Present Tense: Regular -er Verbs

📌 Note de grammaire

Regular -er verbs form the largest group of verbs in French. To conjugate them in the present tense, remove the -er ending from the infinitive to find the stem, then add the specific endings for each subject pronoun.

📌 Note de grammaire

For the pronoun 'je' (I), the ending is always -e. If the verb starts with a vowel or silent h, 'je' contracts to 'j'' (e.g., j'aime, j'habite).

📌 Note de grammaire

For the informal singular pronoun 'tu' (you), the verb ending is always -es. The final 's' and 'e' are silent; the pronunciation sounds identical to the 'je' form.

📌 Note de grammaire

For 'il' (he), 'elle' (she), and 'on' (one/we), the ending is -e. This form sounds identical in speech to the 'je' and 'tu' forms for regular -er verbs.

📌 Note de grammaire

For the pronoun 'nous' (we), the ending is -ons. The 's' of nous links to the vowel if the verb starts with a vowel (liaison), but the verb ending -ons is pronounced as an nasal 'ohn'.

📌 Note de grammaire

For the pronoun 'vous' (you formal or plural), the ending is -ez. The -ez ending is pronounced exactly like the sound 'é' (ay).

📌 Note de grammaire

For 'ils' (they masculine) and 'elles' (they feminine), the ending is -ent. Crucially, the -ent ending is completely silent; the plural form sounds identical to the singular forms (je, tu, il).

📌 Note de grammaire

Verbs ending in -ger (like manger, voyager) add an extra 'e' before the 'ons' ending in the nous form (nous mangeons) to preserve the soft 'g' sound (/ʒ/).

📌 Note de grammaire

Verbs ending in -cer (like commencer) take a cedilla (ç) under the 'c' before the 'ons' ending (nous commençons) to maintain the soft 'c' sound (/s/).

📌 Note de grammaire

Some verbs ending in -eler or -eter (like appeler, jeter) double the consonant ('l' or 't') in all forms except 'nous' and 'vous'.

📌 Note de grammaire

Verbs with an 'e' before the final syllable consonant (like acheter) change that 'e' to an grave accent (è) in all forms except 'nous' and 'vous' (e.g., j'achète, nous achetons).

📌 Note de grammaire

Verbs with an acute accent on the penultimate syllable (like espérer, préférer) change the acute accent (é) to a grave accent (è) in all singular forms and the third-person plural.