Every French verb arrives in its dictionary form — the infinitive — and every infinitive ends in one of three ways: -er (parler), -ir (finir) or -re (vendre). To conjugate, you chop off that ending to get the stem, then bolt on the ending that matches your subject.
Picture it as a plug and a socket. The stem carries the meaning (parl- = speaking), and the ending carries the person (-ons = we). French keeps them strictly separate, which is why once you know the six endings for a group you can conjugate hundreds of verbs you have never seen.
Je parle français can mean "I speak French", "I am speaking French" or "I do speak French". French has no separate progressive tense, so one form covers all three. If you must stress that it's happening right now, say Je suis en train de parler.
About 90% of French verbs end in -er, and almost every new verb entering the language joins this group (googliser, télétravailler). Learn this pattern and you have unlocked most of the language.
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| je parle | zhuh PARL | I speak |
| tu parles | tü PARL | you speak |
| il / elle / on parle | eel PARL | he / she speaks |
| nous parlons | noo par-LOHN | we speak |
| vous parlez | voo par-LAY | you speak |
| ils / elles parlent | eel PARL | they speak |
parle, parles, parle, parlent are all pronounced PARL. Only nous (-ons) and vous (-ez) change the sound. So in speech, the pronoun carries the information — which is why French can never drop the subject the way Spanish or Italian do.
Common -er verbs worth knowing on day one:
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| parler | par-LAY | to speak |
| habiter | ah-bee-TAY | to live (somewhere) |
| travailler | trah-vah-YAY | to work |
| aimer | eh-MAY | to like, to love |
| regarder | ruh-gar-DAY | to watch, to look at |
| écouter | ay-koo-TAY | to listen to |
| manger | mahn-ZHAY | to eat |
| acheter | ahsh-TAY | to buy |
| chercher | shair-SHAY | to look for |
| donner | do-NAY | to give |
| Verb type | What changes | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -ger (manger, voyager) | nous keeps an e to hold the soft g | nous mangeons |
| -cer (commencer) | nous takes a cédille | nous commençons |
| -eter / -eler (acheter, appeler) | accent or double letter in the four "silent" forms | j'achète, j'appelle |
| -yer (payer, envoyer) | y → i before a silent ending | je paie, j'envoie |
Regular -ir verbs insert -iss- in the plural. It sounds odd until you hear it once: nous finissons.
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| je finis | zhuh fee-NEE | I finish |
| tu finis | tü fee-NEE | you finish |
| il / elle / on finit | eel fee-NEE | he / she finishes |
| nous finissons | noo fee-nee-SOHN | we finish |
| vous finissez | voo fee-nee-SAY | you finish |
| ils / elles finissent | eel fee-NEES | they finish |
Same pattern: choisir (to choose), réussir (to succeed), grandir (to grow), réfléchir (to think it over), remplir (to fill in).
Partir, sortir, dormir, venir and ouvrir all end in -ir but follow their own patterns: je pars, je sors, je dors, je viens, j'ouvre. They are common enough that you learn them individually rather than by rule.
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| je vends | zhuh VAHN | I sell |
| tu vends | tü VAHN | you sell |
| il / elle / on vend | eel VAHN | he / she sells |
| nous vendons | noo vahn-DOHN | we sell |
| vous vendez | voo vahn-DAY | you sell |
| ils / elles vendent | eel VAHND | they sell |
Also here: attendre (to wait for), entendre (to hear), répondre (to answer), perdre (to lose), descendre (to go down).
A handful of high-frequency verbs refuse to follow any pattern. They also happen to be the ones you need most, so learn them as whole songs rather than as rules.
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| je veux / nous voulons | zhuh VUH / noo voo-LOHN | I want / we want (vouloir) |
| je peux / nous pouvons | zhuh PUH / noo poo-VOHN | I can / we can (pouvoir) |
| je dois / nous devons | zhuh DWAH / noo duh-VOHN | I must / we must (devoir) |
| je sais / nous savons | zhuh SAY / noo sah-VOHN | I know (a fact) (savoir) |
| je connais / nous connaissons | zhuh ko-NAY | I know (a person or place) (connaître) |
| je prends / nous prenons | zhuh PRAHN | I take (prendre) |
| je viens / nous venons | zhuh vee-EN | I come (venir) |
| je bois / nous buvons | zhuh BWAH | I drink (boire) |
| je vois / nous voyons | zhuh VWAH | I see (voir) |
| je dis / nous disons | zhuh DEE | I say (dire) |
Savoir = to know a fact or how to do something: Je sais nager. Je sais où il habite.
Connaître = to be acquainted with a person, place or work of art: Je connais Marie. Tu connais Montréal ?
English flattens both into "know", so this is a distinction you must build deliberately.
When two verbs meet, the first one conjugates and the second stays in the infinitive — no linking word needed.
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Je veux manger. | zhuh vuh mahn-ZHAY | I want to eat. |
| Tu peux répéter ? | tü puh ray-pay-TAY | Can you repeat that? |
| Nous devons partir. | noo duh-VOHN par-TEER | We have to leave. |
| J'aime voyager. | zhem vwah-yah-ZHAY | I like travelling. |
Conjugation is identical, but the pronouns shrink in speech: tu as → "t'as", tu es → "t'es", il y a → "y a". You'll hear Tu veux as "tu veux" clearly in the south and as "tveux" in Paris.
Québec adds -tu as a yes/no question marker on the conjugated verb: Tu viens-tu ? (Are you coming?), Ça se peut-tu ? (Is that possible?). It's not the pronoun tu — it's a question particle, and it's used with every person: Il vient-tu ?
1. Which forms of parler sound exactly the same?
2. "We are eating" is:
3. "Do you know Montréal?" uses which verb?
4. What goes between two verbs in Je veux … manger?