Regular –er Verbs

Write out the forms of the verb “to like” in English:

I like We like

You like They like

He likes

She likes

Notice how the verb changes depending on the subject of the sentence? The same thing happens in French. You have to learn all the forms of the verb and which subject pronoun they match up with.

Here is the verb to to like in French:

J’aime Nous aimons

Tu aimes Vous aimez

Il/Elle aime Ils/Elles aiment

The way the way the verb changes to match the subject of the sentence is called conjugation.

The name of the verb, before it has been changed to match any particular subject is called the infinitive.

AIMER is one of a large group of verbs in French called –er verbs. All these verbs end in –er in the infinitive.

Can you think of any other –er verbs you know?

All –er verbs share the same conjugation. To conjugate an –er verb, take away the –er and add the same endings we added to aimer.

Je (J’) -e

Tu -es

Il/Elle -e

Nous -ons

Vous -ez

Ils/Elles -ent

Now test yourself with the following verbs:

-e -ons

-es -ez

-e -ent

Je (travailler)

travaille

-e -ons

-es -ez

-e -ent

Nous (jouer)jouons

-e -ons

-es -ez

-e -ent

Ils (chanter)chantent

-e -ons

-es -ez

-e -ent

Vous (voyager)voyagez

-e -ons

-es -ez

-e -ent

Tu (parler)parles

-e -ons

-es -ez

-e -ent

Elle (écouter)écoute

-e -ons

-es -ez

-e -ent

Elles (danser)dansent