Beginning1–Lesson22
LetsSpeakFrenchTogether.com
Presenttenseof“-RE”verbs
Sofar,welearnedaboutthepresenttenseof:
§ “-ER”verbs(lesson10)
§ Regular“-IR”verbs(lesson17)
Let’snowlearnthepresenttenseofanothercategoryofverbs:“-RE”verbs.
REGULAR“-RE”ENDINGVERBS
The infinitive form of the verb (the form in the dictionary) helps you to distinguish the
typeofFrenchverbs.Regular“-RE”endingverbsarethethirdcategoryofregularFrench
verbs.However,youhavetobecarefulbecauseall“-RE”endingverbsarenotregular!
Commonregular“-RE”verbs:
Attendre(towait)
Défendre(todefend)
Entendre(tohear)
Perdre(tolose)
Rendre(togiveback,toreturn)
Répondre(toanswer)
Vendre(tosell)
Descendre(todescend)
Étendre(tostretch)
Fondre(tomelt)
Pendre(tohang,tosuspend)
Prétendre(topretend)
Répandre(tospread,toscatter)
As you can see, these verbs actually end in “-DRE” (which does not mean that all verbs
endingin“-DRE”areregularverbs).
Presenttenseconjugation:removethe“-RE”endingandaddthefollowingendings
Pronoun(subject)
Verbendings
Attendre
(tofinish)
Vendre
(tochoose)
Je/J’
Tu
Il/Elle/On
Nous
Vous
Ils/Elles
-s
-s
-
-ons
-ez
-ent
attends
attends
attend
attendons
attendez
attendent
vends
vends
vend
vendons
vendez
vendent
♪ Pronunciation:rememberthat“-ds”,“-d”and“-ent”aresilentattheendoftheverbs.
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Itismadetobeusedalongwiththeaudioavailableon
LetsSpeakFrenchTogether.com.Feelfreetovisitthewebsite.
Beginning1–Lesson22
LetsSpeakFrenchTogether.com
Presenttenseof“-RE”verbs
Samplesentences:
J’attendsletrain. I'mwaitingforthetrain.
Jerépondsautéléphone. Ianswerthephone.
(répondreà=toanswerto)
Est-cequetuentends? Doyouhear(this)?
Johndéfendsasœuràl’école.
Johnisdefendinghissisteratschool.
Est-cequel’équipedeFranceperdsouvent?
DoestheFrenchteamoftenlose?
Nousvendonsnotrevoiture.
Wearesellingourcar.
Est-cequevousattendezquelqu’un? Areyouwaitingforsomeone?
Ilsn’entendentpaslamusique.
Theydon’thearthemusic/Theycan’thearthemusic.
IRREGULAR“-RE”VERBSCONJUGATION
Notall“-RE”endingverbsareregular.Thatmeansthatthepreviousconjugationpattern
doesnotapplytoallofthem.
Common
There are no precise and exact rules for
Pronoun
irregular
irregularverbsthatyoujusthavetoapply,
(subject)
endings
eventhoughsomearesimilar.Thatmeans
Je/J’
-s
that for each of these verbs, you should
learn the conjugation. Don’t worry too
Tu
-s
much, you can first focus on important
Il/Elle/On
-t/-
verbsandthenlearnprogressively.
Nous
-ons
Vous
-ez
ThecommonendingsforFrenchirregular
Ils/Elles
-ent
verbsareinthistable.
ThislessonisprovidedbyLet’sSpeakFrenchtogether.
Itismadetobeusedalongwiththeaudioavailableon
LetsSpeakFrenchTogether.com.Feelfreetovisitthewebsite.
Beginning1–Lesson22
LetsSpeakFrenchTogether.com
Presenttenseof“-RE”verbs
Becausetheyareirregular,youcan’tjustapplytheendingswithoutpayingattentiontothe
changesintheverbs.Herearesomeother“-RE”endingverbsthatareimportant:
Verbslike“prendre”(totake):
(disdroppedwhenplural)
+doubleninthethirdpersonplural
Pronoun
(subject)
Commonendings
Prendre
(totake)
Apprendre
(tolearn)
Je/J’
Tu
Il/Elle/On
Nous
Vous
Ils/Elles
-s
-s
-t/-
-ons
-ez
-ent
prends
prends
prend
prenons
prenez
prennent
apprends
apprends
apprend
apprenons
apprenez
apprennent
Otherverbofthistype:
Comprendre(tounderstand)
Examples: J’apprendslefrançais. Jenecomprendspas.
Nousapprenonsl’anglais.
Est-cequevouscomprenez?
IlearnFrench.
Idon’tunderstand.
WelearnEnglish.
Doyouunderstand?
(+swhenplural)
Verbslike“lire”(toread)
Pronoun
(subject)
Commonendings
Lire
(toread)
Conduire
(todrive)
Je/J’
Tu
Il/Elle/On
Nous
Vous
Ils/Elles
-s
-s
-t/-
-ons
-ez
-ent
lis
lis
lit
lisons
lisez
lisent
conduis
conduis
conduit
conduisons
conduisez
conduisez
Otherverbsofthistype:
Interdire(toforbid)
-UIREverbs:construire(tobuild),traduire
(totranslate)…
ThislessonisprovidedbyLet’sSpeakFrenchtogether.
Itismadetobeusedalongwiththeaudioavailableon
LetsSpeakFrenchTogether.com.Feelfreetovisitthewebsite.
Beginning1–Lesson22
LetsSpeakFrenchTogether.com
Presenttenseof“-RE”verbs
Examples:
Vouslisezunlivre.
Nousconduisonsunevoiture. Youarereadingabook.
Wedriveacar.
Exception:theverb“dire”(totell):
Itisconjugatedastheverb“lire”,exceptwith“vous”:
Jedis Tudis
Ildit
Nousdisons
Vousdites (insteadof“vousdisez”)
Ilsdisent
Verbslike“écrire”(towrite) (+vwhenplural)
Pronoun
(subject)
Commonendings
Écrire
(towrite)
Inscrire
(toregister,write)
Je/J’
Tu
Il/Elle/On
Nous
Vous
Ils/Elles
-s
-s
-t/-
-ons
-ez
-ent
écris
écris
écrit
écrivons
écrivez
écrivent
inscris
inscris
inscrit
inscrivons
inscrivez
inscrivent
Otherverbsofthistype:
Décrire(todescribe),vivre(tolive)
Examples:
Nousécrivonsunlivre. Wewriteabook.
Ilsécriventunarticle. Theywriteanarticle.
ThislessonisprovidedbyLet’sSpeakFrenchtogether.
Itismadetobeusedalongwiththeaudioavailableon
LetsSpeakFrenchTogether.com.Feelfreetovisitthewebsite.
Beginning1–Lesson22
LetsSpeakFrenchTogether.com
Presenttenseof“-RE”verbs
Verbslike“mettre”(toput) (silentsingletwhensingular)
Pronoun
Mettre
Commonendings
(subject)
(toput)
Je/J’
Tu
Il/Elle/On
Nous
Vous
Ils/Elles
-s
-s
-t/-
-ons
-ez
-ent
Otherverbsofthistype:
mets
mets
met
mettons
mettez
mettent
Permettre
(toallow)
permets
permets
permet
permettons
permettez
permettent
Promettre(topromise),battre(tobeat)
Example:
Jemetsmeshabits.
Iputmyclotheson.
Thereareotherirregularverbs,includingotherverbsendingin“-RE”.
You have to remember that there are no precise and exact rules for irregular verbs. We
will cover some of them in further lessons, but it is also important to learn them
progressively.
ThislessonisprovidedbyLet’sSpeakFrenchtogether.
Itismadetobeusedalongwiththeaudioavailableon
LetsSpeakFrenchTogether.com.Feelfreetovisitthewebsite.