Verbs
A. Infinitive: the name of the basic form of the verb.
 In English, it has “to” in front of it
 French verbs are grouped according to their
infinitive ending.
 There are 3 groups.
 We start with studying group 1 where all the
infinitives end in –er.
• Name: “-er verbs” Only name
Infinitives
1.
aimer – to like
2. parler-to speak
3.
danser-to dance
4.
chanter-to sing
5.
nager- to swim
6.
écouterto listen to
7.
manger-to eat
8.
regarder-to look at, watch
téléphoner =
to call
Example sentences:
 J’aime la musique.
s
v
obj.
I like music.
1. J’aime nager.
S
V
inf
(I like to swim.)
2. J’aime chanter.
S
V
inf
(I like to sing.)
3. J’aime écouter la radio.
S
V
inf
object
(I like to listen to the radio.)
4. J’aime regarder la télé(vision).
S
V
inf
object
(I like to watch T.V.)
VERB PHRASES
1.
a. parler + a language
*français
*anglais
Note: with the expression,
* espagnol
* italien
it is one of the few times, you
don’t use an article.
J’aime parler espagnol.
J’aime parler anglais.
2. jouer + a sport
a. au tennis
b. au football
c. au basket
d. aux jeux vidéo
étudier—to study
travailler—to work
voyager-to travel
Our infinitives are composed of 2 parts:
1. the stem
2. the ending
ex. parler  the ending
*infintives are grouped according to their ending 
“-er verbs”
parler  the stem
*all the letters of the infinitive without the last
two letters (e + r) (the ending)
Infinitive →
aimer (to like)
Stem
Ending
danser
(stem)
(ending)
**How to conjugate a regular ‘-er’ verb
1. Write the skeleton verb chart of subject pronouns.
je (I)
nous (we)
tu (you)
vous (you)
il (he/it)
elle (she/it)
ils (they [m/f])
elles (they [f])
2. Take infinitive; that’s the title of conjugation
chart.
3. Drop the –er ending. You are left with the stem.
Insert the stem only into each of the 6 forms of
the conjugation chart.
Note: Both infinitive and the conjugated verb
have a stem and an ending. The stem for the
infinitive and the conjugated verb are the same.
The endings are different.
Ex. “To speak”
Parler
Drop –er ending from inf.
Parler
You are left with “parl” stem.
Add “parl” infinitive stem into conjugation chart
which now becomes the conjugated verb stem.
je
parl
tu parl
il
elle
parl
nous parl
vous
ils
elles
parl
parl
3. Add appropriate conjugated verb ending
for each form of conjugation chart.
parle
nous
parlons
tu parles
vous
parlez
je
il
elle
parle
ils
elles
parlent
1st person singular
1st person plural
2nd person singular
2nd person plural
3rd person singular
3rd person plural
Note: although different spellings, verb endings for
the for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person singular forms and
3rd person plural forms all have the same sound.
Example sentences.
S + V + Object noun
1.
J’aime le français.
S.P.
2.
3.
4.
5.
V
obj.
J’aime l’ école.
J’aime les vacances.
J’aime la télé.
J’aime la radio.
(Remember, you always need an
article in French even though
you don’t need one in English.)
OR
 S + V + infinitive
I like to do ….
RULE: Always conjugate first verb, second verb stays
in infinitive form.
Ex. 1: Directions:
1. Copy French sentences into notebook and
fill in the banks with the correct form of the
verb in the parentheses.
2. Then, translate the sentences into
English.
1.
Paul _________________ à Paris. (habiter)
2. Nous ______________ beaucoup. (étudier)
3. Ils ________ à sept heures le matin. (arriver)
4. Les sœurs et les frères _________________
au football à Providence. (jouer)
5. Vous ________________ très bien. (chanter)
6. Tu _______________ avec Jacqueline à sept
heures moins le quart le soir. (manger)
7. Marie _______ au téléphone le samedi. (parler)
More –er verbs (set #2)
1. arriver – to arrive
2. donner—to give
3. fermer—to close
4. habiter—to live
9. trouver—to find
•
10. penser—to think
11. dîner—to dine, to have dinner
12. téléphoner à (name) —to telephone, to call
(a person)
Ex. 2: Directions: Copy the English
sentences into your notebook, and then
translate into French.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
I like to swim.
She speaks English and French.
Marc dances on Fridays.
The students work, and they study after school.
You (pl) arrive at school at 8:15 am.
I eat with Jacques Thursdays at 7:45 pm.
Translations of verb in the present tense:
 In French, present tense consists of only one word.
 In English, present tense can have 3 possible
translations. You are responsible for all 3
translations.
(FYI, You’re lucky! You don’t need to learn the
subtleties of the language!)
Je chante.
=
I sing.
I am singing.
I do sing.