LA FAMILLE ER CONJUGAISON

Conjugating the ER family
Learning patterns is a
key to mastering the
conjugating of
French verbs.
SUBJECT PRONOUNS
DOESN’T MATTER IF THE VERB IS REGULAR OR IRREGULAR:
THE PRONOUNS ARE ALWAYS IN THE SAME ORDER.
I
 You
 He, she, one

We
 You
 They masculine & feminine
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 Je
 Tu
 Il,
elle,on
 Nous
 Vous
 Ils,elles
REGULAR OR IRREGULAR?
First, determine if the verb is

irregular:
1) Know which are the irregulars.
 2) They are usually common verbs.
3) They are unique (no pattern) & you have to study
each one.
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The good news about REGULAR verbs:

They only have one of three endings

They follow a pattern.
REGULAR VERBS: THE PATTERN
EXPLAINED

The infinitive of most verbs in French end in the letters
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Lesser numbers end in the letters

Most follow a regular pattern for each “ending
group” above.
Exceptions to this pattern are called irregular verbs.
ER. This is the family we are studying in this presentation.
IR and RE.
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So if you learn the regular patterns you will know the patterns
for most verbs.
To conjugate each verb in the present tense, the last
two letters (ER, IR, RE) are dropped and a different
ending is added for each pronoun (I, you, he, she, it, we,
you all, they).
THE PATTERN FOR VERBS OF THE ER
FAMILY
1)
2)
3)
Put the pronouns in order.
Find the stem of the verb by taking off the family
name: ER
Add your verb endings.
Pronouns
The stem:
parler
The ending
Je
parl
e
Tu
parl
es
Il, elle, on
parl
e
Nous
parl
ons
Vous
parl
ez
Ils, elles
parl
ent
PARLER
TAKE THE “ER”
OFF
AND REPLACE IT BY THE FOLLOWING
ENDINGS:
E ES E ONS EZ ENT
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video & prononciation Parler
Je parle
Tu parles
Il parle
Elle parle
On parle
Nous parlons
Vous parlez
Ils parlent
Elles parlent
AIMER

Prononciation & video Aimer

J’aime

Tu aimes

Il, elle, on aime

Nous aimons

Vous aimez

Ils, elles aiment
IRREGULAR ER VERBS

Irregular Stems
►French stem-changing verbs are conjugated with the same
endings as normal but have two different stems. Stemchanging verbs are sometimes called boot verbs.
►We will study the verbs acheter & préférer :
Change of accent in the stem
►And the verbs manger & commencer:
Add an “e” or a “ç”
►We will also meet Aller: the black sheep of the ER family!
FIRST, 2 BOOT VERBS
NOTE: È SOUNDS LIKE THE E IN ED OR MET.
eter (to buy)
Ach
ète
 Tu achètes
 J’ach
Préf
érer (to prefer)
préfère
 Tu préfères
 Il, elle, on
 Il, elle, on achète
préfère
 Nous achetons
 Nous préférons
 Vous achetez
 Vous préférez
 Ils, elles achètent  Ils, elles
préfèrent
 Je
WHY ARE THEY CALLED BOOT VERBS?
The verb acheter is a so-called boot verb
because all the verbs with the same stems
form the shape of a boot.
The verb: acheter
è
achètes
achète
ach te
achetons
achetez
achètent
e
Another way of saying it : Nous and Vous look like their parents: ach ter
TWO MORE EXCEPTIONS IN THE ER
FAMILY.
ger (to eat)
Man
Je
mange
Tu manges
Il, elle, on
mange
Nous mangeons
Vous mangez
Ils, elles
mangent
Commen
cer (to begin)
 Je
commence
 Tu commences
 Il, elle, on commence
 Nous
ç
commen ons
 Vous commencez
 Ils, elles
commencent
IRREGULAR

VERB
ALLER
prononciation & video Aller
Je vais
 Tu vas
 Il va
He goes
 Elle va
 On va
 Nous allons
 Vous allez
 Ils vont
 Elles vont
 Note: Aller is the only big exception in the ER
family.
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