Grammar
Les verbes en « -er » au présent: Regular -er Verbs
Bonjour ! Over 80% of all French verbs end in -er. Known as the First Group (le premier groupe), these regular verbs follow a single, predictable pattern in the present tense. Master this rule, and you will unlock hundreds of everyday French actions instantly!
The Conjugation Formula
To conjugate any regular -er verb in the present indicative tense, drop the -er ending to find your stem, then attach the set of standard endings matching your subject pronoun.
| je parle | nous parlions |
| tu parles | vous parliez |
| il / elle / on parle | ils / elles parlent |
More Common -er Verbs
You can apply this exact template to thousands of everyday actions. Here are a few essential examples in action:
Habiter (to live):
➔ « J'habite à Paris. » (I live in Paris.)
Aimer (to like/love):
➔ « Nous aimions la musique. » (We love music.)
Travailler (to work):
➔ « Ils travaillent ici. » (They work here.)
Notice that the endings for je (-e), tu (-es), il/elle (-e), and ils/elles (-ent) are all completely silent! The verb stem "parl" sounds exactly identical for all four of these forms. Only the nous (-ions) and vous (-iez) forms add a spoken sound to the end of the stem.