4.2.1 Regular verbs

Now we have seen the three groups of verbs, what are we going to do with this knowledge? Well, the endings in the conjugation differ from the the ending in the infinitive form of the verb. You will see, it is not as bad as it sounds, promise!

When we have a regular verb, the ending of the verb (-er, -ir, -re) is removed to get the stem of the verb. Then the conjugational ending according to the verb's group is added and we have the conjugated verb. This works as follows:

Verbs ending in -er stem ending  
je I donn e give
tu you donn es give
il he donn e gives
elle she donn e gives
nous we donn ons give
vous you donn ez give
ils they (masculine) donn ent give
elles they (feminine) donn ent give

Verbs ending in -ir stem ending  
je I par s go
tu you par s go
il he par t goes
elle she par t goes
nous we par tons go
vous you par tez go
ils they (masculine) par tent go
elles they (feminine) par tent go

Verbs ending in -oir stem ending  
je I reç ois receive
tu you reç ois receive
il he reç oit receives
elle she reç oit receives
nous we rec evons receive
vous you rec evez receive
ils they (masculine) reç oivent receive
elles they (feminine) reç oivent receive

Verbs ending in -re stem ending  
je I descend s descend
tu you descend s descend
il he descend - descends
elle she descend - descends
nous we descend ons descend
vous you descend ez descend
ils they (masculine) descend ent descend
elles they (feminine) descend ent descend

These are the basic patterns that will help you to go the first steps with French verbs.






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