One of the very first things I learned when studying French is verb conjugation. French has a few different types of verbs, depending on their ending. There are er- verbs, ir- verbs, and re- verbs. Let's start with the er- verbs and get into how you conjugate them.
First know that:
Je (Pronounced like the end of garage) = I
Tu (Pronounced like two) = You (informal, use with friends or other people you are in a casual relationship with)
Il (Pronounced like eel) = He
Elle (Pronounced like el) = She
Elles (Same as Elle, but s at the end makes a z sound when the word after elles starts with a vowel or an h) = They (referring to a group of all girls only)
Ils (Same as Il, but s at the end makes a z sound when the word after ils starts with a vowel or an h) = They (referring to a group of all boys, or a group consisting of boys and girls)
Vous (Pronounced like vu) = You (informal and/or plural. Use with strangers, authorities, and colleagues. Also refers to multiple people and is sort of the equivalent of "you all")
Nous (Pronounced like new) = We (formal)
On (Pronounced like the beginning of only) = We (informal)
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Now that that is covered, let's go through how to conjugate an er- verb in the present tense, using the example "danser" which means "to dance".
Je danse
I dance
Tu danses
You (informal) dance
Il/Elle/On danse
He dances/She dances/We dance (Il, Elle, and On are conjugated the same when it comes to er- verbs
Nous dansons
We (formal) dance
Vous dansez
You (formal/plural) dance
Ils/Elles dansent
They (group of boys) dance/ They (group of girls) dance
(Ils and Elles are conjugated the same when it comes to er- verbs since both mean "they" and only differ when referring to a group of boys or group of girls)
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To sum it all up, when it comes to er-verbs, there are conjugation rules depending on the pronoun used. Here is a chart of how a verbs ending changes with each pronoun. Below I will describe the change(s) the verb danser underwent for each conjugation. These rules apply for ALL present tense er- ending verbs with a few exceptions which I will get into in the next chapter.
Je = conjugated verb will end in e, chop off the r from the er- verb. Danser > Je danse
Tu = conjugated verb will end in es, chop of the r from the er- verb and add in an s. Danser > Tu danses
Il/Elle/On = conjugated verb will end in e, chop off the r from the er- verb just like you did for "Je". Danser > Il/Elle/On danse
Nous = chop of the er ending from the er- verb and replace it with ons. Danser > Nous dansons
Vous = replace the r from the ending of the er- verb with a z. Danser > Vous dansez
Ils/elles = chop of the r from the ending of the er- verb and add nt to the end. Danser > Ils/elles dansent
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*Watch the video above for how to pronounce all the conjugations of the verb "danser"*
Using what you just learned about present tense er- verbs, can you conjugate the er- verb "manger" which means "to eat" for Je, Tu, Nous, Vous, Il, Elle, Elles, Ils, and On?
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Basics of French (Ongoing)
RandomBonjour! French is my second language, I studied formally at school for 2 years and have since studied more of the language myself using the methods I learned from school and other polyglots. I hope you find this helpful!
