1. Putting It Together An ER verb assembly kit

2. La Conjugaison des Verbes Verb Conjugation So what is conjugation? What does “conjugate” mean? In grammatical terms, it’s… Taking the regular form of the verb (such as: to have, to eat, to dance, to speak, etc) and changing it to agree with the subject of the verb (the person/object performing the action) ‏ Lost? Don’t you worry. We conjugate verbs in English every day! How???

3. La Conjugaison des Verbes Verb Conjugation Watch carefully as our verb repair specialty crew conjugates an English verb in the present tense. to be I am We are You are You (pl) are He/She is They are

4. La Conjugaison des Verbes Verb Conjugation Don’t they do excellent work? Here are some other familiar projects: to dance to eat I dance We dance You dance You (pl) dance He/She dances They dance I eat We eat You eat You (pl) eat He/She eats They eat Is it making sense yet? We change “to dance” to “dance” or “dances” depending on who we’re talking about (I, You, They). The same goes for “to eat.” Try a few on your own:

5. La Conjugaison des Verbes Parts and Accessories In order to be a successful verb conjugator, you will need to know the following 4 terms: Stem- Infinitive-The verb by itself: danser, parler, inviter, regarder What others can you name? The verb without the er: dans, parl, invit, regard Subject- The person or thing doing the action (je, vous, la télé) ‏ travaillerhabiterorganiserécouterchanter

6. Ending- La Conjugaison des Verbes Parts and Accessories And most importantly: The combination of letters that we put in place of the “er” that we dropped earlier. Each pronoun has it’s own ending to be used. Below is a chart that gives these endings ent [—] ez [eh] ons [ohn] e [—] es [—] e [—] Ils/ Elles Il/ Elle VousTu Nous Je -ER Endings

7. Je Tu Il/Elle parler Nous Vous Ils/Elles Je Tu Il/Elle jouer Nous Vous Ils/Elles Je Tu Il/Elle habiter Nous Vous Ils/Elles Je Tu Il/Elle aimer Nous Vous Ils/Elles La Conjugaison des Verbes Parts and Accessories Go to the next page to see how you did!

8. Je parle Tu parles Il/Elle parle parler Nous parlons Vous parlez Ils/Elles parlent Je joue Tu joues Il/Elle joue jouer Nous jouons Vous jouez Ils/Elles jouent J’habite Tu habites Il/Elle habite habiter Nous habitons Vous habitez Ils/Elles habitent J’aime Tu aimes Il/Elle aime aimer Nous aimons Vous aimez Ils/Elles aiment La Conjugaison des Verbes Parts and Accessories How did you do? Ready for a new twist?

9. Parts Review Surveying the Foundation You should know the following terms before proceeding: -conjugate -subject -infinitive -stem -ending Remember, when putting something together, it’s always better to have a strong foundation than a weak one. You want what you are making to last, right? Make sure your foundation is strong before you begin further building.

10. La Règle de TROIS The Rule of THREE 1 2 3 Most conjugated forms of an ER verb sound the same (even though their spellings are different), so you only have to learn THREE pronunciations! There are THREE “Special G” verbs that break the rules for conjugating the nous form: -nager -voyager-manger Each conjugated form of an ER verb in the present tense has THREE meanings.

11. 1 Most conjugated forms of an ER verb sound the same (even though their spellings are different), so you only have to learn THREE pronunciations! TROIS Prononciations Three Pronunciations

12. danser Je danse Nous dansons Tu danses Vous dansez Il/Elle danse Ils/Elles dansent TROIS Prononciations Three Pronunciations Trois Pononciations! 1. [dawnss] 2. [dawnss-ohn] 3. [dawnss-eh] How does it work?

13. TROIS Prononciations Three Pronunciations When you take off the ending, or “la terminaison” (er), you get the stem, called “la racine.” The stem is pronounced just like it looks. It’s like saying the infinitive form without the ER sound at the end: Infinitivedrop ER=Stem -étudier =étudi -inviter =invit -habiter =habit And then…

14. TROIS Prononciations Three Pronunciations Add the ending! Let's say each one out loud. Note that the first three have the same pronunciation. ent ez ons e (silent) ‏ es (silent) ‏ e (silent) ‏ Ils/EllesIl/ Elle VousTu NousJe -ER Endings

15. 2 There are THREE “Special G” verbs that break the rules for conjugating the nous form: Les verbes du “G” special Special G verbs

16. These three “special G” verbs are: Les verbes du “G” special Special G verbs nager voyager manger They are all three ER verbs with a “G” before the –er.

17. Les verbes du “G” special Special G verbs Ils/Elles voyagent Il/Elle voyage Vous voyagezTu voyages Nous voyageons Je voyage voyager Ils/Elles nagent Il/Elle nage Vous nagezTu nages Nous nageonsJe nage nager Ils/Elles mangent Il/Elle mange Vous mangezTu manges Nous mangeons Je mange manger For these “special G” verbs, the “Nous” form is different. What changes? Why? (think pronunciation) ‏ Something about the spelling has changed…

18. Les verbes du “G” special Special G verbs -We’ve added an “e” between the “g” and “ons” forms (je, tu, nous, vous, etc) consistently. And if we didn’t? -We’d have: nagons [nah – gohn] voyagons [voy –a-gohn] mangon [mah –gohn] And the French would say… So what changes?

19. [nah-gohn]??? NON!!! C’est horrible! Quelle horreur!!!! Et [voy-a-gohn]?!? Quelle mauvaise prononciation!!!! Oh là là! Fermez les oreilles!!! [mahn-gohn]??? Zut! C’est un massacre de la langue française! NON! NON! NON!!!

20. Les verbes du “G” special Special G verbs So… in the interest of positive foreign relations, let’s remember: -The “NOUS” form is special for nager, voyager, and manger -In the “NOUS” form of these three verbs, we need to insert and “e” after the “g” to make the pronunciation sound nice SPECIAL “G” needs an “E” to sound “JOLI!” (pretty) ‏ 3 pronunciations, 3 special “G” verbs, and now…

21. TROIS Sens Three Meanings 3 Each conjugated form of an ER verb in the present tense has THREE meanings.

22. TROIS Sens Three Meanings For example, let’s conjugate: voyager Je voyage Nous voyageons Tu voyages Vous voyagez Il/Elle voyage Ils/Elles voyagent “Je voyage” has three meanings: I travel, I am traveling, I do travel “Ils/Elles voyagent” has three meanings: They travel, they are traveling, and they do travel

23. TROIS Sens Three Meanings Need a few more examples? Nous jouons We play We are playing We do play Elles empruntent They borrow They are borrowing They do borrow Je gagne I win I am winning I do win

24. Practiquons! (Let's practice!) ‏ Visit the following sites and try to activities to test your newfound skills and knowledge: http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/rgshiwyc/school/curric/HotPota toes/index.htmhttp://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/rgshiwyc/school/curric/HotPota toes/index.htm (click on “Français, scroll down and select Present Tense, click on Regular –ER Verbs) ‏ http://french.about.com/library/weekly/aa101199t.htm http://www.quia.com/mc/66100.htmlhttp://www.quia.com/mc/66100.html (you may play several times) ‏ http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/gr/ver1.htmlhttp://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/gr/ver1.html (scroll down towards the bottom, starting with “fill in the blanks”) ‏ Be sure to record your scores on the activity sheet!

25. Les Questions Fréquentes Frequently Asked Questions Technical Questions: Why is the “e” missing in “Je” when I conjugate verbs like “aimer, habiter, écouter, inviter, etc.” If the stem begins with a vowel sound, you eliminate the “e” in “Je” and put an apostrophe in it’s place. For example: J’habite, J’aime, J’invite.