Learning Objective

• To remind ourselves how to conjugate regular verbs in the present tense.

La conjugaison

Le sablier des verbes

Les temps - Tenses

What are tenses?Tenses are what tells you when something happens

Fun: a conjugating dog

For example:

Past: I was at the store. Sometimes the verb "to have" is used to convey the past tense: I have been there before. 

Present: I am at the store. In English you can also have a tense called the continuous present: Now, I am going to the store

Future: I will go to the store. In English, sometimes the verb "to go" is used to convey the future tense:I'm going to go to the store. 

Can you think of any examples?

Past

Present

Future

Infinitives

• In English infinitives start with TO – to walk – to be – to have

• In French the endings tell you if the verb is in its infinitive form:

• Stem+ER / Stem+IR / Stem+RE Jouer / finir / vendre

What is an infinitive?An infinitive is the full form of a verb. It is the word you find in the

dictionary.Can you think of any examples in French or English?

Personal pronouns

je –I /tu- you singular /elle,il,on - she,he, one /nous-we /vous-you plural /elles,ils-they fem,masc)

In French verb endings change to agree with the subject (here the personal pronoun)

Can you think of any personal pronouns in

French or English?

Le présentThere is only one present in French ( No continuous presents!)

ER verbs

jouer (to play)JeTuElle,il,onNousVousElles,ils

IR verbs

finir (to finish)JeTuElle,il,on Nous Vous Elles,ils

RE verbs

vendre (to buy)Je Tu Elle,il,on Nous Vous Elles,ils

Can you remember any rules to conjugate the present tense?

joue

finissent

joues

jouons

jouez

vends

finis

finis

finissons

finit

vends

vend

vendons

vendez

vendent

jouent

joue

finissez

Le présentThere is only one present in French

( No continuous presents!)

ER verbs

jouer (to play)Je jou- Tu jou- Elle,il,on jou-Nous jou-Vous jou-Elles,ils jou-

IR verbs

finir (to finish)Je fin- Tu fin-Elle,il,on fin- Nous fin-Vous fin-Elles,ils fin-

To conjugate the verbs in the present take the ER or IR or RE off and replace by:

RE verbs

vendre (to buy)Je vend- Tu vend- Elle,il,on vend- Nous vend- Vous vend- Elles,ils vend-

-ent–ons– e–ez–es–e

–it–issez–is-issent– is–issons

-ent– s–ez–s––ons

Le présentThere is only one present in French

( No continuous presents!)

ER verbs

jouer (to play)Je jou- Tu jou- Elle,il,on jou-Nous jou-Vous jou-Elles,ils jou-

IR verbs

finir (to finish)Je fin- Tu fin-Elle,il,on fin- Nous fin-Vous fin-Elles,ils fin-

To conjugate the verbs in the present take the ER or IR or RE off and replace by:

RE verbs

vendre (to buy)Je vend- Tu vend- Elle,il,on vend- Nous vend- Vous vend- Elles,ils vend-

– e–es –e–ons–ez-ent

– is–is–it–issons–issez-issent

– s–s––ons–ez-ent