Verb Forms: The Present Tense by Bruce Sallee and David Hebert
Verbs change slightly to reflect the subject of the sentence. This is known as conjugation — putting the correct form of the verb with the subject. The ending of the verb must always match the subject.
For example, the verb courir means “to run.” When using it in a sentence, the verb changes slightly for each different subject it takes. If you wanted to say “I run,” you would say, Je cours. Je is the subject, meaning “I,” and cours is the properly conjugated form of the verb courir. In French, the endings of verbs can also help you determine the gender and number of the subject if you're unsure.
Verb Stems
The stem of the verb is the magic key to French verbs. It is the part of the word that does not generally change when conjugated with various subjects. Constructions in tenses other than the present all utilize the verb stem, adding on special endings to indicate the tense of the verb. (In Chapters 12 through 16, you find out about other verb tenses, so that you can refer to things in the past or in the future.)
In general, to find the stem of a verb, you simply drop the infinitive ending from the infinitive form. Consider the following verbs and note their stems and endings:
Verb |
English |
French Stem |
parler |
to speak |
parlhabiter |
habiter |
to live |
habit- |
Most of the French verbs you'll encounter follow simple rules for conjugation. The word endings follow a predictable pattern, so you have to memorize only the endings for one verb. You can then replace the endings on other verbs with similar endings without having to memorize all of the forms over and over again.
French also has some irregular verbs, where the verb forms seem to follow no logical pattern at all. These will have to be memorized individually. Fortunately, there are only a few of them.
-er Verbs in the Present Tense
Verbs that end in the infinitive with -er are the most common ones in the French language; for the most part, they all follow the same conjugation pattern. This means that you only have to memorize the word endings one time — after that, you can just use the endings of the verbs you already know to come up with the appropriate ending. Verbs that end in -er use the following endings when conjugated in the present tense.
Table 6-2
Endings of -er Verbs
Person |
Singular |
Plural |
1st Person |
je (I) -e |
nous (we) -ons |
2nd Person |
tu (you) -es (informal) |
vous (you) -ez |
3rd Person |
il/elle (he/she) -e |
ils/elles (they) -ent |
Here is how the verb parler looks when conjugated. Listen to the CD for the pronunciation.
Table 6-3
The Verb Parler (to Speak)
Singular |
Plural |
je parle |
nous parlons |
tu parles |
vous parlez |
il/elle parle |
ils/elles parlent |
Some of the verb endings have distinct sounds, such as parlons and parlez. The other endings are actually silent, so they all sound the same. You must rely on the subject pronoun to determine what is going on in the sentence. Even though the endings aren't pronounced, however, it's still important to know the spelling of the proper endings, because they are required in written French.
As you've probably gathered, je parle means “I speak,” tu parles means “you speak,” il parle means “he speaks,” and so on. In English, we have a few different ways of speaking in the present tense. For example, in English, we can say:
I speak.
I am speaking.
I do speak.
All these sentences, in essence, mean the same thing. All are conjugated in the first person singular, present tense. They indicate an action is occurring to a subject (I), and describe what that subject is doing: speaking. In English, stylistic factors usually determine which of the three choices is used; French uses fewer words to say the same thing. Any or all of those English meanings can be conveyed by saying Je parle.
Remember that the verb parler, when used with the name of a language, does not take a definite article. You say « Je parle français, » not « Je parle le français. »
Here are a few other -er verbs you should know. Listen to the CD for their pronunciation.
aimer |
to like, to love |
étudier |
to study |
arriver |
to arrive |
placer |
to place, to put |
désirer |
to desire, to want |
porter |
to wear, to carry |
écouter |
to listen |
rester |
to remain, to stay |
entrer |
to enter, to come in |
retourner |
to return, to go back |
The beauty of most -er verbs is that they are all conjugated alike. In order to conjugate a verb ending in -er, you simply have to cut off the “er” of the infinitive form to get the stem. After you have the stem, you can tack on the appropriate ending.
Stem-Changing — er Verbs
There are a few verbs whose stems also change when conjugated, and they're covered in this section. These changes always affect the spelling and often affect the pronunciation.
Verbs Ending in -cer
For verbs ending in -cer, the “c” changes to a “ç” when used with nous to maintain the soft “s” sound. Other forms follow the regular -er conjugation pattern.
Table 6-4
The Verb Commencer (to Begin)
Singular |
Plural |
je commence |
nous commençons |
tu commences |
vous commencez |
il/elle commence |
ils/elles commencent |
Verbs conjugated like commencer include:
épicer |
to spice |
annoncer |
to announce |
prononcer |
to pronounce |
Verbs Ending in -ger
Verbs ending in -ger add an “e” before the -ons of the nous form in order that the “g” sound remain soft.
Table 6-5
The Verb Manger (to Eat)
Singular |
Plural |
je mange |
nous mangeons |
tu manges |
vous mangez |
il/elle mange |
ils/elles mangent |
Verbs conjugated like manger include:
changer |
to change |
charger |
to load |
voyager |
to travel |
Verbs with an É + Consonant + Er
For -er verbs with an é + consonant + er, in order to aid pronunciation, the accent changes to an accent grave (see Chapter 1) in all cases except for nous and vous. Note that this only affects the accent closest to the ending of the stem.
Table 6-6
The Verb Préférer (to Prefer)
Singular |
Plural |
je préfère |
nous préférons |
tu préfères |
vous préférez |
il/elle préfère |
ils/elles préfèrent |
Verbs conjugated like préférer include:
insérer |
to insert |
espérer |
to expect, to hope |
Verbs Ending in -eler
For verbs ending in -eler, the stem changes to include a double “I” this affects all conjugation forms but nous and vous.
Table 6-7
The Verb Appeler (to Call)
Singular |
Plural |
j'appelle |
nous appelons |
tu appelles |
vous appelez |
il/elle appelle |
ils/elles appellent |
Verbs Ending in -eter
Verbs ending in -eter are very similar to appeler; these verbs double the “t” in all cases but nous and vous.
Table 6-8
The Verb Jeter (to Throw)
Singular |
Plural |
je jette |
nous jetons |
tu jettes |
vous jetez |
il/elle jette |
ils/elles jettent |
Verbs conjugated like jeter include:
projeter |
to project |
rejeter |
to reject, to throw back |
Verbs Ending in -ayer
For verbs ending in -ayer, to form the new stem, simply turn the “y” into an “i” in all cases but nous and vous.
Table 6-9
The Verb Payer (to Pay)
Singular |
Plural |
je paie |
nous payons |
tu paies |
vous payez |
il/elle paie |
ils/elles paient |
Verbs conjugated like payer include the following:
effrayer |
to frighten |
rayer |
to delete, to scratch, to erase |
Verbs with a Mute e
In verbs that have a mute e in the next-to-last syllable, the mute e changes to an è in the singular forms and the 3rd person plural.
Table 6-10
The Verb Peser (to Weigh)
Singular |
Plural |
je pèse |
nous pesons |
tu pèses |
vous pesez |
il/elle pèse |
ils/elles pèsent |
Verbs like peser include the following:
Verbs Ending in -oyer
In verbs ending in -oyer, like verbs ending in -ayer, the “y” changes to an “i” in all cases but nous and vous.
Table 6-11
The Verb Nettoyer (to Clean)
Singular |
Plural |
je nettoie |
nous nettoyons |
tu nettoies |
vous nettoyez |
il/elle nettoie |
ils/elles nettoient |
Verbs conjugated like nettoyer include:
employer |
to employ |
noyer |
to drown |
envoyer |
to send |
renvoyer |
to return |
Verbs Ending in -uyer
Verbs ending in -uyer follow the same pattern as the other verbs with endings that include a “y,” using an “i” to form the endings in all forms but nous and vous.
Table 6-12
The Verb Appuyer (to Support)
Singular |
Plural |
j'appuie |
nous appuyons |
tu appuies |
vous appuyez |
il/elle appuie |
ils/elles appuient |
Verbs conjugated like appuyer include:
ennuyer |
to annoy |
essuyer |
to wipe |
-re Verbs in the Present Tense
There are two more regular verb forms: verbs that end in -re and verbs that end in -ir. Like the -er verbs, each group follows a predictable pattern. There are, of course, some exceptions for each group, but these irregular verbs also tend to follow similar conjugation patterns when compared to each other, so it should be relatively easy to recall the forms. You'll learn about verbs ending in -ir in the next section of this chapter. Regular verbs ending in -re use the following endings:
Table 6-13
Endings of -re Verbs
|
Singular |
|
Plural |
|
1st Person |
je |
-s |
nous |
-ons |
2nd Person |
tu |
-s |
vous |
-ez |
3rd Person |
il/elle |
— |
ils/elles |
-ent |
Note that the third person singular form merely uses the stem of the verb alone; no extra endings are added. To create the third person singular form in written French, you need only remove the -re ending and use the stem alone with the proper subject or subject pronoun. Listen to the CD for the pronunciation of the verb vendre (to sell).
Table 6-14
The Verb Vendre (to Sell)
Singular |
Plural |
je vends |
nous vendons |
tu vends |
vous vendez |
il/elle vend |
ils/elles vendent |
A number of verbs, as follows, are conjugated like vendre. Practice conjugating the verbs using different subject pronouns until they become natural to you. Listen to the CD for the pronunciation of these verbs.
défendre |
to defend, to protect |
descendre |
to go down, to get off |
fondre |
to melt, to dissolve |
mordre |
to bite |
pendre |
to hang, to hang up, to suspend |
perdre |
to lose, to waste |
rendre |
to return, to give back, to repay |
répondre |
to respond |
tordre |
to twist, to wring, to contort |
Here are some examples of -re verbs in action.
Le caissier vend les billets. |
The cashier is selling the tickets. |
Les policiers défendent la ville. |
The police protect the city. |
When a “p” appears at the end of an -re verb stem, a “t” is added to the ending in the third person singular. This is an issue of pronunciation — it would be very difficult to pronounce a “p” at the end of a word, so a “t” is added but not pronounced, as follows:
interrompre: |
to interrupt |
Il interrompt le film. |
He is interrupting the film. |
rompre: |
to break, to snap, to break off. |
Il rompt le pain. |
He breaks off the bread. |
There aren't a whole lot of verbs that end in -pre, but you should still know how to use them. Adding the “t” in the third person singular ending also occurs in written French, so remember to make the change when writing, too.
-ir Verbs in the Present Tense
There is one last type of regular French verbs, those that end in -ir. You'll probably find yourself using these words a lot, so it shouldn't take you too long to get used to the conjugation patterns. Listen to the CD for the pronunciation of the verb finir (to finish).
Table 6-15
The Verb Finir (to Finish)
Singular |
Plural |
je finis |
nous finissons |
tu finis |
vous finissez |
il/elle finit |
ils/elles finissent |
Here are some French verbs ending in -ir that follow the same pattern as finir. You can simply form the stem of the verb by dropping the -ir ending and replacing the properly conjugated ending as usual. Listen to the CD for the pronunciation of these verbs.
accomplir |
to accomplish, to achieve |
accueillir |
to welcome |
agir |
to act |
applaudir |
to applaud |
bâtir |
to construct, build |
choisir |
to choose |
faillir |
to fail |
fleurir |
to blossom, to bloom |
fournir |
to provide |
garantir |
to guarantee |
mourir |
to die |
obéir |
to obey |
rafraîchir |
to refresh |
