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 There are three major groups of regular verbs in French:
verbs with infinitives ending in -er, verbs with infinitives ending in -ir,
and verbs with infinitives ending in -re.
Since -er verbs are the most numerous, they are considered the first conjugation.
To conjugate these verbs, drop the -er from the infinitive to form the stem.
Next, add the -erendings to the stem. Different tenses have different endings.
The endings given below (-e, -es, -e, -ons,
-ez, -ent) are for forming the present tense.
The endings (-e, -es, -e, and -ent) are all silent.
The only endings that are pronounced are the nous (-ons) and the vous (-ez) endings.
The four silent endings form a boot shape in the verb conjugation.
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| parler 'to speak' |
| je parle |
nous parlons |
| tu parles |
vous parlez |
| il/elle/on parle |
ils/elles parlent |
| past participle: parlé |
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Listen carefully to the following sentences. Note that the pronunciation of each of the verbs is the same even though the conjugations are spelled differently.
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| Tex, il parle français? Mais c'est un tatou. |
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Tex speaks French? But he's an armadillo. |
| Tex: Bien sûr jeparle français etTammy, elle aussi, elle parle français. |
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Tex: Of course, I speak French and Tammy,too, she speaks French. |
| Eh bien dis donc, même les tatousparlent français au Texas? |
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Well, I'll be, even the armadillos speak French in Texas? |
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Here is a list of common -er verbs:
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| adorer, to adore |
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habiter, to live |
| aimer, to like |
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jouer, to play |
| aimermieux, to prefer |
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montrer, to show |
| chanter, to sing |
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présenter, tointroduce |
| chercher,to look for |
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regarder, to watch |
| danser, to dance |
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rencontrer, to meet (by chance) |
| demander,to ask |
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rester, to stay,remain |
| détester,to hate, to detest |
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téléphoner,to telephone |
| donner,to give |
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travailler, to work |
| écouter, to listen to |
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trouver, to find |
| étudier, to study |
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Je changes to j' before a verb starting with a vowel
or a silent h (ex.j'adore, j'habite).
This phenomenon is known as élision. Listen to the following sentences.
Can you hear the élision in the first two examples?
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| Tex: J'adore la musique rap et j'écoute souvent de la musique dans les clubs. |
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I love rap music and I often listen to music in clubs. |
| Je chante et je danse aussi. |
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I sing and I dance, too. |
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Note also that the s in plural pronouns (nous,
vous, and ils/elles) is usually silent except when it is followed by a verb that begins with a vowel sound.
In such a case the silent s is pronounced as a /z/ and links the pronoun to the verb.
This phenomenon is called liaison ('linking') and is very characteristic of French.
Listen carefully to the sentences below. Which sentences contain examples of liaison?
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| Tex et Tammy, ils écoutent de la musique cadienne avec Paw-Paw! |
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Tex and Tammy, they listen to Cajun music with Paw-Paw! |
| Tammy: Nous adorons danser. |
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Tammy: We love to dance. |
| Tex: Oui, oui, c'est vrai. Nous dansonsbeaucoup. |
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Tex: Yes, yes, that's true. We dance a lot. |
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