Module 1 of 10
-ER verbs: one pattern, a thousand verbs
Learn six endings once and you have the majority of French verbs.
Most French verbs end in -er, and they all behave the same way. Take off the -er and add: -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent. Parler gives je parle, tu parles, il parle, nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent. Learn the six endings once and you can use travailler, habiter, chercher, écouter, regarder, aimer and several hundred others without learning anything new. This is the single biggest return on effort in the language.
Four of those six forms sound identical. Parle, parles, parle and parlent are all one syllable, pronounced the same; only nous parlons and vous parlez are audibly different. So in speech the pronoun is carrying almost all the information, which is why French will not let you drop it. In writing the endings are not optional, and -ent on the end of a verb is silent but required. Learn on while you are here: it means we in every ordinary conversation, it takes the same ending as il, and nous is what you write rather than what you say.
Played by your device’s own French voice. It is a synthetic voice, not a recording of a teacher — close enough to learn the shape of a word, not close enough to copy exactly.
- Je parle françaisI speak French
- Tu parles anglais ?Do you speak English?
- Il travaille iciHe works here
- Nous habitons à ParisWe live in Paris
- Vous cherchez quelque chose ?Are you looking for something?
- Ils étudient le françaisThey study French
- J'écoute de la musiqueI listen to music — écouter needs no word for to
- On mange à midiWe eat at noon — on is the everyday we
One set of six endings unlocks most French verbs. Four of them sound the same — the pronoun does the work in speech, the ending does it in writing.