A1 · The present tense
Verbs in -er
The largest set, and almost without exceptions.
Take the infinitive, cut off the -er and add: -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent. That covers almost every verb in the group, and the group covers most of the language.
Four of the six forms are pronounced the same: parle, parles, parle, parlent. Only -ons and -ez are audible. This is the opposite of the English situation, where the one ending that exists is the one you hear, so the ear is no help at all here — the pronoun is what tells you which form to write.
If the stem begins with a vowel, je becomes j': j'habite, j'aime. That is compulsory, not casual — unlike the English «I'm», which you may always write out in full.
Die Form
| I speak | je parle |
| you speak | tu parles |
| he, she speaks | il, elle parle |
| we speak | nous parlons |
| you speak (plural, polite) | vous parlez |
| they speak | ils, elles parlent |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
The stem is the infinitive without -er.
travailler → je travailleto work → I work
The ending -ent is not pronounced.
Ils regardent la télé.They are watching television.
Before a vowel je becomes j’.
J’habite à Lyon.I live in Lyon.
Verbs in -ger add an e before -ons to keep the g soft.
Nous mangeons à midi.We eat at midday.
Woran man es erkennt
- souvent
- toujours
- maintenant
- tous les jours
Beispielsätze
Je travaille dans une école.I work in a school.
Tu parles très bien français.You speak French very well.
Nous mangeons souvent au restaurant.We often eat out.
Elles habitent près de la gare.They live near the station.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
The third person plural ends in -ent and you cannot hear it. Write by ear and you write ils parle — the commonest spelling mistake in French, made by native speakers too. English gives no practice in this at all, because every English ending is audible. The remedy is mechanical: look at the pronoun, not at the sound.
What you cannot hear you still have to write.
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