Lesson 3 - Grammar 4 - Verbs with Infinitive ending in – ER
| Examples/ Exemples: | French / Français | English / Anglais |
|---|---|---|
| Ma famille arrive ce soir. | arriver | to arrive |
| Mon fils rentre ce matin. | rentrer | to come back |
| Demandez à Monsieur de fermer la porte. | demander | to ask |
| Que désirez-vous, Monsieur? | désirer | to desire |
| Ils montent. | monter | to go up, to get in |
| Je vous remercie. | remercier | to thank |
In this lesson, we are going to give the forms of the present tense of the verbs with infinitive ending in -ER. (aller = to go will be studied separately in lesson 4).
That part of the infinitive which remains when the ER is removed is called the Present Stem.
For example:
Infinitive / Infinitif |
Stem / Racine |
Infinitive
ending / Terminaison de l'infinitif |
|---|---|---|
| parler | parl- | -er |
| présenter | présent- | -er |
| arriver | arriv- | -er |
| excuser | excus- | -er |
| déjeuner | déjeun- | -er |
| remercier | remerci- | -er |
The present tense endings for these verbs are:
| Subject
Pronoun / Pronoms sujet |
Stem / Racine |
Ending / Terminaison |
|
|---|---|---|---|
Singular |
je | -e | |
| tu | -es | ||
| il, elle, on | -e | ||
Plural |
nous | -ons | |
| vous | -ez | ||
| ils, elles | -ent |
Example:
Here are the forms of parler (to speak):
| Verbs
with infinitive ending in -ER
: Parler (to speak) |
|
|---|---|
| je parle | Est-ce que je parle? |
| tu parles | Parles-tu? |
| il parle | Parle-t-il? |
| elle parle | Parle-t-elle? |
| on parle | Parle-t-on? |
| nous parlons | Parlons-nous? |
| vous parlez | Parlez-vous? |
| ils parlent | Parlent-ils? |
| elles parlent | Parlent-elles? |
Remember:
- When the verb begins with a vowel je becomes j',
- In the plural, the liaison is compulsory between the subject pronoun and the verb.
