Now we have seen the three groups of verbs, what are we going to do with this knowledge? Well, the endings in the conjugation differ from the the ending in the infinitive form of the verb. You will see, it is not as bad as it sounds, promise!
When we have a regular verb, the ending of the verb (-er, -ir, -re) is removed to get the stem of the verb. Then the conjugational ending according to the verb's group is added and we have the conjugated verb. This works as follows:
Verbs ending in -er
stem
ending
je
I
donn
e
give
tu
you
donn
es
give
il
he
donn
e
gives
elle
she
donn
e
gives
nous
we
donn
ons
give
vous
you
donn
ez
give
ils
they (masculine)
donn
ent
give
elles
they (feminine)
donn
ent
give
Verbs ending in -ir
stem
ending
je
I
par
s
go
tu
you
par
s
go
il
he
par
t
goes
elle
she
par
t
goes
nous
we
par
tons
go
vous
you
par
tez
go
ils
they (masculine)
par
tent
go
elles
they (feminine)
par
tent
go
Verbs ending in -oir
stem
ending
je
I
reç
ois
receive
tu
you
reç
ois
receive
il
he
reç
oit
receives
elle
she
reç
oit
receives
nous
we
rec
evons
receive
vous
you
rec
evez
receive
ils
they (masculine)
reç
oivent
receive
elles
they (feminine)
reç
oivent
receive
Verbs ending in -re
stem
ending
je
I
descend
s
descend
tu
you
descend
s
descend
il
he
descend
-
descends
elle
she
descend
-
descends
nous
we
descend
ons
descend
vous
you
descend
ez
descend
ils
they (masculine)
descend
ent
descend
elles
they (feminine)
descend
ent
descend
These are the basic patterns that will help you to go the first steps with French verbs.
