Unit 4 · Lesson 3
Regular -er Verbs
Master the most common verb pattern in French. Once you know the endings for -er verbs, you can conjugate hundreds of verbs.
parler — to speak
Remove the -er ending from the infinitive, then add the endings shown above.
The -er verb pattern
Regular -er verbs all follow the same pattern: take the infinitive, remove the -er, then add the right ending. There are six endings, one for each subject pronoun: -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent. The most important thing to know: the je, il/elle, and ils/elles endings are all silent when spoken. Only -ons and -ez produce audible endings.
Watch out: some -er verbs have spelling changes in certain forms. Verbs ending in -ger (manger, voyager, nager) add a silent e before -ons: nous mangeons. Verbs ending in -cer (commencer, lancer) use a cedilla before -ons: nous commençons. These spelling changes preserve the soft sound of the consonant.
Common -er verbs
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French
parler
tap to flip
English
to speak
Je parle français. I speak French.
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Verbs
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Click a French word, then click its English match.
Conjugate the verb
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Hint: je form: remove -er, add -e
I speak French.
Regular -er verbs quiz
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What is the 'nous' form of 'habiter'?