Success Series French -er verbs

-er verbs Verbs are words which express: actions states of being

The Infinitive The infinitive is the verb form which is not inflected to reflect: person number tense

The Infinitive The infinitive is preceded by TO in English: To look To Listen It is the verb form before it is conjugated.

The Infinitive A Stem An ending The infinitive in French consists of : regard er mang er

Infinitive There are 3 groups of REGULAR verbs in French: verbs ending with -ER = 1st group verbs ending with -IR = 2nd group verbs ending with -RE = 3rd group

conjugation Verbs are called REGULAR when they all follow the same rule for CONJUGATION. There is one rule for each of the 3 groups of verbs. Irregular verbs also have the same endings (-er; -ir or –re) but they do not follow any rule for their conjugation

conjugation Stem ending regard er chant er aim er … Now add new endings To conjugate you will keep the stem and drop the infinitive ending which is -er for 1st group verbs. Once you have the stem, you will add new endings to this stem

Conjugation of regular –er verbs Singular Plural Je -e Nous -ons Tu -es Vous -ez il / elle -e On ils / elles -ent

Conjugation of regular –er verbs Singular Plural -e -ons -es -ez -ent Note that the pronunciation it all sounds the same. –es and ent do not make a sound, it sounds just like e. The only 2 different sounds that can be heard are –ons and ez

Stems ending with the letter “g” stem + ending Add –e in the nous form: nag er nous nageons voyag er nous voyageons mang er nous mangeons The French like their language to sound good. A vowel such as a or o after the letter g would turn its sound to Gue, which does not sound right. To improve the sound, you must add a phonetic e after the g to continue producing the same sound.

C turns to ç in the nous form: nous commençons Commencer C turns to ç in the nous form: nous commençons For the same reason, c turn to c cedille for commencer to start. It mmakes a sss sound thanks to the cedille

-er verbs with spelling changes Acheter, Promener, préférer je - è tu - è Il/ elle/ on - è Ils/ elles - è These verbs are not irregular. It is just a difference with the except at the nous and the vous forms

-er verbs with spelling changes Acheter, Promener, préférer j’ achète nous achetons tu achètes Vous achetez Il/ elle achète Ils/elles achètent Note how the sound changes because of the accent when you conjugate.

-er verbs with spelling changes Appeler j’ appelle tu appelles Il/ elle appelle Ils/elles appellent Appeler doubles the l in all forms except nous and vous

-er verbs with spelling changes Essayer j’ essaie tu essaies Il/ elle essaie Ils/elles essaient Y turns to I for essayer (to try)

are –er verbs in disguise The verbs: Offrir, Ouvrir, Couvrir are –er verbs in disguise Offrir: ti give or offer, ouvrir to open, or couvrir to cover actually conjugate exactly like regular –er verbs!!

Irregular –er verbs Aller is irregular: vais allons allez va vas vont Although aller (to go) ends with –er, it is irregular. You have to memorize its conjugation.

Passé - Composé Past Participle of regular –er verbs: -é J’ai nagé Regular –er verbs make their past participles in the passe compose with e added to the stem.

When 2 verbs follow each other: conjugate the first verb the second verb is in the infinitive

When 2 verbs each follow other.. Nous aimons chanter 1 2 1 2 We like to travel. See how the first verb is conjugated and the second verb is in the infinitive with the ir ending. Nous aimons reussir, we like to succeed.

practice Conjugate: Tu (voyager) Nous (aimer) Marie et Marc (acheter) Julie et toi (parler)

practice; answers Conjugate: Tu voyages Nous aimons Marie et Marc achètent * Julie et toi parlez * Note that Marieand Marc make They as a subject pronoun. Notice the accent grave on the e to create the sound achete. Julie and you correspond to YOU . It is conjugated like VOUS 2nd person plural