- A verb is a “doing word”, an “action word”
- It is a word that reveals what is happening . It can express a physical action, a mental action, or a state of being.Ex: Parler (to speak) / penser (to think)/finir (to finish) etc…
- The infinitive form of a verb is a verb in its basic form. In English, it’s usually preceded by “to” but not always. In French, it is usually one word with the following endings : ER, IR, and RE. If you look up a verb in a dictionary, you’ll find its infinitive form .
- French verbs are classified into 3 groups and each of them has different endings.
- – ER VERBS : Parler, écouter, marcher, regarder etc… (to speak, to listen, to walk, to watch/to look etc…)
- – IR VERBS: Finir, choisir, réussir etc… (to finish, to choose, to succeed etc…)
- – RE /-OIR VERBS: Attendre, mettre, voir etc… (to wait for, to put, to see etc…)
Group | Infinitive ending | Conjugation | Tips |
---|---|---|---|
Groupe 1 | - ER | To conjugate -ER verbs remove the infinitive ending to find the stem & add the endings -e/-es/-e/-ons/-ez/-ent |
|
Ex: Parler (to speak) | Je parle Tu parles Il/elle/on parle Nous parlons Vous parlez Ils/elles parlent | ||
Groupe 2 | - IR | To conjugate -IR verbs, remove the infinitive ending to find the stem & add the endings - is /-is/-it/-issons/-issez/-issent |
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Ex: Finir (to finish) | Je finis Tu finis Il/elle/on finit Nous finissons Vous finissez Ils/elles finissent | ||
Groupe 3 | - RE /-OIR | To conjugate -RE/OIR verbs , remove the infinitive ending to find the stem & add the endings - s/-s /- /-ons/-ez/-ent *For il/elle/on DO NOT ADD ANYTHING |
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Ex: Attendre (to wait for) | J'attends Tu attends Il/elle/on attend Nous attendons Vous attendez Ils/elles attendent |