THE FRENCH VERBS

French regular verbs are generally grouped in three classes or conjugations ending in "ER"(first class), "IR"(second class), and others like "RE", "IRE", "OIR" (third class).

                                VERBS ENDING IN "ER". (first class)

Note: Verbs ending in "ER" take "e", "es", "e" and "ons", "ez", "ent" when they are conjugated with personal pronouns (subject).

          Je  I ...... e                                   nous  we...... ons

          tu  you...... es                                 vous  you...... ez

   il / elle  he/she ...... e                            ils / elles  they ...... ent

EXAMPLE N°1:                        MARCHER  (to walk)    (Indicative present)

                          Je marche    I walk, or I am walking      nous marchons    we walk, or we are walking

                          tu marches  you walk, or ......                vous marchez      you walk, or ......

                          il marche    he walks, or ......               ils marchent        they (masculine) walk, or......

                      elle marche    she walks, or ......             elles marchent       they (feminine) walk, or ......

Note: The second person singular "TU" YOU indicating intimacy, is used between members of the same family, at school and close friends.

          The second person plural "VOUS" YOU indicate politeness for singular person; or simply "you" for plural persons.

Note: "Je" is shortened to "j' " before a vowel or a mute "h".

Hexample: Je aime = J'aime.    I love                     Je habite = J'habite.     I live

Note:  Case of "liaison".  (to link two words together)

In most cases, when a word begins with a vowel or a muet "h", it is joined with the last consonant of the preceding word.   Especially with "s" and "x" or "t" and "d".

Example:  Nous_aimons     we love                  Sept_heures       seven o'clock

In such cases, final "s" or "x" are pronounced as "z".

Example:  Nous_aimons;      six_ans    six years

Final "d" is pronounced as "t".

Example:  Un grand_homme.    A great man

EXAMPLE N°2:                              AIMER   to love 

                                              (Indicative present)

                    j'aime    I love                   nous_aimons    we love

                 tu aimes   you (familial) love  vous_aimez    you (singular polite, or plural "you") love

                 il aime    he loves                 ils_aiment   they (masculine) love

              elle aime   she loves            elles_aiment   they (feminine) love

(Normaly we don't use the underline to make a "liaison". I do it here just for teach.)