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 French group 1 verbs -  verbs in - er


Verbs with an infinitive ending in -er are the most common standard category of verbs in French. They have mostly evolved from Latin verbs ending in -are .
With the exception of the verbs aller and envoyer all French verbs whose infinitive is formed with the -er ending are conjugated regularly or with very small variations..

Sample verb porter  - to wear or to carry  
This is the standard model.

Variations: Slight variations on the standard model occur with verbs ending in:
-cer and -ger , examples foncer, manger
¿er and e¿er - (¿ represents a consonant)
     examples répéter, procéder, appeler, harceler, protéger   
-ier - example modifier    -oyer  - example tutoyer
See below for details.
    
Note:  For each tense, a sample English equivalent is given for the first person singular. 

Table 1.
Tenses (indicative) :
Person Present
(I carry, I am carrying, I wear, I am weraing ...)
Future
(I will carry / wear)
Imperfect
(I was carrying / wearing)
1st Singular. je porte je porterai je portais
2nd Singular tu portes tu porteras tu portais
3rd Singular il / elle / on ... porte il (..) portera il (..) portait
1st plural nous portons nous porterons nous portions
2nd plural vous portez vous porterez vous portiez
3rd plural ils / elles portent ils porteront ils portaient
Notes

Table 2
Tenses (indicative):
Person Preterite
(I carried / wore)
Perfect (passé composé)
(I have carried / worn)
Pluperfect
(I'd carried / worn)
1st Singular. je portai j'ai porté j'avais porté
2nd Singular tu portas tu as porté tu avais porté
3rd Singular il (..) porta il (..) a porté il avait porté
1st plural nous portâmes nous avons porté nous avions porté
2nd plural vous portâtes vous avez porté vous aviez porté
3rd plural ils portèrent ils ont porté ils avaient porté
Notes rare except in 3rd person

Table 3
Tenses (indicative):
Person Future perfect
(I will have carried / worn)
Conditional
(I would carry / wear)
Past conditional
(I would have carried / worn)
1st Singular. j'aurai porté je porterais  j'aurais porté
2nd Singular tu auras porté tu porterais  tu aurais porté
3rd Singular il aura porté il porterait  il aurait porté
1st plural nous aurons porté nous porterions  nous aurions porté
2nd plural vous aurez porté vous porteriez  vous auriez porté
3rd plural ils auront porté ils porteraient  ils auraient porté
Notes

Table 4
Imperative Present participle
Person (carry / wear)
(carrying, wearing)
2nd singular porte portant
1st plural portons
2nd plural portez
Notes

Table 5
Tenses (subjunctive) :
Person Present
(may carry / wear, may be carrying / wearing)
preterite
(might carry / wear)
Perfect (parfait)
(may have carried / worn)
1st singular. je porte je portasse j'aie porté
2nd singular tu portes tu portasses tu aies porté
3rd singular il, elle... porte il portét il ait porté
1st plural nous portions nous portassions nous ayons porté
2nd plural vous portiez vous portassiez vous ayez porté
3rd plural ils portent ils portassent ils aient porté
Notes (very rare)

Further subjunctive cases - such as a pluperfect subjunctive - can  be formed, though are very rarely used in modern French.


Examples:
He's wearing a green shirt.
 - Il porte une chemise verte
The men were carrying a very heavy trunk.
 Les hommes portaient une malle très lourde..
Carry it !!
  Portez le !
She may be wearing a red dress this evening.
   Il se peut qu'elle porte une robe rouge ce soir.
She may have been wearing a red dress that evening.
   Il se peut qu'elle ait porté une robe rouge ce soir-là.


Variations on the standard model

► Type 1.    -cer and -ger , examples foncer, manger
Verbs in -cer and -ger need to add an e before endings starting with o, in order to soften the consonant:
           Example: manger - present tense
        Je mange, tu manges il mange, nous mangeons, vous mangez, ils mangent

► Type 2.       -é*er  or -e*er- examples répéter, procéder, appeler, harceler, protéger
                 ( * represents any consonant)
     With  verbs in -é*er, the é becomes an è before the endings -e and -ent
     Example: répéter - present tense
        Je répète, tu répètes il répète, nous répétons, vous répétez, ils répètent

With  verbs in -e*er, before the endings -e and -ent, either the consonant is doubled, or the preceding e becomes an è
     Example: s'appeler - present tense
        je m'appelle  tu t'appelles  il/elle s'appelle  
        nous nous appelons  vous vous appelez, ils/elles s'appellent
     Example: geler - present tense
        je gèle, tu gèles, il gèle, nous gelons, vous gelez, ils gèlent
     Example: se promener - present tense
        je me promène, tu te promènes, ...... nous nous promenons ...... ils se promènent
Note; some verbs combine features of both type 1 and type 2: example protéger.


►  Type 3      -ier - example modifier
The only small difference here is that the i is dropped before endings already starting with an i (in other words before the imperfect endings -ions and -iez)
     So the first person plural imperfect tense of modifier is:
     nous modifions, not nous modifiions

► Type 4       -oyer  - example tutoyer
With  verbs in -oyer, before the endings starting with an -e (except -ez,  the  y becomes an i
   
     Example: tutoyer - present tense
        Je tutoie, tu tutoies, il tutoie, nous tutoyons, vous tutoyez, ils tutoient.
         The verb envoyer has further irregularities in the future tenses : j'enverrai, etc.
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