How to conjugate a French verb?

Verbs in French conjugate almost as hard as in Russian. The endings change for each person, number, time.

French verbs: groups

There are three groups of conjugation of verbs, each of which has its own rules. The verbs of the first two groups are inclined according to the same rules for all verbs within each group. Although there are small nuances. The third group includes verbs that are not included in the first two, and differ in a variety of forms. It is their conjugation that needs to be memorized, while the verbs of the first and second groups can be identified by certain signs, determine which group should be assigned and conjugated according to general rules. What are these signs? Simplified: the type of conjugation depends on the end of the verb.

The first group includes verbs ending in –er. This is the largest group with one exception. The verb aller - walk belongs to the third group.

The second group includes verbs with the endings –ir. These are about three hundred verbs of the French language. It should be borne in mind that there are verbs that end in –ir, but still belong to the third group — they can be found in the tables of irregular verbs.

Verbs of the first and second groups are inclined by adding endings to the base of the word. The foundation itself never changes.

The third group includes irregular (or irregular) verbs. They are not inclined exactly the same, however, despite the fact that most students find this topic difficult, the conjugation of many of these verbs is easy to remember. The fact is that this group includes, among other things, the most popular verbs of the French language, which, like the English verbs to be - to be and to have - have, perform a service role and are used very often. Important: only the verbs of this group can change the stem. There are no unified rules for changing it, but these verbs can be further divided into subgroups: 1) verbs whose basis changes without any system - there are very few of them; 2) verbs in which the base changes only in the plural, in the third person; 3) verbs in which there are two bases - for the plural and singular.

How to conjugate a present tense verb?

First you need to take the verb into one of the groups, then follow the conjugation rules below.

1st group. Conjugate the verb écouter - listen.

Je (I) –e. For example: J'écoute de la musique la nuit. - I listen to music at night.

Tu (You) –es. For example: Tu m'écoutes? - You are listening to me?

Il / elle (He / She) –e. For example: Il écoute la radio. - He is listening to the radio.

Nous (We) –ons. For example, Nous écoutons chanter les oiseaux. “We listen to the birds sing.”

Vous (you) –ez. For example: Vous écoutez le silence. “You listen to silence.”

Ils / elles (They) –ent. For example: Ils écoutent mes histories. “They listen to my stories.”

It is worth paying attention to the fact that for some verbs, when conjugating, it is possible to double the last consonant in the basis of the word. There is another “special” verb ending in –er - envoyer (send). Despite the fact that he is inclined according to the rules, his foundation changes a lot, which is why experts argue about which group it is best to include him in. Also, –er ends another well-known verb - aller, but it belongs to the third group without any doubts, since it tends quite differently than the representatives of the third group.

2nd group. Conjugate the popular verb choisir - choose.

Je (I) - issis. For example: Je choisis une robe rouge. - I choose a red dress.

Tu (You) - issis. For example: Tu choisis une robe longue. - You choose a long dress.

Il / elle (He / She) - issit. For example: Il choisit ses compagnons. - He chooses his comrades.

Nous (We) - issons. For example: Nous choisissons la liberté. - We choose freedom.

Vous (you) - issez. For example: Vous choisissez un conseiller financiers. - You choose a financial consultant.

Ils / elles (They) - issent. For example: Ils choisissent le vélo. - They choose cycling.

Note that in the plural, the verbs of the second group have the same endings as the verbs of the first, but the –iss element is added.

3rd group. You need to remember the conjugation of such verbs as avour - to have, être - to be, lire - to read, mettre - to put. They do not conjugate by the rules.

Next, let us examine with examples how irregular verbs of one of the groups bow.

1. Irregular verbs ending in –ir. For example, dormir - to sleep. I sleep badly. - Je ne dors pas bien / You sleep - Tu dors / He sleeps on his back - Il dort sur le dos / We sleep - Nous dormons . Are you sleeping? - Dormez -vous? They sleep in turn. - Ils dorment à tour de rôle. The same endings must be added to the basics of other verbs from this group, discarding the ending, for example, in the word mentir (lie), ment- will be the basis.

Verbs ending in: 1) –endre, -ondre are allocated to a separate group. For example, vendre - sell; 2) –uire. For example, construire - to build; 3) -aindre, -oindre, -eindre. For example, plaindre is sorry.

How to conjugate a past tense verb

Keep in mind that in French there are three past tenses. Conjugation of verbs in each of them needs to be disassembled separately. Two tenses (Passé composé and Plus-que-parfait) are complex, and the conjugation of the verbs is carried out using the auxiliary verb: according to the scheme, the auxiliary verb (avoir or être) plus the past participle. For example, let’s try to change one sentence above - “I choose a red dress”. “I chose a red dress” will be “J'ai choisi une robe rouge”, where J'ai is a pronoun with a modified auxiliary verb, and choisi is a participle.

Verbs in the simple past tense in the same way as verbs in the present tense - by adding the ending words to the stem:

Je (I) - ais. For example: Je dansais. - I was dancing.

Tu (You) - ais. For example: tu dormais. - Did you sleep.

Il / elle (He / She) - ait. For example: Il ronflait. - He snored.

Nous (We) - ions. For example: Nous chantions. - We sang.

Vous (you) - iez. For example: Vous clamiez. - You complained.

Ils / elles (They) - aient. For example: Ils volaient - you flew.

Please note that there is no division into groups. Simple past tense endings are the same for all verbs.

How to conjugate a future tense verb

In a simple future tense, the verbs conjugate in a fairly simple pattern: you need to take the indefinite form of the verb and add to it the end of the verb avoir - to have. For example, for the first person, the verb avoir has the ending ai, therefore je volerai - I will lie down, je viendrai - I will come, j'appellerai - I will call. However, there are a number of verbs that are best considered separately - they have special forms in the future tense. In addition, in some words the last consonant is doubled (j'appellerai).

What is the best way to learn verb conjugation?

Instruction manual

1. Remember personal pronouns. First you need to learn them, and only then look into the verb conjugation tables.
2. Familiarize yourself with the principles of assigning verbs to different groups. This not only systematizes knowledge, but also allows you to learn how to identify the basis of the verb.
3. Gradually get acquainted with the rules of conjugation of verbs, moving from the first group to the third. That is, first you need to remember the seven endings inherent in the verbs of the first group in the present tense, then the second, then you can gradually master the verbs of the third group, in turn, breaking them into subgroups. It is also worth gradually getting acquainted with the endings for different times. Such small “pieces” of information are easily remembered. In the course of memorization, it is imperative to practice, for example, to take any verb of the first group and conjugate it. When all the rules are learned, you can practice conjugation by taking any random verb.

As you can see, the basic principle is gradualism. Proceed to the next step only after learning the previous one.

Here is an example of how to conjugate a verb. To do this, take any verb from an exercise or dictionary. For example, the verb “water” - arroser. Judging by the end, the verb belongs to the first group. Therefore, in the present tense it will be: I water - Je arrose, You water - Tu arroses, He water - Il arrose, She water - Elle arrose, We water - Nous arrosons, You water - Vous arrosez, They water - Ils arrosent.