1.16: Verbes en -er au present
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What are verbs?
Verbs are action words that express the action (He runs) or state of being (I am tired) of a sentence.
French verbs have to be “conjugated” that is, changed according to how they are used.
The basic form of a verb is called the infinitive The English infinitive is “to” followed by a verb, while the French infinitive is a single word with one of three infinitive endings (-er, –ir, or –re). These can then be further divided into regular verbs, which follow a standard pattern of verb conjugations, and irregular verbs, which don’t:
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1. –er parler (to speak) 2. –ir finir (to finish) 3. –re vendre (to sell) |
Most French verbs are conjugated by removing the infinitive ending to find the “radical” or “root” (e.g., parler –> parl-) and then adding the appropriate ending
Les verbes en -ER verbs in -er
There are several thousand verbs that end in -er, the largest category of regular French verbs. To conjugate them, remove the infinitive ending and then add one of the following verb endings ➤
Example:
Practice:
To form a sentence with French negation, the basic structure is as follows: ne + verb + pas
These two small words ne and pas form a negative expression simply by placing them either side of the verb. Example:
- J’aime le café. I like coffee.
- Je n’aime pas le café. I do not like coffee.
Notice that the ne shortens to n’ when it precedes a vowel. In spoken French, this ne can even disappear altogether and many people would simply say: j’aime pas le café.
Practice
For fun, watch the video below and listen to the lyrics. Notice the use of the negation.