French Grammar Rules: How to Conjugate Regular Verbs

Why do verbs in French change so much? Get clarification on the rules for conjugating the most common French verbs from French tutor Carol Beth L….

Verb conjugations are the bane of some French students who are not accustomed to the constantly changing verb endings in English. To be sure, we do conjugate our verbs. We add -ed for the past:

“I look”  becomes “I looked.”

We add -s to in the singular third person:

“I run,” becomes “he runs.”

But often times, English verbs are a little more constant than their French equivalents. For example:

I do je fais
we do nous faisons
they do vous faites

French grammar is not totally unpredictable, however. Most French verbs actually follow regular patterns according to three groupings: verbs ending in -er, in -ir, and in -re. Of these three groups, -er verbs are by far the most common. Sometimes people will even create their own verbs by adding -er to another common word! A few examples of regular -er verbs include:

aimer to like
chercher to search or look for
compter to count
conseiller to advise
continuer to continue
donner to give
écouter to listen (to)
parler to talk
sauter to jump
tutoyer to address someone using “tu”
vousvoyer to address someone using “vous”
essayer to try
encourager to encourage
nager to swim
manger to eat

In the present tense, these verbs are conjugated by removing the -er ending and adding different endings (see the bold below) for each subject pronoun as follows:

je (I) parle
tu (you singular) parles
il / elle / on (he / she / one) parle
nous (we) parlons
vous (you plural) parlez
ils / elles (they) parlent

There are two exceptions of which to be aware (and dedicated students of French know that French loves exceptions). The first involves those -er verbs ending in -ger. As in English, French pronunciation includes the concept of the hard and soft “g.” Like us, the French often denote their soft “g”’s by adding an -e after the -g. For the “nous” forms of such verbs, the ending therefore changes from -ons to -eons. For example, the correct “nous” form of “encourager” is not “encouragons,” but “encourageons.”

The second involves those verbs ending in -yer. For English nouns ending in -y, the plural form changes -y to -i and adds -es. Likewise here, -yer verbs will change -y to -i in addition to replacing -er with the appropriate ending – except (because French loves exceptions!) for the nous and vous forms. For example, the verb “essayer” would be conjugated as follows:

J’ essaie
Tu essaies
Il / elle / on essaie
Nous essayons
Vous essayez
Ils / elles essaient

The second largest category in French, -ir verbs, include:

choisir to choose
finir to finish
grossir to gain weight
maigrir to lose weight
réussir to succeed
rougir to blush
vieillir to grow old(er)

In the present tense, they are conjugated by removing the -ir and adding the endings in bold in the example below:

Je finis
Tu finis
Il / elle / on finit
Nous finissons
Vous finissez