Nallenart's Club Mimi

The last verb we learned, donner = to give, belongs to a large group of verbs known as -ER verbs. These verbs all have a similar pattern of conjugation, with a certain ending that corresponds with each subject pronoun that we have learned. If you learn these endings, you will be able to use hundreds of French verbs.

-ER Verb endings: These are the endings that go with each of the subject pronouns that you have learned. To put together the right verb for each subject, take off the -er from the infinitive and add the correct ending.

je -e
je donne = I give, I am giving

tu -es
tu donnes = you give, you are giving

il -e
il donne = he gives, he is giving

elle -e
elle donne = she gives, she is giving

nous -ons
nous donnons = we give, we are giving

vous -ez
vous donnez = you give, you are giving

ils -ent
ils donnent = they give, they are giving

elles -ent
elles donnent = they give, they are giving

Listen to the podcast to learn how to pronounce these verbs.

je donne = I give
tu donnes = you give
il donne = he gives
elle donne = she gives
nous donnons = we give
vous donnez = you give
ils donnent = they give
elles donnent = they give

All of these verbs describe an action in the present tense. They can all be translated in three ways like this:

I give, I am giving, I do give
you give, you are giving, you do give, etc.

Listen to the podcast to learn how to pronounce these verbs.

The verb avoir describes having something. It is also used in many different expressions in French where different verbs might be used in English.

to have = avoir
I have = j’ai*
you have (singular) = tu as
he has = il a
she has = elle a
it has = il a or elle a
we have = nous avons
you have (plural) = vous avez
they have = ils ont or elles ont

*When the verb starts with a vowel, je drops the e and adds an apostrophe to make a contraction.

Listen to the podcast to learn how to pronounce these verbs.

These are some of the most common words in French. Writing out the "being" words will help you to memorize them.

to be = être
I am = je suis
you are (singular) = tu es
he is = il est
she is = elle est
it is = il est or elle est
we are = nous sommes
you are (plural) = vous êtes
they are = ils sont or elles sont

Listen to the podcast to learn how to pronounce these verbs.

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