French conjugation: the present

French conjugation: The present

Conjugations and Infinitives

As you learned in "Basics 1", verbs like parler conjugate to agree with their subjects. Parler itself is an infinitive, which is a verb's base form. It consists of a root (parl-) and an ending (-er). The ending can dictate how the verb should be conjugated. In this case, almost all verbs ending in -er are regular verbs in the 1st Group that share the same conjugation pattern. To conjugate another 1st Group verb, affix the ending to that verb's root.

Aimer ("to love"): j'aime, tu aimes, nous aimons, etc.
Marcher ("to walk"): je marche, tu marches, nous marchons, etc.
Every verb belongs to one of three groups:

The 1st Group includes regular -er verbs and includes 80% of all verbs.
The 2nd Group includes regular -ir verbs like finir ('to finish").
The 3rd Group includes all irregular verbs. This includes many common verbs like être and avoir as well as a handful of less common conjugation patterns.
Subject G1: parler G2: finir G3: dormir
je parle finis dors
tu parles finis dors
il/elle/on parle finit dort
nous parlons finissons dormons
vous parlez finissez dormez
ils/elles parlent finissent dorment
Aller ("to go") is the only fully irregular verb in Group 1, but a handful of others are slightly irregular.

Spelling-changing verbs end in -ger (e.g. manger) or -cer (e.g. lancer, "to throw") and change slightly in the nous form, as well as any other form whose ending begins with an A or O. These verbs take a form like nous mangeons or nous lançons.

Stem-changing verbs have different roots in their nous and vous forms. For instance, most forms of appeler ("to call") have two L's (e.g. j'appelle), but the N/V forms are nous appelons and vous appelez.

Semi-Auxiliary Verbs

The only true auxiliary verbs in French are être and avoir, but there are a number of semi-auxiliary verbs in French that can be used with other verbs to express ability, necessity, desire, and so on. They are used in double-verb constructions where the first verb (the semi-auxiliary) is conjugated and the second is not.

Je veux lire. — I want to read.
Il aime manger. — He likes to eat.
Modal verbs are the English equivalents of semi-auxiliaries—for instance, "can", which translates to either savoir or pouvoir. When "can" indicates knowledge, use savoir.

Je sais lire et écrire. — I know how to read and write.
Il sait parler allemand. — He knows how to speak German.
When "can" indicates permission or ability (apart from knowledge), use pouvoir.

Il peut manger. — He can (or "may") eat.
Il peut parler allemand. — He is allowed to speak German.
One of the most important semi-auxiliary verbs is aller, which is used to express the near future (futur proche), just like the English verb "going to".

Je vais manger. — I am going to eat.
Vous allez lire le livre. — You are going to read the book.
Note that in verb constructions beginning with non-auxiliary verbs, the verbs must be separated by a preposition.

Nous vivons pour manger. — We live to eat.
Impersonal Expressions

A few defective impersonal verbs can only be used in impersonal statements and must be conjugated as third-person singular with il. Remember that il is a dummy subject and does not refer to a person.

Falloir means "to be necessary", and it often takes the form il faut + infinitive.

Il faut manger. — It is necessary to eat. / One must eat.
Il faut choisir. — It is necessary to choose. / One must choose.
Il faut can also be used transitively with a noun to indicate that it is needed.

Il faut du pain. — (Some) bread is needed.
Confusing Verbs

Used transitively, savoir and connaître both mean "to know", but in different ways. Savoir implies understanding of subjects, things, or skills, while connaître indicates familiarity with people, animals, places, things, or situations.

Je sais les mots. — I know the words.
Je connais le garçon. — I know the boy.
Attendre means "to await", which is why it does not need a preposition.



Il attend son ami. — He is awaiting (or "waiting for") his friend.

One Each

The indefinite article doesn't always refer to just one thing. Sometimes, it can mean one thing each. Consider these examples:

Ils ont un manteau — They have one coat / They each have one coat
Ils ont des manteaux — They have some coats / They each have some coats