In this French grammar lesson, you will learn about regular er verbs conjugation in the present tense.
In this lesson you will learn about:
- how regular er verbs are conjugated in French
- the common regular er verbs in French
- how regular er verbs are pronounced in French
- how regular er verbs conjugation is used in sentences in French
- how regular er verbs conjugation Anki files can be downloaded
- how you can quiz yourself on regular er verbs conjugation
Please refer to the French A1 Curriculum to get a better overview of French grammar, if you are curious about this fits in French A1.
By the end of the lesson, you will know all about regular er verbs conjugation in the present tense!
Table of Contents
Regular er Verbs Conjugation Table
| new ending | parler (to speak) | |
| je | e | parle |
| tu | es | parles |
| il/elle/on | e | parle |
| nous | ons | parlons |
| vous | ez | parlez |
| ils/elles | ent | parlent |
Regular er Verbs Conjugation Method
There is a three-step method that will make conjugating regular er verbs very easy for you.
In order to conjugate verbs that end with -er in the present tense one must:
- Find the infinitive (full verb)
- Cut off the -er
- Add the new ending (e, es, e, ons, ez, ent)
In the conjugation table above you can see the verb parler which means to “to speak” in English.
We will take this verb and conjugate it in the “je” form using the three-step method.
- parler
The full verb of “to speak” is parler in French.
- parl
Once you cut of the er ending all that is left is parl.
- parle
When we add the new ending e, the final conjugated form will be parle.
So when you wish to say “I speak” in French you get:
Je parle
Common Regular er Verbs
French has three regular verb groups
- regular -er verbs
- regular -ir verbs
- regular -re verbs
The regular er verbs group is the biggest and most useful group. Most French verbs fall in this group.
Here is a list of common verbs that you are sure to encounter in day-to-day life:
| aimer | to like/to love |
| chercher | to look for |
| commander | to order/to command |
| couper | to cut |
| danser | to dance |
| demander | to ask |
| étudier | to study |
| habiter | to live |
| manger | to eat |
| regarder | to watch |
| tomber | to fall |
| travailler | to work |
| visiter | to visit (a place) |
Pronunciation of Regular er Verbs
In this section on regular er verbs conjugation, we will focus on pronunciation.
There are 3 important rules to take into account when you want to pronounce regular verbs that end with -er in French.
- The je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles form all have the same pronunciation. The e, es, and ent endings are not pronounced.
Je parle
Tu parles
Il parle
Ils parlent
All these verbs have the same exact pronunciation.
The last letter that you will hear is the “l“.
You don’t pronounce the letters in red.
- In the je form, there’s a special rule. If the first letter of the verb is a vowel or a silent “h“, then you must remove the “e” of “je” and replace this with an apostrophe.
aimer
J‘aime
Because the “e” of “je” disappeared, you then don’t have to pronounce that “e” anymore.
Please note how it is NOT “je aime“. This would be wrong.
- If the first letter of the verb is a vowel or a silent “h“, then we must perform a liason. This happens in the nous, vous, and ils/elles form. This means that the final “s” of nous, vous, and ils/elles will have a “z” sound.
aimer
Nous aimons
Vous aimez
Ils aiment
Please note how the final “s” in all of the subject pronouns sounds like a “z”
Example Sentences with Regular er Verbs Conjugation
The final section of this lesson on regular er verbs conjugation is about seeing the verbs in action.
This is valuable because you can improve your understanding of regular er verbs conjugation through examples.
manger
Je mange tout
I am eating everything
parler
Tu sais, j’aime comment tu parles.
You know, I like how you talk.
regarder
Il regarde la télévision.
He is watching TV.
aimer
Elle aime beaucoup le gâteau.
She really likes cake.
chercher
Qu’est-ce qu’on cherche ?
What are we looking for?
commander
Nous commandons la plus grande armée d’Italie.
We command the largest standing army in Italy.
danser
Vous dansez admirablement, M. Bond.
You dance beautifully, Mr Bond.
couper
Viens, ils coupent le gâteau.
Come, they’re cutting the cake.
Quiz Yourself on Regular er Verbs Conjugation
It’s not enough to just read this lesson.
You should test your knowledge to see if you really understood everything, and to be able to repeat the material.
It is also for this reason that it is recommended to download the Anki Decks and practice them.
At the end of every lesson you can do a small test.
You will see the sentences of the previous chapter. It is up to you to give the correct answer.
You will either need to fill in the blanks, choose the correct multiple choice option, or both.
Once you are done the correct answer will be shown.
You can redo the quiz as many times as you want!
Anki File for Regular er Verbs Conjugation
It is important to do the Anki exercises for this lesson so that you can better remember what you just studied.
By downloading the Anki File for French A1, you can practice every French A1 lesson that is on Language Atlas.
You can also choose to just get the Anki File for French A1 Verbs. This only has the verbs for French A1.
If you don’t know why you should use Anki, or if you don’t know what Anki is, then please click here.
Anki can be downloaded from here.
