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G03 · Grammar

Present Tense Er Verbs

About 90% of French verbs end in -er and follow this one pattern

The -er Verb Pattern

Most French verbs end in -er in the infinitive (to + verb). To conjugate, drop the -er and add the endings. The endings are the same for ALL regular -er verbs.

PronounEndingParler (to speak)
je-eje parle
tu-estu parles
il/elle/on-eil/elle parle
nous-onsnous parlons
vous-ezvous parlez
ils/elles-entils/elles parlent

⚠️ The endings -e, -es, -ent are all silent in speech. Only -ons and -ez are pronounced differently.

No Do-Support in French

English uses do/does/did in questions and negatives. French does NOT have this. One verb form covers it all.

EnglishFrench
I speak French.Je parle français.
I do speak French.Je parle français. (same)
Do you speak French?Tu parles français? (same verb)
She doesn't speak French.Elle ne parle pas français. (see negation)

Common -er Verbs

These high-frequency verbs all follow the same -er pattern:

  • parler — to speak: je parle, tu parles…
  • manger — to eat: je mange, tu manges… (nous mangeons — spelling change)
  • habiter — to live (somewhere): j'habite à Paris
  • travailler — to work: elle travaille
  • aimer — to like/love: j'aime le café
  • écouter — to listen: vous écoutez
  • regarder — to watch: ils regardent
  • jouer — to play: on joue au foot

Spelling Changes: -ger and -cer Verbs

Some -er verbs have minor spelling changes to preserve pronunciation before -ons.

  • manger (to eat): nous mangeons (not mangerons — to keep soft g sound)
  • voyager (to travel): nous voyageons
  • commencer (to start): nous commençons (cedilla to keep /s/ sound)
  • placer (to place): nous plaçons
  • Only the nous form is affected — all others conjugate normally.

The Present Tense Covers Three English Uses

One French present form does the work of three English constructions:

EnglishFrench
I speak French. (simple)Je parle français.
I am speaking French. (continuous)
I do speak French. (emphatic)

There is no equivalent of "I am speaking" in French — use the same present tense.

Common Mistakes

je parlons
→
je parle
Only nous takes -ons. Je always takes -e.
I am speaking = je suis parlant
→
je parle
There's no present continuous in French. Use the simple present for both.
ils parlent = 3 syllables
→
ils parlent = 2 syllables (parlent is silent -ent)
The -ent ending is completely silent: parlent sounds like parl.
nous mangons
→
nous mangeons
With -ger verbs, add an e before -ons to keep the soft g sound.

Summary

je
-e (silent)
je parle
tu
-es (silent)
tu parles
il/elle/on
-e (silent)
il parle
nous
-ons
nous parlons
vous
-ez
vous parlez
ils/elles
-ent (silent)
ils parlent
-ger verbs
nous + -eons
nous mangeons
No do-support
same verb form
Tu parles? = Do you speak?