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5. Mon Quotidien
5. Mon Quotidien
5.1 French Infinitive
5.2 The Present Tense of -ER Verbs (Regular and Irregular)
5.3 The Present Tense of -IR Verbs (Regular and Irregular)
5.4 The Present Tense of -RE Verbs
5.5 Reflexive Verbs
5.6 Mise En Pratique
5.1 French Infinitive
Mme Legendre reads an article with recommendation on how to live a more balanced life:
“Pour avoir une vie équilibrée, il faut dormir au moins 7 heures chaque nuit, manger des légumes et du poisson et boire beaucoup d’eau.”
The infinitive (non conjugated form) of a French verb always falls into on the following 3 categories:
Infinitive in -ER (manger) - Most common verb category (90% of French verbs)
Infinitive in -RE (boire)
Infinitive in -IR (dormir)
Auxiliaries être and avoir follow different rules (see Module 1)
Some words to know when discussing French conjugations:
The stem = the first part of a verb, minus the ending or the infinitive. (Manger)
The ending = the conjugated part of a verb.
Regular verbs = verbs that follow the same conjugation pattern.
Irregular verbs = verbs whose conjugation differ from the regular pattern.
5.2 The Present Tense of -ER Verbs (Regular and Irregular)
Mme Legendre discusses her daily routine to compare it with the recommendation in the article:
“Je commence ma journée à 7h. Je mange mon petit-déjeuner avec mon mari et nous parlons, pendant que (while) les enfants regardent la télévision.”
To conjugate an -ER verb in the present tense, remove the infinitive ending and then add the appropriate ending that corresponds to the correct subject pronoun.
Je -ETu -ES
Il/Elle/On -ENous -ONSVous -EZ
Ils/Elles -ENT
Common regular -ER verbsAccepter To accept Trouver To findMarcher To walk Écouter To listenFermer To close/turn off Étudier To studyAimer To love/like Expliquer To explain
Chercher To look for Arriver To arriveTomber To fall Regarder To watch/look atCompter To count Penser To thinkCouper To cut Travailler To workAllumer To turn on Donner To give
The only irregular -ER verb is ALLER (‘to go’). Here is how to conjugate it:
Je vais Nous allons
Tu vas Vous allez
Il/Elle/On va Ils/Elles vont
a. With verbs that end in ‘-cer’, like commencer (‘to begin’), the letter c changes to ç before the ending in ‘-ons’ to maintain the [s] sound of the other forms:
Nous commençons
b. With verbs that end in ‘-ger’, like manger (‘to eat’), the letter e is added before the ending in ‘-ons’ to maintain the [ž] sound of other forms:
Nous mangeons
c. Verbs that end in ‘-yer’, such as envoyer (to send), payer (‘to pay’), essayer (‘to try’), retain the letter y with nous and vous, but the letter i is used in all other forms:
J’envoie Nous envoyons
Tu envoies Vous envoyez
Il/Elle/On envoie Ils/Elles envoient
d. Verbs like acheter (‘to buy’) and appeler (‘to call’), that end in e + consonant + er, retain the e in the nous and vous forms. In all other forms of acheter, e is changed to è. In all other forms of appeler, the consonant following e is doubled.
J’achète Nous achetons
Tu achètes Vous achetez
Il/Elle/On achète
Ils/Elles achètent
J’appelle Nous appelons
Tu appelles Vous appelez
Il/Elle/On appelle
Ils/Elles appellent
5.3 The Present Tense of -IR Verbs (Regular and Irregular)
Mme Legendre continues talking about her daily routine: Je finis mon travail à 18h. Parfois, mon mari et moi, nous choisissons de manger au restaurant avec les enfants. Mon mari n’aime pas manger au restaurant trop souvent, car il grossit rapidement.
To conjugate an -IR verb in the present tense, remove the infinitive ending and then add the appropriate ending that corresponds to the correct subject pronoun.
Je -ISTu -IS
Il/Elle/On -ITNous -ISSONSVous -ISSEZ
Ils/Elles -ISSENT
Most common regular -IR verbs:
Accomplir To accomplish Finir To finish
Agir/ Réagir To act/react Grossir To put on
weightAvertir To warn Choisir To choose
Nourrir To feed/nourish Maigrir To loose
weightGrandir To grow Réussir To succeedVieillir To grow old Réfléchir To think
There are three types of irregular -IR verbs:
a. Verbs with only one stem and whose endings are the same as -ER verbs:
Je -ETu -ES
Il/Elle/On -ENous -ONSVous -EZ
Ils/Elles -ENT
Example with the verb ouvrir (‘to open’):
J’ouvre Nous ouvrons
Tu ouvres Vous ouvrez
Il/Elle/On ouvre
Ils/Elles ouvrent
Common verbs that follow the same pattern as ouvrir:
Couvrir To cover Accueillir To welcome
Découvrir To discover Souffrir To suffer
Cueillir To pick (flowers) Ouvrir To open
b. Verbs with two different stems (singular and plural) and the following endings:
Je -STu -S
Il/Elle/On -TNous -ONSVous -EZ
Ils/Elles -ENT
Example with the verb partir (‘to leave’):
The verb has two stems:
Par____ at the singular
Part____ at the plural
Je pars Nous partons
Tu pars Vous partez
Il/Elle/On part Ils/Elles partent
Common verbs that follow the same pattern as partir:
Singular stem Plural stem
Sortir To leave/go out Sor___ Sort___
Dormir To sleep Dor___ Dorm___
Servir To serve Ser___ Serv___
Sentir To smell Sen___ Sent___
Mentir To lie Men___ Ment___
c.Verbs with three different stems (singular; nous and vous; ils and elles) and the following endings:
Je -STu -S
Il/Elle/On -TNous -ONSVous -EZ
Ils/Elles -ENT
Example with the verb venir (‘to come’):
The verb has three stems:
Vien___ at the singular
Ven___ with nous and vous
Vienn___ with ils and elles
Je viens Nous venons
Tu viens Vous venez
Il/Elle/On vient
Ils/Elles viennent
Common verbs that follow the same pattern as venir:
Singular stem Nous/vous Ils/Elles
Tenir To hold Tien___ Ten___ TIenn___
Obtenir To get Obtien___ Obten___ Obtienn___
Revenir To come back Revien___ Reven___ Revienn___
Devenir To become Devien___ Deven___ Devienn___
5.4 The Present Tense of -RE Verbs
Mme Legendre continues talking about her daily routine:
Je prends ma voiture pour aller au travail, mais les enfants attendent le bus pour aller à l’école. À midi, mes collègues et moi, nous prenons notre déjeuner ensemble, et nous buvons un café.
Verbs in -RE are all irregular, in the sense that none of them follow the same pattern in terms of conjugation.
As a consequence, you need to learn the conjugations of these verbs individually.
Common -RE verbsPrendre (to take)
Attendre (to wait)
Boire (to drink)
Je prends J’attends Je boisTu prends Tu attends Tu bois
Il/Elle/On prend Il/Elle/On attend Il/Elle/On boitNous prenons Nous attendons Nous buvonsVous prenez Vous attendez Vous buvez
Ils/Elles prennent Ils/Elles attendent Ils/Elles boivent
Common -RE verbs
Conduire (to drive)
Croire (to believe)
Dire (to say)
Je conduis Je crois Je disTu conduis Tu crois Tu dis
Il/Elle/On conduit Il/Elle/On croit Il/Elle/On ditNous conduisons Nous croyons Nous disonsVous conduisez Vous croyez Vous dites
Ils/Elles conduisent Ils/Elles croient Ils/Elle disent
5.5 Reflexive Verbs
Mme Legendre finishes talking about her daily routine:
Tous les matins, je me lève à 7h, je me douche pendant que mon mari se rase. Ensuite, je me brosse les dents et je me maquille. Les enfants se préparent pour l’école
• Reflexive verbs (also called pronominal verbs) are mostly used to mention daily habits.
• Reflexive verbs are conjugated the same way as non reflexive verbs.
• The form of the reflexive pronoun changes to match the subject pronoun.
• The reflexive pronoun can never be separated from the verb.
Subject pronoun
Reflexive pronoun
Je MeTu Te
Il/Elle/On SeNous NousVous Vous
Ils/Elles Se
Common reflexive verbs:
Se lever To get up Se maquiller To put on makeup
Se laver/Se doucher
To wash/shower S’asseoir To sit
Se coucher To go to bed S’amuser To have fun
Se brosser To brush (teeth) Se couper To cut
Se peigner To brush (hair) Se raser To shave
S’habiller To get dressed Se détendre To relax
When a negation is used, ne precedes the reflexive pronoun, and the second part of the negation (pas, jamais, etc) comes after the verb: Je ne me couche pas tôt (‘I don’t go to bed early’). Elle ne se peigne jamais (‘She never brushes her hair’).
5.6 Mise En Pratique
1. Conjugate the following ‘-ER’ verbs:
a. Je (marcher) _____________ tous les jours.
b. Nous (aimer) _____________ les bonbons.
c. Ils (aller) _____________ au cinéma.
d. Il (regarder) _____________ trop la télévision!
2. Conjugate the following ‘-IR’ verbs:
a. Je (finir) _____________ le travail à 17h.
b. Vous (réfléchir) _____________ au futur.
c. Nous (dormir) _____________ plus tard le week end.
d. Ils (revenir) _____________ de leur voyage.
3. Conjugate the following -RE verbs:
a. Nous (boire) _____________ de l’eau.
b. Il (attendre) _____________ le bus.
c. Elles (prendre) _____________ l’avion pour aller en France.
d. Vous (dire) _____________ bonjour à vos amis.
4. Conjugate the following reflexive verbs:
a. Je (se doucher) _____________.
b. Elle (se peigner) _____________.
c. Vous (s’amuser) _____________.
d. Nous (se brosser) les dents _____________.
