- sing Dans- dance March- walk Nag- swim Parl- speak Avert- warn Bén- bless Chois- chose Cour- run Fin- finish Réuss- suceed Pun- punish Attend- wait Défend- defend Descend- descend Entend- hear Perd- lose Répond- respond Vend- sell

-er / -ir / -re Part Two: The Endings There are only 3 types of endings for French verbs: -er / -ir / -re All 3 of these mean “to” in English Therefore: Aller- TO go Avertir- TO warn Attendre- TO wait

Conjugating verbs Since we now know the parts of a verb, we need to know how verbs are used in relation to subject pronouns. What are “subject pronouns” ? What are they in English?

Les Pronoms Sujets (Subject Pronouns): Subject Pronouns are words which replace the name of a person/place/thing. In English… SINGULAR PLURAL I We You You all / y’all He / she / it They

Les Pronoms Sujets en français Singulier Pluriel Je ( or, if in front of a vowel) J’ Nous Tu Vous Il / Elle / On Ils (guys) / Elles (gals)

How to read this chart: Singulier Pluriel Je J’ Nous Tu Vous ( or, if in front of a vowel) J’ Nous Tu Vous Il / Elle / On Ils (guys) / Elles (gals) First person: These subject pronouns include yourself- you are #1! Second person: The ‘you’ subject pronouns. Third person: Think of these pronouns as ‘everyone else’: Ex. This middle line separates the singular and plural subject pronouns. If you are referring to one person- look to the left, if more than one- look to the right

…So what does it mean to conjugate? When we conjugate verbs, we are changing the ending of the verb to reflect the subject pronoun that one is talking about. *Remember: the French verb endings are er/ir/re and they all mean “to” English Examples: “I speak” but it is “he speaks”

Conjugasion en français French has specific endings for each subject pronoun, depending on the endings of the verbs. These require memorization!

“-er” Verb Endings (Present Tense) Example French verb: Parler (to speak) Singulier Pluriel Je parle Nous parlons Tu parles Vous parlez Il Elle parle On Ils parlent Elles

“-ir” Verb Endings (Present Tense) Example French verb: Réussir (to suceed) Singulier Pluriel Je réussisis Nous réussisissons Tu réussisis Vous réussisissez Il Elle réussisit On Ils Elles réussisissent

“-re” Verb Endings (Present Tense) Example French verb: Attendre (to wait) Singulier Pluriel J’ attends Nous attendons Tu attends Vous attendez Il Elle attend_ On Ils attendent Elles

Proper Pronunciation Here is a little trick to help you remember which verb endings are pronounced when speaking: If it fits in the heel, then you don’t pronounce the ending!

Madame Burse’s Heel: Je parle Nous parlons Tu parles Vous parlez Il parle Elle parle On parle Ils parlent Elles parlent

Les verbes au Présent: The endings you have just learned are for verbs in the present tense, meaning that the subject pronoun is currently doing the action. So… “Je parle” can mean: I speak I am speaking Just like… “Nous parlons” means: We speak We are speaking

“Elle parle” covers both “She speaks” AND “She is speaking” Therefore: In French we do not need to add an extra word such as “am” or “is” or “are” like we need in English because the French conjugation has those words implied in the conjugation. “Elle parle” covers both “She speaks” AND “She is speaking”

Spelling Changes -cer -ger -yer * Some French verbs require spelling changes for the nous (we) subject pronoun in order to keep pronunciation correct. Verbs that end in these endings need additional letters added to the conjugations: -cer -ger -yer *

For verbs ending in –cer : You must add a cedille- ç – in order to keep the soft c sound: Example: Prononcer (to pronounce) -cer ç Nous prononçons

For verbs ending in –ger : You must add a mute e between the g and the o in order to keep a soft g sound: Example: Manger (to eat) -ger e Nous mangeons

Verbs ending in –yer : i -yer The y changes to an I before the mute e. For this change, you do it to the ‘heel’ conjugations, not nous and vous. Example: Nettoyer (to clean) -yer i Elle nettoie

PRATICE: Divide these verbs into their two parts. Color coding or using “ / ” is fine. Conjugate these verbs for all subject pronouns in the present tense. (You can work in your table group to do this but each person needs them all!) Create 5 original sentences using 5 different verbs.

Aimer Aller Chanter Danser Marcher Nager Parler Avertir Bénir Choisir 1. Divide these verbs into the two parts 2. Conjugate all of them for the present tense 3. Pick 5 of them and create 5 sentences using our vocabulary words. Aimer Aller Chanter Danser Marcher Nager Parler Avertir Bénir Choisir Courir Finir Réussir Punir Attendre Défendre Descendre Entendre Perdre Répondre Vendre