Putting It Together An ER verb assembly kit

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???

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

La Conjugaison des Verbes Verb Conjugation Don’t they do excellent work? Here are some other familiar projects: to eat to dance 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:

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

La Conjugaison des Verbes Parts and Accessories And most importantly: Ending- 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 [—] Ils/ Elles Il/ Elle Vous Tu Nous Je -ER Endings

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

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

Surveying the Foundation 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.

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

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

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

TROIS Prononciations And then… 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: Infinitive drop ER = Stem -étudier = étudi -inviter = invit -habiter = habit And then…

TROIS Prononciations Three Pronunciations Add the ending! Let's say each one out loud. ent ez ons e (silent)‏ es (silent)‏ Ils/Elles Il/ Elle Vous Tu Nous Je -ER Endings Note that the first three have the same pronunciation.

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

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

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

And the French would say… Les verbes du “G” special Special G verbs So what changes? -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…

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

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…

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

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

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

http://www.quia.com/mc/66100.html (you may play several times)‏ 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.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.html (you may play several times)‏ http://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!

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.