French Regular -ER Verbs

There are five main kinds of verbs in French: regular -ER, -IR, -RE; stem-changing; and irregular. Once you've learned the rules of conjugation for each of the first three kinds of verbs, you should have no problem conjugating regular verbs in each of those categories. The majority of French verbs are regular -ER verbs - see the next page for a list of some common -ER verbs.

The verb form that ends in -ER is called the infinitive (in English, the infinitive is the verb preceded by the word "to"), and -ER is the infinitive ending. The verb with the infinitive ending removed is called the stem or radical. To conjugate -ER verbs, remove the infinitive ending to find the stem and add the endings in the table below.

French regular -ER verb conjugations
To conjugate an -ER verb in the present tense, remove the infinitive ending and then add the appropriate endings. For example, here are the present tense conjugations for the regular -ER verbs parler (to speak), donner (to give), and visiter (to visit):
Pronoun	Ending	parler > parl-	donner > donn-	visiter > visit-
je	-e	parle	donne	visite
tu	-es	parles	donnes	visites
il	-e	parle	donne	visite
nous	-ons	parlons	donnons	visitons
vous	-ez	parlez	donnez	visitez
ils	-ent	parlent	donnent	visitent
Regular -ER verbs share conjugation patterns in all tenses and moods.

Previous

• 1
• 2

Next