Les verbes(Verbs)

What is the definition of “verb”?

Verb: (noun) a word that characteristically is the grammatical center of a predicate and expresses an act, occurrence, or mode of being, that in various languages is inflected for agreement with the subject, for tense, for voice, or for mood.

Simply: It’s an action word!

Can you think of some verbs in English?

Les Verbes

Verbs in the French language have to parts:1. It has a root (also called a stem)2. An ending, which is either “-er”, “-

ir”, or “-re”

stem ending

Understanding the two parts

• STEM: this part of the verb contains the action word, for example: run, walk, talk, swim

• ENDING: the ending is what we call an “inflectional suffix”- basically, this is the part of the verb that is changed when we conjugate (we’ll talk about this in a moment)

Divide these verbs into the two parts

AimerAllerChanterDanserMarcherNagerParler

AttendreDéfendreDescendreEntendrePerdreRépondreVendre

AvertirBénirChoisirCourirFinirRéussirPunir

Part One: The Stems(The meaning of the verb)

Aim- like/loveAll- goChant- singDans- danceMarch- walkNag- swimParl- speak

Attend- waitDéfend- defendDescend- descendEntend- hearPerd- loseRépond- respondVend- sell

Avert- warnBén- blessChois- chose Cour- runFin- finishRéuss- suceedPun- punish

Part Two: The Endings

There are only 3 types of endings for French verbs:

-er / -ir / -reAll 3 of these mean “to” in English

Therefore:Aller- TO go Avertir- TO warn Attendre- TO wait

Conjugating verbs

Since we now know the parts of a verb, we need to know how verbs are used in relation to subject pronouns.

What are “subject pronouns” ? What are they in English?

Les Pronoms Sujets (Subject Pronouns):

Subject Pronouns are words which replace the name of a person/place/thing.

In English…SINGULAR PLURAL

I We

You You all / y’all

He / she / it They

Les Pronoms Sujets en français

Singulier Pluriel

Je ( or, if in front of a vowel)

J’

Nous

Tu Vous

Il / Elle / On Ils (guys) / Elles (gals)

How to read this chart:

Singulier Pluriel

Je ( or, if in front of a

vowel)

J’

Nous

Tu Vous

Il / Elle / On Ils (guys) / Elles (gals)

This middle line separates the singular and plural subject pronouns. If you are referring to one person- look to the left, if more than one- look to the right

First person: These subject pronouns include yourself- you are #1!

Second person: The ‘you’ subject pronouns.

Third person:Think of these pronouns as ‘everyone else’: Ex.

…So what does it mean to conjugate?

When we conjugate verbs, we are changing the ending of the verb to reflect the subject pronoun that one is talking about.

*Remember: the French verb endings are er/ir/re and they all mean “to”

English Examples: “I speak” but it is “he speaks”

Conjugasion en français

French has specific endings for each subject pronoun, depending on the endings of the verbs.

These require memorization!

“-er” Verb Endings(Present Tense)

Example French verb: Parler (to speak)Singulier Pluriel

Je parle Nous parlons

Tu parles Vous parlez

Il

Elle parleOn

Ils parlentElles

“-ir” Verb Endings(Present Tense)

Example French verb: Réussir (to suceed)Singulier Pluriel

Je réussisis Nous réussisissons

Tu réussisis Vous réussisissez

Il

Elle réussisitOn

Ils Elles

réussisissent

“-re” Verb Endings(Present Tense)

Example French verb: Attendre (to wait) Singulier Pluriel

J’ attends Nous attendons

Tu attends Vous attendez

IlElle attend_On

Ils attendentElles

Proper Pronunciation

Here is a little trick to help you remember which verb endings are pronounced when speaking:

If it fits in the heel, then you don’t pronounce the ending!

Madame Burse’s Heel:Je parle Nous parlons

Tu parles Vous parlez

Il parleElle parleOn parle

Ils parlentElles parlent

Les verbes au Présent:

The endings you have just learned are for verbs in the present tense, meaning that the subject pronoun is currently doing the action.

So… “Je parle” can mean:• I speak• I am speaking

Just like… “Nous parlons” means:• We speak• We are speaking

Therefore:

In French we do not need to add an extra word such as “am” or “is” or “are” like we need in English because the French conjugation has those words implied in the conjugation.

“Elle parle” covers both “She speaks” AND “She is speaking”

Spelling Changes

Some French verbs require spelling changes for the

nous (we) subject pronoun in order to keep pronunciation correct.

Verbs that end in these endings need additional letters added to the conjugations:

-cer-ger

-yer *

-cer

ç

Nous

prononçon

s

For verbs ending in –cer :

You must add a cedille- ç – in order to keep the soft c sound:

Example: Prononcer (to pronounce)

-ger

e

Nous

mangeons

For verbs ending in –ger :

You must add a mute e between the g and the o in order to keep a soft g sound:

Example: Manger (to eat)

Verbs ending in –yer :

The y changes to an I before the mute e. For this change, you do it to the ‘heel’ conjugations, not nous and vous.

Example: Nettoyer (to clean)

-yer

iElle nettoie

PRATICE:

1. Divide these verbs into their two parts. Color coding or using “ / ” is fine.

2. Conjugate these verbs for all subject pronouns in the present tense. (You can work in your table group to do this but each person needs them all!)

3. Create 5 original sentences using 5 different verbs.

1. Divide these verbs into the two parts2. Conjugate all of them for the present tense3. Pick 5 of them and create 5 sentences using our vocabulary words.

AimerAllerChanterDanserMarcherNagerParler

AttendreDéfendreDescendreEntendrePerdreRépondreVendre

AvertirBénirChoisirCourirFinirRéussirPunir