Posted by Chester Morton / Friday, 10 February 2017 / No comments
Regular verbs in the present tense
French has
three groups of verbs with regular conjugations. They are usually identified by
their infinitive endings: -er (parler, to speak, talk),
-ir (choisir, to choose), or -re (attendre,
to wait for). Regular French verbs are conjugated in person and number
by adding six regular endings to the verb root or stem—the infinitive minus the
ending:
parl-, chois-,
and attend-. Learning the model verb for each group will allow
you to conjugate most
French verbs.
Conjugating
Regular -er Verbs
A majority
of French verbs have infi nitives that end in -er: parler (to
speak, talk), aimer (to like, love). When new
verbs are coined, they are most often regular -er verbs (cliquer sur,
to click on; mondialiser, to globalize).
All -er
verbs (except for aller, to go) are regular. The
present tense endings for regular -er verbs are: -e, -es, -e,
-ons, -ez, and -ent. Conjugated verbs always include a
subject noun or pronoun. The regular conjugations of verbs ending in -ir and
-re are presented later in this book
Present
Tense of parler (to speak, talk); Stem: parl-
SINGULAR
FORMS
je parle I
speak, I do speak, I am speaking
tu parles
(fam.) you speak,
you do speak, you are speaking
vous parlez
(pol.) you speak, you
do speak, you are speaking
il parle
he speaks, he
does speak, he is speaking
elle parle
she speaks, she
does speak, she is speaking
on parle
one speaks, we
speak, they speak
PLURAL
FORMS
nous parlons
we speak, we do speak,
we are speaking
vous parlez
you speak, you do speak,
you are speaking
ils parlent
they (m.) speak,
they do speak, they are speaking
elles parlent
they (f.) speak,
they do speak, they are speaking
Vous
parlez français?
Do you speak French?
—Bien sûr,
et je parle —Of course, and
I also speak
aussi italien. Italian.
En Iran, on
parle farsi. They speak Farsi
in Iran.
Here are
two more -er verbs, conjugated in the present tense. aimer (to
like, love); Stem: aim- écouter (to listen
to); Stem: écout
j’aime nous aimons j’écoute nous écoutons
tu aimes
vous aimez tu écoutes vous écoutez
il/elle/on
aime ils/elles aiment il/elle/on écoute ils/elles écoutent
As with
forms of avoir, the -e of je elides to j’ before a
vowel sound. It is replaced by an apostrophe and closed up to the verb: j’aime,
j’écoute.
Nous
parlons avec
les voisins. We’re
speaking with the
neighbors.
J’aime
beaucoup
ce quartier. I like this
neighborhood a lot.
Ton
ami et toi, vous écoutez Are
you and your friend
la radio? listening
to the radio?
Pronunciation
of –er Verb Forms
The fi nal
-s or z of a conjugated verb is silent (tu parles), as are the fi
nal -z (vous
parlez) and the
ending -ent (ils/elles aiment). Thus, in the spoken
language, an -er verb has three sounded forms: [pahRl] (je parle,
tu parles, il/elle/on parle, ils/elles
parlent), [pahR-lOn] (nous parlons), and [pahR-lay] (vous parlez).
The fi nal
-s of a subject pronoun (nous, vous, ils, elles)
is pronounced [z] when it immediately precedes a verb form starting with a
vowel sound. Thisis called liaison.
ils_aiment
[eel-zehm] vous_êtes [voo-zeht] nous_habitons
[noo-zah-bee-tOn] elles_étudient [ehl-zay-tU-dee]
Here are
several more regular -er verbs:
adorer
to
love, to adore habiter to live
aimer
mieux to
prefer, to like better jouer to play
arriver
to arrive louer
to rent
chercher
to look for regarder to
look at, to watch
danser
to dance rêver
(de) to dream (about)
détester
to hate, to detest
travailler
to work étudier to
study trouver to fi nd
expliquer
to explain utiliser
to use
fermer
to close visiter
to visit (a place)
Uses of the Present Tense
The
present tense in French has three equivalents in English.
Je
parle français. I
speak French; I am speaking
French;
I do speak French.
•
The present tense often conveys the meaning of a near future.
Elles
arrivent vers six heures They will arrive around six this
ce
soir. evening.
Tu
cherches un emploi cet été? Will you be looking for
a job this
summer?
•
When two verbs are used consecutively, the first is conjugated and the second
is an infinitive. The infi nitive directly follows some verbs (such as aimer,
aimer mieux, détester, préférer), with no intervening preposition.
Vous détestez
regarder la télé? You hate to
watch TV?
Pas vrai! You’re
kidding!
—Oui, j’aime
mieux travailler. —Yes,
I prefer working.
Other verb
_ verb constructions require à or de before the infinitive.
Je
commence à travailler. I
begin to work.
On refuse de
continuer. They
refuse to continue.
• The
simple negation of verbs (in all tenses) is made with ne... pas.
Nous
fermons la porte. We
close the door.
Nous
ne fermons pas la porte. We
don’t close the door.
Ne becomes n’
(i.e., it elides) before a vowel sound or a mute h.
Jacqueline
habite ici. Jacqueline
lives here.
Jérôme n’habite
pas ici. Jérôme doesn’t
live here.
Elle
écoute la radio. She
listens to the radio.
Il n’écoute
pas la radio. He
doesn’t listen to the radio.
If a verb
is followed by an infinitive, ne/n’ and pas usually
surround the conjugated verb form.
Nous
aimons discuter. We
like to discuss (issues).
Vous n’aimez
pas discuter. You don’t
like to discuss (issues).
When the
infi nitive is negated, the combination ne pas precedes the infinitive.
Je demande
au professeur de I ask the
teacher not to give a test.
ne pas donner d’examen.
Ils
preferent ne pas danser They prefer not to dance
samedi
soir. Saturday
night.
• As with avoir,
in negative sentences (except for those with être), the indefinite
article (un/une/des) changes to de/d’ after ne...
pas. The noun following de/d’ can be singular or plural.
Le
dimanche, on visite un musée. On
Sundays, we visit a museum.
Le
dimanche, on ne visite pas On
Sundays, we don’t visit a
de musée. (any)
museum(s).
Je cherche des oranges. I’m
looking for oranges.
—Tu
ne trouves pas d’oranges? —Aren’t
you finding (any)
oranges?
