Regular Verbs in French (‘ER’ Group)

Three Types of Verbs in French

There are 3 types of verbs in French and they are grouped by their endings. All French verbs end with er, ir, or re. Here we are going to look into the first group of French verbs that end with an ‘er’ and are called regular verbs in French. We will soon discover why they are called so?

Parler is called the infinitive form of the verb which is similar to « to speak » in English.

The verb form that ends in -ER is called the infinitive as in English, the infinitive of a verb is preceded by the word “to”, hence -ER is called the infinitive ending.

parl – is the stem or radical

er-is the infinitive ending

 All verbs in French can be broken down this way to their stem and ending.

Subject Pronouns

Before we get into the verb conjugations let us see what the subject pronouns are in French.

Singular Pronouns	Plural Pronouns
Je – I	Nous – We
Tu – You	Vous – You (formal & Plural)
Il/Elle/On- He/She/It	Ils/Elles (They fem, mas)

The French pronoun “on” is a versatile pronoun that can have different meanings depending on the context. It conjugates the same as the third person singular Il/Elle but in informal spoken French, “on” is often used as a replacement for the pronoun “nous” (we). It is less formal and more commonly used in everyday conversations.  For example: On va au cinéma ce soir. (We are going to the movies tonight.)

“On” can be used to refer to an indefinite or general person, similar to the English pronoun “one” or “someone.” It is used when making general statements or expressing general facts. 

For example:Quand on travaille dur, on réussit. (When one works hard, one succeeds.)

In some contexts, “on” is used as a singular informal pronoun, similar to the English “you.” It is commonly used in casual conversation. 

For example: On est en retard! (You are late!)

“On” is also used in an impersonal sense to express a general statement without specifying a subject. It can be translated as “people” or “they” in English.

For example:On dit que le café français est délicieux. (They say that French coffee is delicious.)

It’s important to note that in formal writing or in more structured contexts, it is preferred to use “nous” instead of “on” as the first-person plural pronoun. However, in everyday spoken French, “on” is commonly used and widely understood.

Conjugation of ‘er’ Verbs in French

As the verb takes different forms with different subjects in English it is the same in French, except that the verb form changes for every subject pronoun.

Eg: In English, we would conjugate the verb <<to speak>> as below

In french the verb <<parler>> looks as below:

The French verbs ending with ‘er’ are called regular verbs because all the verbs have the same format of conjugation. To conjugate a verb we split the verb into its stem and ending. We drop the infinitive ending and add -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent to the stem.

Also note that all the conjugations are pronounced the same way i.e. “parl” except “Nous parlon” and “Vous parlay”.

The only verb that does not follow this pattern is ‘aller’- to go.

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Le Monde Francophone

Le monde francophone, or simply “the French world,” refers to any region of the world where French or a variant of it is spoken. Officially, 29 nations have French as one of their official languages. In addition, France has 11 overseas territories that serve as its administrative divisions and are located outside of its mainland.  

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Les Verbs – Irregular ‘er’ verbs

There are Some –ER verbs have spelling changes in their stem when they are conjugated.  This is usually done for reasons of pronunciation. These are called IRREGULAR VERBS:

Subject	commencer- to start	voyager- to travel	payer- to pay	acheter- to buy	Préférer-to prefer
Je	commence	voyage	paie	‘achète	préfère
Tu	commences	voyages	paies	achètes	préfères
Il/Elle	commence	voyage	paie	achète	préfère
Nous	commençons	voyageons	payons	achetons	préférons
Vous	commencez	voyagez	payez	achetez	préférez
Ils/Elles	commencent	voyagent	paient	achètent	préfèrent

• For -ER verbs that end in –CER, the C changes to Ç in the NOUS form in order to keep the soft “S” sound of the C.
• For –ER verbs that end in –GER, we add a silent E between the G and the O in the NOUS form in order to keep the soft “ZH” sound of the G.
• For -ER verbs that end in –YER, we change the Y to I before a silent E.
• For –ER verbs with a silent E in the syllable before the –ER ending, that E changes to È when the conjugated ending contains a silent E.
• *NOTE: For APPELER and JETER do not follow this rule. Instead of adding an accent grave on the E, they double the consonant in the syllable before the –ER ending
• For –ER verbs with É in the syllable before the –ER ending, that E changes to È when the conjugated ending contains a silent E

Some other ‘er’ verbs have different variations as below:

Subject	s’appeler- to be called	Jeter-to throw
Je	m’appelle	jette
Tu	t’appelles	jettes
Il/Elle/On	s’appelle	jette
Nous	nous appelons	jetons
Vous	vous appelez	jetez
Ils/Elles	s’appellent	jettent

List of important ‘er’ verbs

Verb	Meaning	Verb	Meaning
aimer	to like	jouer	to play
adorer	to adore	parler	to speak
détester	to hate	travailler	to work
chanter	to sing	danser	to dance
regarder	to watch	habiter	to live
donner	to give	écouter	to listen
étudier	to study	rencontrer	to meet
présenter	to present/to introduce	améliorer	to improve
rester	to stay	manger	to eat
chercher	to look for/to seek	trouver	to find

You can try the conjugation of any French verbs using the site Reverso Conjugator.

This site gives you a comprehensive list of all tenses for the verb that you search for.

Exercices

Conjuguer les verbes entre parenthèses:

1. Je ________ avec mes amis. (parler)
2. Tu ________ bien. (chanter)
3. Vous ________ au cinéma. (aller)
4. Elles ________ du français. (étudier)
5. Je ________ une pomme. (manger)
6. Tu ________ à la maison. (rester)
7. Il ________ du piano. (jouer)
8. Nous ________ souvent. (voyager)
9. Vous ___________ (parler) français tous les jours?
10. Tu ___________ (aimer) écouter de la musique.
11. On ___________ (habiter) en ville.
12. Nous ___________ (manger) à la maison ce soir.
13. Elles ___________ (travailler) beaucoup.
14. Je ___________ (chercher) mes clés.
15. Tu ___________ (regarder) la télévision le soir.
16. Nous ___________ (jouer) au tennis tous les weekends.

Trouver le subject pronoun et conjuguez les verb:

1. Le gouvernement _________________ la ville (améliorer).
2. Ma mére __________________ la musique classique.(écouter)
3. Mon frère _______________ le match de foot au stade.(regarder)
4. Frank et Marko, ______________au tennis tous les mercredi.(jouer)
5. Mes amis et moi, ___________ dur pour les examens.(étudier)
6. Emilie, tu ___________ au concert ce soir?(chanter)
7. John, ______________ à Paris depuis deux ans.(habiter)
8. Les filles __________________ toute la nuit.(danser)
9. Marc et sa soeur, _____________ beaucoup.(voyager)
10. Mon oncle ____________ un cadeau pour moi.(acheter)