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In order for a verb to match its subject, you must conjugate the verb. There are three groups of verbs in
French:
First group includes verbs that have an infinitive form ending with -er.
Example:
Second group includes verbs that have an infinitive form ending with –ir, but only those that have their
present participle ending with -issant.
Example:
Third group includes all irregular verbs that are not in the first and the second groups. They have an
infinitive form ending with –ir, -oir, or -re
Example:
Here are the steps of conjugating regular verbs in the present tense:
2. Write only the stem (the verb without the –er/-ir/-oir/ or -re ending.)
3. Add the ending that matches the subject.
Verb Endings:
For the three singular persons je, tu and il/elle/on (I, you, he/she/it), endings can be -s, -s, -t or -s, -s, -d
or -x, -x, -t. It depends on the ending of the infinitive form.
The endings of the three plural persons nous, vous, ils/elles (us, you, they) are always -ons, -ez, -ent.
Examples:
Je vends, tu vends, il/elle/on vend, nous vendons, vous vendez, ils/elles vendent.
Je veux, tu veux, il/elle/on veut, nous voulons, vous voulez, ils/elles veulent.
As you can see with the conjugation of these three last verbs, verbs can have 2 or 3 different stems.