Les verbes réguliers en -ER

In French, verbs which infinitive form ends in -ER (parler, aimer, habiter, étudier etc.) are REGULAR and
belong to the “first conjugation” (“premier groupe“). Exception : the verb “aller” (to go), which belongs
to the 3rd group.

Endings for the indicative present are : je : -e, tu : -es, il/elle/on : -e, nous : -ons, vous : -ez, ils/elles : -ent

Conjugation of the indicative present of the verb “parler” will be obtained by adding those endings to
the stem parl-.

PARLER (to speak)

je parle

tu parles

il/elle/on parle

nous parlons

vous parlez

ils/elles parlent

Stem changes

The stem of a few verbs may change in order to preserve the pronunciation. Those changes are not
considered as real “irregularities”.

1) Extra letter added :

With verbs like “appeler” (to call), “épeler” (to spell), “jeter” (to throw), the consonants “l” or “t” are
doubled in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd persons of singular and 3rd person of plural, so the preceding “e” can be
pronunced as “ay” , which is easier.

With verbs like “manger” (to eat), “changer” (to change), “voyager” (to travel), a “e” is added before the
ending to the 1st person of plural to avoid the consonant “g” to be pronounced as /g.

With verbs like “commencer” (to start) or “placer” (to place), a cedilla is added to the consonant “c” for
the 1st person of plural to avoid “c” to be pronounced as “k” .

APPELER MANGER COMMENCER

j’appelle je mange je commence

tu appelles tu manges tu commences

il/elle/on appelle il/elle/on mange il/elle/on commence

nous appelons nous mangeons nous commençons

vous appelez vous mangez vous commencez

ils/elles appellent ils/elles mangent ils/elles commencent

2) “é” changed to “è” :

With verbs like “préférer” (to prefer), “répéter” (to repeat) or “espérer” (to hope), the “é” in the last
syllable of the stem changes to “è” for all persons excepted “vous” and “nous”.

PRÉFÉRER

je préfère

tu préfères

il/elle/on préfère

nous préférons

vous préférez

ils/elles préfèrent

3) “e” changed to “è” :

With verbs like “acheter” (to buy), “amener” (to bring somebody), “emmener” (to take somebody) or
“lever” (to raise), the “e” in the last syllable of the stem changes to “è” for all persons excepted “vous”
and “nous”.

ACHETER

j’achète

tu achète

il/elle/on achète

nous achetons

vous achetez

ils/elles achètent

4) “y” changed to “i”

Verbs like “payer” (to pay) or “essayer” (to try) follow 2 patterns : a normal pattern (pay- + endings) and
a pattern with modification of the stem in pai- for all the persons excepted “nous” and “vous”.

With verbs like “appuyer” (to press) or “employer” (to use, to employ), the vowel “y” is replaced by “i”
for all persons excepted “nous” and “vous”.

PAYER APPUYER

je paye/paie j’appuie

tu payes/paies tu appuies

il/elle/on paye/paie il/elle/on appuie

nous payons nous appuyons

vous payez vous appuyez

ils/elles payent/paient ils/elles appuient