FRE1120 - 1.5 Grammaire

La Vie de Famille

FRE1120: Beginning French I

Les Verbs en -ER et Les Contractions

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| Les Verbs en -ER

Les Verbs en -ER

• The very basic form of a verb is called the infinitive.

• The majority of French verbs end in -er and follow the same conjugation pattern as aimer.

• In the present tense, these verbs are made of 2 components:

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STEM + ENDING

| Les Verbs en -ER

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Pronunciation Hints

• In travailler, the letters aill sound like the English "eye".

• Also note that because the initial h in habiter is silent, je contracts to j'.
• This applies to all verbs beginning with vowels
• Ex: étudier, écouter, acheter, inviter

Click on the button below to view examples of common verbs

| Les Verbs en -ER

Additional Spelling Changes

• Some -er verbs like préférer, acheter, and appeler have a spelling change in their present-tense forms before the silent endings (-e, -es, -ent).

• Verbs like manger and commencer have a spelling change in the nous form.

Je préfère, tu achètes, elle appelle, ils appellent

Nous mangeons, nous commençons

| Les Contractions

Les Contractions

• You have already learned how to express relationships using possessive adjectives such as mon and votre.

• To express a relationship to someone using that person's name, use the preposition de + name.
• This is equivalent of -'s in English.

• To express a relationship to a person who is not named directly, use de + definite article + noun.

-Est-ce que c'est la sœur de Denise? -Oui, c'est sa sœur.

| Les Contractions

Les Contractions

CONTRACTION

de + le du

NO CONTRACTION

de + les des

de + la = de la

de + l' = de l'

du café

de la plage

des magasins

de l'école

Des has two meanings:1. Indefinite article (some)2. Contraction of de + les (of the)

Un ami algérien --> des amis algériens

Voilà le père des enfants

C'est Tout!

FRE1120: Beginning French I

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It's Paul's sister's cat

C'est le chat de la sœur de Paul.

Uncle Victor's wife is 43 years old.

La femme de l'oncle Victor a 43 ans.

The STEM does not change, it is the ENDING that changes with the subject. To conjugate these verbs, drop the -er (the ENDING) from the STEM and add either: -e, -es, -ons, -ez, -ent.

Les Verbes en -ER

INFINITIVE

STEM

PRESENT TENSE CONJUGATION

Travailler

ENDINGS

Habiter

Travaill-

Habit-

Je travailleTu travaillesIl/Elle travailleNous travaillonsVous travaillezIls/Elles travaillent

J'habiteTu habitesIl/Elle habiteNous habitonsVous habitezIls/Elles habitent

-e-es-e-ons-ez-ent

Common -ER Verbs

Chanter to singChercher to look for; to go getCuisiner to cookDanser to danceDéjeuner to eat lunchDessiner to draw

Diner to eat dinnerDonner to giveÉcouter to listenInviter to inviteJouer to playManger to eatNager to swim

Parler to talkRegarder to watchReconter to meetRentrerto return, come back (home)Rester to stayVoyager to travel