Regular -ER Verbs in French

In Brief

To conjugate most French verbs ending in -er in the present tense, remove -er and add -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent: je parle, tu parles, elle parle, nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent. The written endings differ, but -e, -es, and -ent are normally silent, so several forms sound identical.

Overview

Regular -er verbs are the largest verb group in French. They include everyday verbs such as parler (to speak), habiter (to live), travailler (to work), aimer (to like or love), and regarder (to watch or look at). Learning their pattern gives you a practical way to talk about routines, preferences, work, and what is happening now.

This pattern is introduced at A1. The infinitive (the basic, unconjugated form, like English “to speak”) ends in -er. A conjugated verb changes its ending to match its subject (the person or thing doing the action). French usually requires a subject such as je, tu, or nous, even where an English sentence might use a name or noun instead.

One French present-tense form can correspond to both the English simple present and the English present progressive. Je travaille can mean “I work” or “I am working”; context tells you which reading is intended. French does not normally build the everyday progressive with an equivalent of English “am + -ing.”

How It Works

The basic pattern

Start with the infinitive, remove its final -er, and keep the stem (the part that carries the main meaning). Then add the ending that matches the subject.

• parler → parl- + ending
• habiter → habit- + ending
• travailler → travaill- + ending

Subject	Ending	parler	English
je	-e	je parle	I speak / I am speaking
tu	-es	tu parles	you speak / you are speaking
il / elle / on	-e	il parle / elle parle / on parle	he/she speaks; we/one speaks
nous	-ons	nous parlons	we speak / we are speaking
vous	-ez	vous parlez	you speak / you are speaking
ils / elles	-ent	ils parlent / elles parlent	they speak / they are speaking

The pronoun on uses the third-person singular form. In everyday French, it very often means “we”: On travaille demain (“We’re working tomorrow”). Nous remains normal, especially in more formal writing and when emphasis or clarity calls for it.

Pronunciation: six written forms, often only three sounds

With parler, the forms parle, parles, and parlent all sound alike. Their final letters are not normally pronounced. The ending -ons has a nasal vowel, while -ez sounds like the final sound in the infinitive parler. This creates three main spoken forms:

Written forms	Approximate sound grouping	Example
parle, parles, parlent	same verb sound	je parle, tu parles, ils parlent
parlons	distinct -ons sound	nous parlons
parlez	distinct -ez sound	vous parlez

Do not pronounce the final -ent of a verb. In Les étudiants parlent, the plural subject and context identify “they”; the verb ending itself is silent. A possible liaison (a normally silent final consonant linked to the next vowel sound) belongs to the word before the verb, not to the -ent ending: ils aiment begins with a /z/ link from ils.

Before a vowel: je becomes j’

Before a vowel sound or a silent h, je shortens to j’:

• j’aime — I like / I love
• j’habite à Lille — I live in Lille
• j’écoute la radio — I listen to the radio

This is elision (dropping a vowel before another vowel sound). Do not write je aime or je habite.

Negatives and questions

In standard written French, put ne ... pas around the conjugated verb:

• Je ne travaille pas le dimanche. — I do not work on Sundays.
• Elle n’habite pas ici. — She does not live here.

Before a vowel sound, ne becomes n’. In informal speech, French speakers often omit ne: Je travaille pas dimanche. Learn the full form first for writing.

For a beginner-friendly question, use rising intonation or est-ce que:

• Tu habites ici ? — Do you live here?
• Est-ce que vous parlez anglais ? — Do you speak English?

More formal inversion is also possible: Parlez-vous anglais ? With il, elle, or on, a linking -t- may appear when needed for pronunciation: Aime-t-elle ce film ?

Spelling changes that preserve pronunciation

Some verbs follow the same endings but adjust their spelling in certain forms. These are best treated as extensions of the regular pattern rather than six unrelated forms.

Verbs ending in -ger

Verbs such as manger add an e before -ons to keep the soft “g” sound:

Subject	Form
je	je mange
tu	tu manges
il / elle / on	il mange
nous	nous mangeons
vous	vous mangez
ils / elles	ils mangent

The extra e is a spelling support: nous mangons would suggest the wrong hard “g” sound.

Verbs ending in -cer

Verbs such as commencer change c to ç before -ons to keep the soft “c” sound: nous commençons. The other forms keep c: je commence, vous commencez.

Common stem-changing families

Many frequent -er verbs change an accent or consonant in the “boot” forms—je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles—but use the unchanged stem with nous and vous.

Pattern	Changed forms	Unchanged forms
acheter	j’achète, ils achètent	nous achetons, vous achetez
préférer	je préfère, ils préfèrent	nous préférons, vous préférez
appeler	j’appelle, ils appellent	nous appelons, vous appelez
jeter	je jette, ils jettent	nous jetons, vous jetez

For many verbs ending in -yer, y changes to i before a silent ending: j’essaie, tu essaies, il essaie, ils essaient, but nous essayons, vous essayez. Some spelling variants are accepted for particular verbs, so a dictionary is useful when you meet a new member of this family.

Not every -er verb is regular

The major warning is aller (to go). It ends in -er but has irregular present forms: je vais, tu vas, il va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont. Do not form it as if it were regular. A few verbs also have predictable spelling changes, as above; these retain the regular endings even though the stem is not identical throughout.

Examples in Context

French	English	Note
Je parle français.	I speak French.	Je form in -e
Tu manges la pizza.	You eat pizza.	-ger verb; ordinary singular form
Nous habitons à Lyon.	We live in Lyon.	Nous form in -ons
Ils travaillent à la banque.	They work at the bank.	Written -ent is silent
Elle regarde une série ce soir.	She is watching a series tonight.	Present can describe an action happening now
On prépare le dîner ensemble.	We’re preparing dinner together.	Conversational on meaning “we”
Vous écoutez souvent ce podcast ?	Do you often listen to this podcast?	Vous may be plural or polite singular
J’aime ce quartier.	I like this neighborhood.	Je becomes j’ before a vowel
Mes collègues arrivent à neuf heures.	My colleagues arrive at nine.	Plural noun subject takes the ils/elles form
Nous mangeons dehors quand il fait beau.	We eat outside when the weather is nice.	Extra e in mangeons
Nous commençons la réunion maintenant.	We are starting the meeting now.	Cedilla in commençons
Elle achète du pain après le travail.	She buys bread after work.	Stem change in achète
Je ne travaille pas le vendredi.	I do not work on Fridays.	Standard negative form
Est-ce que tu cherches tes clés ?	Are you looking for your keys?	Question with est-ce que
Vous préférez le thé ou le café ?	Do you prefer tea or coffee?	Stem remains préfér- with vous

Common Mistakes

Keeping the infinitive ending

• Wrong: Je parler français.
• Right: Je parle français.
• Why: After a subject, the main verb must be conjugated. Remove -er before adding -e.

Pronouncing silent endings

• Wrong: Pronouncing the final letters of tu parles or ils parlent as separate sounds.
• Right: Parle, parles, and parlent normally have the same verb pronunciation.
• Why: French spelling shows grammatical information that speech does not always make audible.

Using the wrong ending with a noun subject

• Wrong: Mes amis travaille ici.
• Right: Mes amis travaillent ici.
• Why: Mes amis is plural and can be replaced by ils, so the written ending is -ent—even though it is silent.

Forgetting elision

• Wrong: Je aime Paris.
• Right: J’aime Paris.
• Why: Je becomes j’ before a vowel sound or silent h.

Missing a spelling-preserving change

• Wrong: Nous mangons à midi. / Nous commencons tôt.
• Right: Nous mangeons à midi. / Nous commençons tôt.
• Why: The added e and the cedilla preserve the consonant sound before -ons.

Treating aller as regular

• Wrong: Je alle au bureau.
• Right: Je vais au bureau.
• Why: Aller is an important irregular verb despite its -er ending.

Usage Notes

French subject pronouns are usually expressed. English also normally states the subject, so je travaille maps neatly to “I work.” However, remember that French on is extremely common for conversational “we,” while nous is still used in careful speech, writing, contrast, and the fixed object form nous.

English distinguishes “I work” from “I am working” through verb structure. French normally uses je travaille for both. If a speaker wants to stress that something is in progress at this very moment, être en train de + infinitive is available: Je suis en train de travailler (“I’m in the middle of working”). It is more emphatic than an ordinary English progressive and should not be inserted every time English uses “-ing.”

Tu is informal singular “you.” Vous is either plural “you” or polite singular “you”; in both cases it takes -ez. Choosing between tu and polite vous depends on relationship, setting, age, and local custom. When unsure with an unfamiliar adult in a formal setting, vous is the safer starting point.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master all of this at A1, but regular -er endings reappear throughout French grammar. The imperfect uses the nous present stem: nous parlons leads to je parlais. The present participle (an -ing-like form used in constructions such as en parlant) also usually comes from that stem: remove -ons and add -ant.

The present subjunctive often looks identical to the ordinary present for regular -er verbs in the singular and third-person plural: Il faut que je parle; il faut qu’ils parlent. The nous and vous forms use -ions and -iez: que nous parlions, que vous parliez. Their function, not just their spelling, distinguishes them from the present indicative.

Object pronouns normally go before the conjugated verb: Je la regarde (“I’m watching it/her”), Nous lui parlons (“We speak to him/her”). With a negative, the pronoun and verb stay inside ne ... pas: Je ne la regarde pas. These patterns are later topics, but recognizing the conjugated verb makes them easier to learn.

Commands use the present-tense tu, nous, and vous forms without a subject. For regular -er verbs, the affirmative tu command normally drops final -s: Parle ! (“Speak!”), Regardons ! (“Let’s watch!”), Écoutez ! (“Listen!”). This is a command-specific rule, not a change to the ordinary present tu parles.

Practice Tips

1. Build forms from stems, not from memory alone. Choose five common verbs, remove -er, and write all six endings. Say the forms aloud while grouping the sound-alikes: parle, parles, parlent.
2. Practice with real subjects. Replace pronouns with names and nouns: Marie travaille; mes voisins travaillent. This trains agreement even when the subject is not written as elle or ils.
3. Keep spelling-change verbs in small families. Make one mini-set for manger/commencer, another for acheter/préférer, and another for appeler/jeter. Learn each change in a short sentence rather than as an isolated form.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Subject Pronouns — identify who performs the action and choose the matching ending.
• Next step: Aller (to go) — learn the essential -er verb that does not follow this pattern.
• Next step: Venir (to come) — compare a common irregular conjugation with regular -er endings.
• Next step: Faire (to do/make) — add another high-frequency irregular verb.
• Next step: Pouvoir (can/to be able) — use a conjugated modal verb followed by an infinitive.
• Next step: Vouloir (to want) — express wants and requests with an irregular verb.
• Next step: Devoir (must/to have to) — express obligation before another infinitive.
• Next step: Savoir vs Connaître — distinguish two common irregular ways to say “know.”