Verbs A. Infinitive: the name of the basic form of the verb.  In English, it has “to” in front of it  French verbs are grouped according to their infinitive ending.  There are 3 groups.  We start with studying group 1 where all the infinitives end in –er. Name: “-er verbs” Only name

Infinitives 1.aimer – to like 2. parler-to speak

3. danser-to dance 4. chanter-to sing

5. nager- to swim 6. écouter- to listen to

7. manger-to eat 8. regarder-to look at, watch

téléphoner = to call

Example sentences: J’aime la musique. s v obj. I like music.

1.J’aime nager. S V inf (I like to swim.) 2. J’aime chanter. S V inf (I like to sing.)

3. J’aime écouter la radio. S V inf object (I like to listen to the radio.) 4. J’aime regarder la télé(vision). S V inf object (I like to watch T.V.)

VERB PHRASES 1. a. parler + a language *français *anglais Note: with the expression, * espagnol it is one of the few times, you * italien don’t use an article. J’aime parler espagnol. J’aime parler anglais.

2. jouer + a sport a. au tennis b. au football c. au basket d. aux jeux vidéo

étudier—to study travailler—to work voyager-to travel

Our infinitives are composed of 2 parts: 1. the stem 2. the ending ex. parler  the ending *infintives are grouped according to their ending  “-er verbs” parler  the stem *all the letters of the infinitive without the last two letters (e + r) (the ending)

Infinitive → aimer (to like) Stem Ending danser (stem) (ending)

**How to conjugate a regular ‘-er’ verb 1. Write the skeleton verb chart of subject pronouns.

je (I) nous (we) tu (you) vous (you) il (he/it) elle (she/it) ils (they [m/f]) elles (they [f])

2.Take infinitive; that’s the title of conjugation chart. 3.Drop the –er ending. You are left with the stem. Insert the stem only into each of the 6 forms of the conjugation chart. Note: Both infinitive and the conjugated verb have a stem and an ending. The stem for the infinitive and the conjugated verb are the same. The endings are different.

Ex. “To speak” Parler Drop –er ending from inf. Parler You are left with “parl” stem. Add “parl” infinitive stem into conjugation chart which now becomes the conjugated verb stem.

je parl nous parl tu parl vous parl il elle parl ils parl elles

je parle nous parlons tu parles vous parlez il elle parle ils parlent elles 3. Add appropriate conjugated verb ending for each form of conjugation chart.

1 st person singular 1st person plural 2 nd person singular2 nd person plural 3 rd person singular3rd person plural

Note: although different spellings, verb endings for the for the 1 st, 2 nd, and 3 rd person singular forms and 3 rd person plural forms all have the same sound.

Example sentences. S + V + Object noun 1. J’aime le français. S.P. V obj. (Remember, you always need an article in French even though you don’t need one in English.) 2.J’aime l’ école. 3.J’aime les vacances. 4.J’aime la télé. 5.J’aime la radio.

OR S + V + infinitive I like to do …. RULE: Always conjugate first verb, second verb stays in infinitive form.

Ex. 1: Directions: 1. Copy French sentences into notebook and fill in the banks with the correct form of the verb in the parentheses. 2. Then, translate the sentences into English. 1. Paul _________________ à Paris. (habiter) 2.Nous ______________ beaucoup. (étudier) 3.Ils ________ à sept heures le matin. (arriver)

4. Les sœurs et les frères _________________ au football à Providence. (jouer) 5. Vous ________________ très bien. (chanter) 6. Tu _______________ avec Jacqueline à sept heures moins le quart le soir. (manger) 7. Marie _______ au téléphone le samedi. (parler)

More –er verbs (set #2) 1. arriver – to arrive 2. donner—to give

3. fermer—to close 4. habiter—to live

9. trouver—to find 10. penser—to think 11. dîner—to dine, to have dinner 12. téléphoner à (name) —to telephone, to call (a person)

Ex. 2: Directions: Copy the English sentences into your notebook, and then translate into French. 1. I like to swim. 2. She speaks English and French. 3. Marc dances on Fridays. 4. The students work, and they study after school. 5. You (pl) arrive at school at 8:15 am. 6. I eat with Jacques Thursdays at 7:45 pm.

Translations of verb in the present tense: In French, present tense consists of only one word. In English, present tense can have 3 possible translations. You are responsible for all 3 translations. (FYI, You’re lucky! You don’t need to learn the subtleties of the language!)

Je chante. = I sing. I am singing. I do sing.