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Regular -er Verbs

Formation

Most French verbs fall into the category of -er verbs. To conjugate, drop the -er to find the "stem" or "root". Add endings to the root based on the subject and tense.


French Grammar · Recreation · audio184 kb
-er Verb Formation Formation de verbes en -er
jouer - to play
pronounendingverb
je-ejoue
tu-esjoues
il/elle-ejoue
nous-onsjouons
vous-ezjouez
ils/elles-entjouent

Elision and Liaison

In all conjugations, je changes to j ' when followed by a vowel. Example: J'attends. Also, as a rule of thumb: h is considered a vowel; as in J'habite.... If a phrase is negative, ne changes to n'.

In all plural forms, the s at the end of each subject pronoun, normally unpronounced, becomes a z sound and the n of on becomes pronounced when followed by a vowel.

Common -er Verbs

French Grammar · Recreation ·
Formation of Common -er Verbs Formation des verbes communs en -er
InfinitiveStemPresent Indicative Conjuagtion


First PersonSecond PersonThrid Person
parlerparlJe parleTu parlesIl parleSingular
to speakNous parlonsVous parlezIls parlentPlural
habiterhabitJ'habiteTu habiteIl habiteSingular
to liveNous habitonsVous habitezIls habitentPlural
écouterécoutJ'écouteTu écoutesIl écouteSingular
to listenNous écoutonsVous écoutezIls écoutentPlural

S'amuser

The verb s'amuser means to have fun in English. It is a type of pronominal verb (a verb that includes a pronoun as part of it) called a reflexive verb, which means that the action of the verb is reflected back onto the subject. Literally translated, the verb means I amuse myself.

Formation

French Grammar · Recreation ·
Formation of Common -er Verbs Formation des verbes communs en -er
InfinitiveStemPresent Indicative Conjugation


First PersonSecond PersonThrid Person
s'amuseramusJe m'amuseTu t'amusesIl s'amuseSingular
to have funNous nous amusonsVous vous amusezIls s'amusentPlural

Conjugated Verb + Infinitive

Like in English, some verbs can be followed by infinitives. The most common -er verbs used in this manner are aimer and détester.

  • J'aime parler. - I like to speak.
  • Nous détestons travailler. - We hate working.

When negating a sentence, remember that the negative goes around the conjugated verb.

  • Je n'aime pas parler. - I don't like to speak.

Recreation

Here is a short dialog about people planning/doing leisure activities. Besides the new vocabulary you should also have a look at how the verbs are conjugated depending on the subject of the sentence.

  • Jean-Paul : Qu'est-ce que vous faites ?
  • Marc et Paul : Nous jouons au tennis.
  • Marie : Je finis mes devoirs.
  • Michel : J'attends mon ami.
  • Pierre : Je vais au parc.
  • Christophe : Je viens du stade.

Recreation

Qu'est-ce que vous faîtes?What are you doing?
jouerto play
finirto finish
attendreto wait (for)
aimerto like
détesterto hate
rigolerto joke around
(mon/ma) ami(e)(my) friend

^ Finir and attendre are not regular -er verbs. You will learn their conjuagtion in a later lesson.

^ Tu rigoles! means You're joking! or You don't mean it!

Places

la bibliothèquelibrary1
le parcpark
la piscineswimming pool
la plagebeach
le restaurantrestaurant
salle de concertconcert hall
le stadestadium
le théâtretheater

1Caution: a librairie is a bookshop.

Indirect Object Pronouns lui and leur

Indirect objects are prepositional phrases with the object of the preoposition An indirect object is a noun that receives the action of a verb.

  • Il jette la boule à Jacques. - He throws the ball to Jack.
  • Il jette la boule à Marie. - He throws the ball to Mary.
  • Il jette la boule à Jacques et Marie. - He throws the ball to Jack and Mary.

Lui and leur are indirect object pronouns. They replace nouns referring to people and mean to him/her and to them respectively.

  • lui - replaces a singular masculine or feminine indirect object referring to a human
  • leur - replaces a plural masculine or feminine indirect object referring to a human

An example follows:

  • Il lui jette la boule. - He throws the ball to him.
  • Il lui jette la boule. - He throws the ball to her.
  • Il leur jette la boule. - He throws the ball to them.

Whether lui means to him or to her is given by context.

In English, "He throws him the ball" is also said, and means the same thing.

When used with the direct object pronouns le, la, and les, lui and leur come after those pronouns.

  • Il la lui jette. - He throws it to him.

Note that while le, la, and les are used to replace people or inanimate objects, lui and leur are not used to replace innanimate objects and things.

Also note that unlike le and la, which are shortened to l' when followed by a vowel, lui is never shortened

Jouer

The verb jouer is a regular -er verb meaning to play. It can be used to refer to both sports and instruments.

When referring to sports, use jouer à, but when referring to instruments, use jouer de...

As always, jouer must be conjugated rather than left in the infinitive.


French Vocabulary · Recreation ·
Play Jouer
jouer à...jouer de...
au baseballbaseballde la clarinetteclarinet
au basketbasketballdu pianopiano
au footballsoccer; footballde la guitareguitar
au football américainAmerican footballdu violonviolin
au golfgolfde la batteriedrums

(singular

in French)
au tennistennis
au volleyvolleyball
aux cartescards

aux damescheckers/ draughts

aux échecschess


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