1. Les verbes
(Verbs)

2. 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?

3. 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

4. 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)

5. 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

6. 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

7. -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

8. 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?

9. 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

10. 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)

11. 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

12. …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”

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

14. “-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

15. “-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

16. “-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

17. 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!

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

19. 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

20. “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”

21. 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 *

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

25. 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.

26. 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