By the end of this lesson, you should understand:
Aimez-vous ce film ? Oui, je l'aime.
Nous jouons aux cartes.
and possibly understand:
Je lui donne le livre.
Il adore jouer aux jeux vidéo.
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Grammar · Regular -er verbs · Les verbes en -er
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Most French verbs fall into the category of -er verbs. To conjugate, drop the -er to find the stem or root. Add endings to the root based on the subject and tense.
Pronunciation, elision and liaison
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The -e , -es , and -ent endings all have the same silent pronunciation. The -er and -ez endings are pronounced /e/ (help ·info ) , and the -ons ending is pronounced /ɔ̃/ (help ·info ) .
In all conjugations, je changes to j ' when followed by a vowel or silent h :
J'aime… I like…
J'habite… I live…
In all plural forms, the s at the end of each subject pronoun, normally unpronounced, becomes a z sound and the n of on becomes pronounced when followed by a vowel.
Conjugation examples
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Infinitive
Stem
Present indicative conjugation
First person
Second person
Third person
aimer
aim
J'
aime
Tu
aimes
Il
aime
Singular
Nous
aimons
Vous
aimez
Ils
aiment
Plural
parler
parl
Je
parle
Tu
parles
Il
parle
Singular
Nous
parlons
Vous
parlez
Ils
parlent
Plural
habiter
habit
J'
habite
Tu
habites
Il
habite
Singular
Nous
habitons
Vous
habitez
Ils
habitent
Plural
écouter
écout
J'
écoute
Tu
écoutes
Il
écoute
Singular
Nous
écoutons
Vous
écoutez
Ils
écoutent
Plural
Supplementary vocabulary · Common -er verbs
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aimer
/ɛ.me/ (help ·info )
to like
J’aime beaucoup ce tableau.
I love this painting.
arriver
/a.ʁi.ve/ (help ·info )
to arrive, to happen
J'arrive !
I'm comming!
chercher
/ʃɛʁʃe/ (help ·info )
to look for
Je cherche du boulot.
I'm looking for some work.
demander
/dǝ.mɑ̃.de/ (help ·info )
to ask (for)
Je demande qu'il fasse cela.
I ask him to do this.
donner
/dɔ.ne/ (help ·info )
to give
Il donne aux pauvres.
He gives to the poor.
écouter
/ekute/ (help ·info )
to listen to
J’écoute la radio.
I'm listening to the radio.
entrer
/ɑ̃t.ʁe/ (help ·info )
to enter
Il entre dans la salle.
He's entering the room.
parler
/paʁle/ (help ·info )
to speak, to talk
Zoé parle couramment le français.
Zoé speaks French fluently.
passer
/pa.se/ (help ·info )
to pass, to spend (time)
Il me passe un livre.
He is giving me a book.
porter
/pɔʁ.te/ (help ·info )
to carry, to wear
Quentin porte un sac de blé.
Quentin is carrying a bag of wheat.
regarder
/ʁǝ.ɡaʁ.de/ (help ·info )
to watch, to look
Je regarde dehors.
I look outside.
sembler
/sɑ̃.ble/ (help ·info )
to seem, to resemble
Tu sembles fatigué.
You seem tired.
trouver
/tʁu.ve/ (help ·info )
to find, to surprise
Il a trouvé ses clés.
He found his keys.
Vocabulary gallery
la salle de concert
Grammar · Direct object pronouns le , la , and les
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The direct object pronoun le ( /lə/ ) , meaning it or him , replaces masculine singular direct objects:
Je donne le livre au prof. (I'm giving the book to the teacher. )
Je le donne au prof. (I'm giving it to the teacher. )
La ( /la/ ) , meaning it or her , replaces feminine singular direct objects:
Je donne la calculatrice au prof. (I'm giving the calculator to the teacher. )
Je la donne au prof. (I'm giving it to the teacher. )
Les ( /le/ ) , meaning them , replaces plural direct objects:
Je donne les livres au prof. (I'm giving the books to the teacher. )
Je les donne au prof. (I'm giving them to the teacher. )
Le and la become l' before a vowel:
Aimez-vous le concert ? Oui, je l'aime. (Do you like the concert? Yes, I like it. )
Le , la , and les can replace either people or things:
Aimez-vous le film ? Oui, je l'aime. (Do you like the film? Yes, I like it. )
Aimez-vous l'acteur ? Oui, je l'aime. (Do you like the actor? Yes, I like him. )
masculine singular direct object
le
/lə/ (luh )
it, him
feminine singular direct object
la
/la/ (lah )
it, her
singular direct object, before a vowel
l'
/l/
it, him, her
plural direct object
les
/le/ (lay )
them
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Vocabulary · Sports, games, and instruments
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Supplementary grammar · Indirect object pronouns lui and leur
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Supplementary grammar · Conjugated verb + infinitive
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Supplementary grammar · To have fun · S'amuser
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Exercise Fill in the blank using jouer
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)
Fill in each blank with the correct form of jouer .
nous ______
nous jouons
elle ______
elle joue
tu ______
tu joues
il ______
il joue
elles ______
elles jouent
vous ______
vous jouez
je ______
je joue
ils ______
ils jouent
Exercise Translation
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)
Translate from French to English.
le théâtre
theater
le parc
park
la piscine
swimming pool
la salle de jeux
game room, playroom
le restaurant
restaurant
le stade
stadium
le cinéma la salle de cinéma
cinema
la plage
beach
le casino la maison de jeu
casino
la salle de concert
concert hall
la bibliothèque
library
Exercise Translation
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)
Translate from English to French.
restaurant
le restaurant
game room, playroom
la salle de jeux
theater
le théâtre
concert hall
la salle de concert
swimming pool
la piscine
cinema
le cinéma la salle de cinéma
casino
le casino la maison de jeu
library
la bibliothèque
stadium
le stade
beach
la plage
park
le parc
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Supplementary exercises
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Exercise Translation
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)
Translate from French to English.
porter
to carry, to wear
donner
to give
regarder
to watch
écouter
to listen to
parler
to speak, to talk
entrer
to enter
aimer
to like
demander
to ask (for)
sembler
to seem, to resemble
trouver
to find, to surprise
passer
to pass, to spend (time)
chercher
to look for
arriver
to arrive, to happen
Exercise Translation
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)
Translate from English to French.
to find, to surprise
trouver
to look for
chercher
to give
donner
to watch
regarder
to carry, to wear
porter
to speak, to talk
parler
to enter
entrer
to arrive, to happen
arriver
to listen to
écouter
to seem, to resemble
sembler
to like
aimer
to ask (for)
demander
to pass, to spend (time)
passer
Exercise Fill in the blank using -er verbs
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)
Fill in each blank with the correct form of the -er verb in parentheses.
nous ______ (parler )
nous parlons
elle ______ (chercher )
elle cherche
tu ______ (écouter )
tu écoutes
il ______ (entrer )
il entre
elles ______ (regarder )
elles regardent
vous ______ (aimer )
vous aimez
je ______ (demander )
je demande
ils ______ (sembler )
ils semblent
nous ______ (donner )
nous donnons
tu ______ (arriver )
tu arrives
on ______ (porter )
on porte
ils ______ (chercher )
ils cherchent
nous ______ (demander )
nous demandons
je ______ (regarder )
je regarde
vous ______ (sembler )
vous semblez
on ______ (aimer )
on aime
elles ______ (donner )
elles donnent
vous ______ (chercher )
vous cherchez