How to Conjugate a Regular Verb – Guide for Parents
Verb: The part of speech that expresses existence, action, or occurrence in most languages. (Or
an action word)
Subject: The noun, noun phrase, or pronoun in a sentence or clause that denotes the doer of the
action or what is described by the predicate. (For example, the name of a person, place or thing)
Pronoun: The part of speech that substitutes for nouns or noun phrases and designates persons
or things asked for, previously specified, or understood from the context. (I, you, he, she, it, we,
you they)
je – I
tu – you
il – he
elle – she
on – one
qui – who
nous - we
vous - you
ils – they*
elles – they**
* ils (they) is used when referring to a group of people who contain either all boys, or boys and
girls. Ex. They are playing basketball.
** elles (they) is used when referring to a group of people that contain ONLY girls. Ex. They
are putting on their make-up. (If there is even one boy in a group of a hundred girls, you use ils).
Regular Verbs:
When conjugating any regular verb you can use the following rules. Even if you have never seen
the verb before, if it is regular, then you can follow this pattern.
Step #1 – Find the root.
The root of a verb: is all of the letters except for the last 2.
Ex. jouer – to play
Root: jou
Ex. finir – to finish
Root: fin
Ex. vendre – to sell
Root: vend
Step # 2 – Choose your ending
When you put a verb into a sentence you have to choose the correct ending based on which
subject pronoun (or subject) can be found in the sentence. If it is an –ER verb then you will
choose the endings from the –ER section, if it’s –IR then you will use –IR or if it’s –RE then you
will use -RE
je – e
tu – es
il – e
elle – e
on - e
qui - e
- ER
nous – ons
vous -ez
ils - ent
elles - ent
je – is
tu – is
il – it
elle – it
on - it
qui - it
- IR
nous – issons
vous -issez
ils - issent
elles - issent
- RE
je – s
nous – ons
tu – s
vous -ez
*il –
ils - ent
*elle –
elles - ent
*on *qui –
*there is no ending that you
should add here, so the
conjugated form of the verb
will only be the root
Step # 3 : Conjugate the Verb
JOUER – to play
Root : jou
je joue
nous jouons
tu joues
vous jouez
il joue
ils jouent
elle joue
elles jouent
on joue
qui joue
FINIR – to finish
Root : fin
je finis
nous finissons
tu finis
vous finissez
il finit
ils finissent
elle finit
elles finissent
on finit
qui finit
1. Je __________________ (jouer) au basketball.
Je joue au basketball.
2. Elles __________________ (manger) la pizza.
Elles mangent la pizza.
3. Tu __________________ (réussir) à la test.
Tu réussis à la test.
4. Nous ________________ (répondre) à la question.
Nous répondons à la question.
VENDRE – to sell
Root : vend
je vends
nous jouons
tu vends
vous jouez
il vend
ils jouent
elle vend
elles jouent
on vend
qui vend