Putting It Together

An – ER, -IR, & -RE verb assembly kit

Adapted from: Karin White – French teacher, C&I 401 – Fall 2005 Dr. Cheri Toledo, Curriculum Web- Middle School French

La Conjugaison des Verbes

Verb Conjugation

So what is conjugation? What does “conjugate” mean?

In grammatical terms, it’s…

Taking the regular form of the verb (such as: to have, to eat, to dance, to speak, etc) and changing it to agree with the subject of the verb (the person/object performing the action)

Lost? Don’t you worry. We conjugate verbs in English every day! How???

La Conjugaison des Verbes

Verb ConjugationWatch carefully as our verb repair specialty crew conjugates an English verb in the present tense.

to be

I am We are

You are You (pl) are

He/She is They are

La Conjugaison des Verbes

Verb ConjugationDon’t they do excellent work? Here are some other familiar projects:

to dance to eat

I dance We dance

You dance You (pl) dance

He/She dances They dance

I eat We eat

You eat You (pl) eat

He/She eats They eat

So…We change “to dance” to “dance” or “dances” depending on who we’re talking about (I, You, They). Therefore, the “general” rule is to drop the FIRST 2 letters and add an ending if needed.

La Conjugaison des Verbes

Verb ConjugationHere are a few verbs try. Remember to use the present tense!

to watch

I watch We watch

You watch You (pl) watch

He/She watches They watch

to work

I work We work

You work You (pl) work

He/She works They work

C’est facile, n’est-ce pas?

Now that you are experts, let’s check out the nuts and bolts of conjugating French verbs.

La Conjugaison des Verbes

Verb ConjugationWould you say…

I is? You be? He are?

She work?

They watches? I to be?

You to work?

Oops! Of course not! Conjugated verbs are not interchangeable! It sounds ridiculous! It’s the same way with the French language.

La Conjugaison des Verbes

Parts and AccessoriesIn order to be a successful verb conjugator, you will need to know the following 4 terms:

Stem-

Infinitive-

The verb by itself: danser, parler, inviter, regarderWhat others can you name?

The verb without the er/ir/re: dans, parl, invit, regard

Subject-The person or thing doing the action (je, vous, la télé)

travailler

habiter organiser

écouter chanter

Ending-

La Conjugaison des Verbes

Parts and AccessoriesAnd most importantly:

The combination of letters that we put in place of the “er” that we dropped earlier. Each pronoun has its own ending to be used.

Below is a chart that gives these endings

-ER Endings

Jee [—] Nou

sons

[ohn]

Tu es [—] Vous

ez [eh]

Il/ Elle

e [—]Ils/

Ellesent [—]

La Conjugaison des Verbes

Parts and Accessories

Subject Infinitive Stem Ending

The worker: The drill packaging:

The drill: (packaging removed)

The drill bits:

Or think of it this way:

aimer, danser, chanter, parler

er

Je, Tu, Nous, la fille, Ils

aim, dans, chant, parl

e, es, e, ons, ez, ent

The worker chooses the bit for each drill!!!

La Conjugaison des Verbes

Parts and AccessoriesOk, here’s the drill : Try to conjugate these French verbs by following the 4 simple steps:

1. Take note of the worker (sujet)2. Choose your drill package (groupe de verbe)3. Remove ALL er packaging from the drill

(how else are you going to use it?)4. Select the correct bit for the worker given *Notice, there are 6 workers for each verb!*

Je

Tu

Il/Elle

parler

Nous

Vous

Ils/Elles

Je

TuIl/Elle

parler

Nous

Vous

Ils/Elles

Je

Tu

Il/Elle

jouer

Nous

Vous

Ils/Elles

Je

Tu

Il/Elle

habiter

Nous

Vous

Ils/Elles

Je

Tu

Il/Elle

aimer

Nous

Vous

Ils/Elles

La Conjugaison des VerbesParts and Accessories

Go to the next page to see how you did!

Je parle

Tu parles

Il/Elle parle

parler

Nous parlons

Vous parlez

Ils/Elles parlent

Je joue

Tu joues

Il/Elle joue

jouer

Nous jouonsVous jouez

Ils/Elles jouent

J’habite

Tu habites

Il/Elle habite

habiter

Nous habitonsVous habitez

Ils/Elles habitent

J’aime

Tu aimes

Il/Elle aime

aimer

Nous aimons

Vous aimez

Ils/Elles aiment

La Conjugaison des VerbesParts and Accessories

How did you do? Ready for a new twist?

Let’s try it with adorer, in a chart:

Subject(worker)

+Stem(drill)

+Ending

(bit)Result

J’ + ador + e adore

Tu + ador + es adores

Il/Elle + ador + e adore

Nous + ador + ons adorons

Vous + ador + ez adorez

Ils/Elles + ador + ent adorent

La Conjugaison des VerbesParts and Accessories

Les verbes du “G” specialSpecial G verbs

voyager

Je voyageNous voyageons

Tu voyagesVous voyagez

Il/Elle voyage

Ils/Elles voyagent

nager

Je nageNous nageons

Tu nages Vous nagez

Il/Elle nageIls/Elles nagent

manger

Je mange Nous mangeons

Tu manges Vous mangez

Il/Elle mange Ils/Elles mangent

For these “special G” verbs, the “Nous” form is different. What changes?

Why? (think pronunciation)

Something about the spelling has changed…

Les verbes du “G” specialSpecial G verbs

-We’ve added an “e” between the “g” and “ons”

-Why?

-So we can keep the [zsh] sound in all the verb forms (je, tu, nous, vous, etc) consistently.

And if we didn’t?

-We’d have: nagons [nah – gohn]

voyagons [voy –a-gohn]

mangon [mah –gohn]

And the French

would say…

So what changes?

TROIS SensThree Meanings

3Each conjugated form of a verb in the present tense has THREE meanings.

TROIS SensThree Meanings

For example, let’s conjugate:

voyager

Je voyage Nous voyageons

Tu voyages Vous voyagez

Il/Elle voyage Ils/Elles voyagent

“Je voyage” has three meanings: I travel, I am traveling, I do travel

“Ils/Elles voyagent” has three meanings: They travel, they are traveling, and they do travel

TROIS SensThree Meanings

Need a few more examples?

Nous jouons

We play

We are playing

We do play Elles empruntent

They borrow

They are borrowing

They do borrow Je gagne

I win

I am winning

I do win

What about the ‘IR’ verbs?

They follow the same rules, they just have different drill bits

-IR Endings

Je is [ee] Nous issons [ee-sohn]

Tu is [ee] Vous issez [ee-seh]

Il/ Elle it [ee] Ils/ Ellesissent

[iss-]

Veux-tu le voir en action?

Subject(worker)

+Stem(drill)

+Ending

(bit)Result

Je + chois + is choisis

Tu + chois + is choisis

Il/Elle + chois + it choisit

Nous + chois + issons choisissons

Vous + chois + issez choisissez

Ils/Elles + chois + issent choisissent

Let’s use the verb CHOISIR (to choose)

And ‘RE’ verbs?

-RE Endings

Je s [-] Nous ons [ohn]

Tu s [-] Vous ez [eh]

Il/ Elle - [-] Ils/Elles ent [-]

Again, same rules, they just have different drill bits

Veux-tu le voir en action?

Let’s use the verb ENTENDRE (to hear)

Subject(worker)

+Stem(drill)

+Ending

(bit)Result

J’ + entend + s entends

Tu + entend + s entends

Il/Elle + entend + - entend

Nous + entend + ons entendons

Vous + entend + ez entendez

Ils/Elles + entend + ent entendent

FAQ’s

Les Questions FréquentesFrequently Asked Questions

Technical Questions:

Instead of dropping the “er” when conjugating a verb, can’t I just drop the “r”?

What you’re really asking:

Can’t I leave some of the packaging and still use the drill without any problems?

Answer:

NO! It may seem like it doesn’t make a difference, but it is a bad habit to start! Some verbs have fancier endings and cannot be conjugated by just dropping the “r”. Conjugation will not turn out properly… nor will your project if you leave the packaging on the drill!

Les Questions FréquentesFrequently Asked Questions

Technical Questions:

Why is the “e” missing in “Je” when I conjugate verbs like: aimer, habiter, écouter, adorer, obéir entendre, etc.What you’re really asking:

Is the “Je” worker picky about certain drills?

Answer:

Yes, the “Je” worker is picky. If the drill it wants to use begins with a vowel or an ‘h’ (which is silent in French). it likes to eliminate the “e” in “Je” and put an apostrophe in it’s place. For example: J’habite, J’aime, J’invite, J’obéis.

Les Questions FréquentesFrequently Asked Questions

Technical Questions:

Will “je suis parle” or “je suis parler” work instead of saying “je parle” to mean “I am speaking”?

What you’re really asking:

Can’t a worker use two drills at the same time with or without the correct bit?

Answer:

NO! It’s dangerous and makes no sense! “Je parle” already means “I am speaking.” “Je suis parle” translates to “I am am speaking.” “Je suis parler” means “I am to speak.” Do not put any form of être (suis, es, est, sommes, êtes, sont) in front of any verb!!! (you’d be using two drills… être and another verb)