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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.
Note: For each tense, a sample English equivalent is given for the first person singular.
Table 1.
Table 2
Table 3
Table 4
Table 5
Further subjunctive cases - such as a pluperfect subjunctive - can be formed, though are very rarely used in modern French.
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
-é¿er and e¿er - (¿ represents a consonant)
examples répéter, procéder, appeler, harceler, protéger
-ier - example modifier -oyer - example tutoyer
See below for details.
-cer and -ger , examples foncer, manger
-é¿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.
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:
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
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)
( * 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
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.
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)
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
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
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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