When in their infinitive form, the majority of French verbs end in -er and follow a regular set of rules. Moreover, this set of rules is productive, meaning all newly coined verbs follow the pattern. While there are few minor spell change hurdles to jump with verbs ending in -ger and -cer, pronunciation is fairly consistent accross the board.
Les Verbes -ER | -ER Verbs
1. Formation
The part of the verb without the 'er' infinitive ending is known as the stem or radical.
While there are, as mentioned, a few slight spelling variations to consider, to conjugate a regular -er verb,
simply remove its infinitive and add the required ending, as per below:
| pronoun + | stem + | present ending |
| Je | - | e |
| tu | - | es |
| il / elle / on | - | e |
| nous | - | ons |
| vous | - | ez |
| ils / elles | - | ent |
It should be noted that the forms ending in -e, -es and -ent generally sound the same, and are actually muted when pronouncing; however, the endings -ons and -ez are pronounced, but on is usually preferred to nous in everyday conversation.
2. Examples
This table details the most commonly used French regular -er verbs. To learn to conjugate them in every tense, check out the uber-useful and highly recommended University of Chicago's ARTFL Project.
| aider | to help | |
| aimer | to like / to love | |
| arriver | to arrive | |
| chanter | to sing | |
| chercher | to look for | |
| commencer | to begin | |
| danser | to dance | |
| demander | to ask for | |
| dépenser | to spend | |
| détester | to hate | |
| donner | to give | |
| écouter | to listen to | |
| étoudier | to study | |
| fermer | to close | |
| gagner | to earn / win | |
| habiter | to live (in) | |
| jouer | to play | |
| manger | to eat | |
| marcher | to walk | |
| nager | to swim | |
| oublier | to forget | |
| parler | to talk/ to speak to | |
| penser | to think | |
| préparer | to prepare | |
| présenter | to present / introduce | |
| regarder | to watch / to look at | |
| rencontrer | to meet | |
| rêver | to dream | |
| skier | to ski | |
| travailler | to work | |
| trouver | to find | |
| visiter | to visit (somewhere) | |
| voyager | to travel |
3. Concept Check
This table illustrates examples of regular -er verbs in le present:
| pronom | jouer (to play) | marcher (to choose) | donner (to give) |
| Je | joue | marche | donne |
| tu | joues | marches | donnes |
| il / elle / on | joue | marche | donne |
| nous | jouons | marchons | donnons |
| vous | jouez | marchez | donnez |
| ils / elles | jouent | marchent | donnent |
