Day 12 · A1 · Lesson 12

The -ER engine

About nine in ten French verbs end in -er and follow one pattern. Learn it once and you unlock thousands of verbs: find the stem, add six endings, and notice that four of them sound exactly the same.

Step 0 · Warm-up

Cold guess

Before any rules, pick the form that sounds right. Trust the pattern you sense. Your score is private. You'll get a fresh set at the end to compare.

je ___
(parler
tu ___
(parler)
nous ___
(parler)
vous ___
(parler)
ils ___
(parler)
ils parlent: the -ent is…
j'___ Toronto
(habiter à) I live in Toronto
I'm watching TV.
I'm looking for my keys.
nous ___
(manger

Score: 0 / 10

Why it matters

About nine in ten French verbs end in -er, and almost all of them follow one single pattern. That makes today’s lesson the best deal in French grammar: learn one recipe, and you can conjugate thousands of verbs, including ones you’ve never seen.

One pattern, thousands of verbs

parler → je parle · aimer → j'aime · travailler → je travaille · regarder → je regarde

Know the endings for one, and you know them for all of them.

There’s a bonus. Of the six forms, four sound exactly the same. French writes six endings, but your mouth only says three. The hard part is spelling, not speaking.

The -er engine

1. Find the stem

Take the infinitive (the dictionary form) and remove -er. What’s left is the stem, and it never changes.

Infinitive	Stem
parler (to speak)	parl-
habiter (to live)	habit-
travailler (to work)	travaill-
étudier (to study)	étudi-

2. Add the six endings

Person	Ending	parler	Say it
je	-e	je parle	zhuh parl
tu	-es	tu parles	tü parl
il / elle / on	-e	il parle	eel parl
nous	-ons	nous parlons	noo par-lon
vous	-ez	vous parlez	voo par-lay
ils / elles	-ent	ils parlent	eel parl

3. Write six, say three

Look at the “say it” column again. The blue endings (-e, -es, -e, -ent) are completely silent, so je parle, tu parles, il parle and ils parlent all sound like “parl”. Only nous (-ons, “on”) and vous (-ez, “ay”) sound different.

Sounds like "parl"

je parle · tu parles · il parle · elle parle · on parle · ils parlent · elles parlent

Sounds different

nous parlons (par-lon)
vous parlez (par-lay)

And vous parlez sounds just like the infinitive parler.

So ils parlent is never “parl-ENT”. The -ent is a spelling ending, not a sound. In speech, you hear “one person” or “several” from the pronoun (il or ils), not from the verb.

4. Verbs that start with a vowel

When the verb starts with a vowel or a silent h, two things from earlier lessons kick in:

je → j'	j'aime, j'habite, j'écoute, j'étudie
liaison (z)	nous‿aimons (noo-zem-on), vous‿habitez (voo-za-bee-tay), ils‿aiment (eel-zem)

That liaison is the only way to hear the difference between il aime (eel-em) and ils aiment (eel-zem): the buzz means “they”.

5. One French tense, three English ones

French has no “I am …ing” and no “I do …”. The present tense covers all of them:

English	French
I work. · I'm working. · I do work.	Je travaille.
Do you speak English? · Are you speaking English?	Tu parles anglais ?
She doesn't eat meat.	Elle ne mange pas de viande.

Never translate “am” or “do” separately: je suis travailler and je fais travailler are both wrong. (French does have a way to stress “right now”, être en train de, but you won’t need it until A2.)

6. Two small spelling tweaks: -cer and -ger

A handful of very common -er verbs make one small change in the nous form only, to keep their sound:

-cer: c → ç before -ons

commencer → nous commençons
placer → nous plaçons

Without the cédille, "commencons" would sound like "comman-kon" (Lesson 2).

-ger: keep an e before -ons

manger → nous mangeons
voyager → nous voyageons
changer → nous changeons

The e keeps the g soft: "zh", not a hard "g".

A few -er verbs change their stem in a more visible way (j’achète, j’appelle, je préfère): that’s “the boot”, in A2. And one -er verb breaks every rule: aller (to go), which gets its own lesson (Lesson 19).

7. Twenty verbs to start your engine

Your word bank for this lesson: everyday actions. Each has a hook to help it stick.

Verb	Meaning	Hook
parler	to speak	Parliament and parlour: rooms built for talking.
aimer	to like, to love	Amiable, amour. With people, aimer = love; aimer bien = like.
habiter	to live (somewhere)	Inhabit, habitat.
travailler	to work	"Travel" once meant hard toil, like travail.
manger	to eat	A manger is where animals eat.
regarder	to watch, to look at	Regard: it already contains the "at".
écouter	to listen to	Doctors auscultate: listen with a stethoscope.
chercher	to look for	"Search" is chercher worn smooth.
trouver	to find	A treasure trove: what you find.
donner	to give	Donor, donate.
penser	to think	Pensive: lost in thought.
demander	to ask	Faux ami: it means ask, not demand.
rester	to stay	Faux ami: "the rest" is what stays behind.
jouer	to play	Joy is play.
étudier	to study	An étudiant is a student.
aider	to help	Aid, aide.
oublier	to forget	Oblivion.
préparer	to prepare	Prepare. Préparer un repas = to make a meal.
arriver	to arrive	Arrive.
rentrer	to go home	Re-enter: coming back in, usually home.

Examples

Je parle anglais et un peu français.I speak English and a little French.
Tu habites où ?Where do you live? (no "do" in French)
Elle travaille dans une école.She works in a school.
On mange ensemble ce soir ?Shall we eat together tonight? (on = we, il form)
Nous commençons à neuf heures.We start at nine. (ç in the nous form)
Vous aimez le hockey ?Do you like hockey? (liaison: voo-zem-ay)
Ils regardent un film.They're watching a film. (-ent silent; no "are …ing")
J'écoute de la musique dans la voiture.I listen to music in the car. (no "to" in French)
Je cherche mes clés !I'm looking for my keys! (no "for" in French)
Nous mangeons au restaurant le vendredi.We eat at a restaurant on Fridays. (ge in the nous form)
Je reste à la maison aujourd'hui.I'm staying home today. (rester = stay)
Elles étudient le français.They're studying French. (liaison: el-zay-tü-dee)
Je ne travaille pas le dimanche.I don't work on Sundays. (Lesson 11's sandwich)

Memory tricks

Chop and stickChop off -er, stick on the ending. Parler → parl- → parle, parles, parle, parlons, parlez, parlent.

Write six, say threeFour endings are silent: -e, -es, -e, -ent. Only -ons and -ez make a sound. Spelling is hard; speaking is easy.

The -ent is a ghostIls parlent is never "parl-ENT". If you hear yourself saying it, the ghost has escaped.

Nous sounds like "on"-ons sounds like the French word on. Nous parlons, on parle: both mean we speak, and both have that "on" sound.

Vous and the infinitive are twinsVous parlez and parler both end in "ay". Lesson 2's "ay club" strikes again.

French doesn't "am" or "do"I'm working, I do work, I work: all just je travaille. Delete the helper words.

The verb already has its prepositionRegarder = look AT, écouter = listen TO, chercher = look FOR. Adding à or pour is like saying "look for for".

Keep the sound, change the spellingNous mangeons, nous commençons: the spelling bends so the sound stays the same as in the infinitive.

Don’t get French fried

Pronouncing -entIt's completely silent in verbs.ils parl-ENTils parlent = eel parl

Translating "am …ing"French has no separate progressive.Je suis regarder la télé.Je regarde la télé.

An extra prepositionThese verbs already include it.Je cherche pour mes clés. J'écoute à la radio.Je cherche mes clés. J'écoute la radio.

Forgetting the e in -ger verbsThe nous form keeps it.nous mangons, nous voyagonsnous mangeons, nous voyageons

Rester and demanderThey look like English words but mean something else.Je reste. (= I'm resting?)Je reste. = I'm staying. · Je me repose. = I'm resting.

On with the nous endingOn takes the il form.On mangeons.On mange. / Nous mangeons.

Practice

Run the engine

Conjugate, listen, then dodge the English traps. The verb in brackets is the infinitive.

Elle ___ français.
(parler)
Tu ___ où ?
(habiter) Where do you live?
Nous ___ à Montréal.
(travailler)
Vous ___ le café ?
(aimer) Do you like coffee?
Ils ___ la radio.
(écouter)
On ___ ensemble ?
(manger) Shall we eat together?
J'___ le sport.
(adorer)
Which two sound exactly the same?
parlez and parler sound…
ils aiment: the s of ils…
Nous ___ à huit heures.
(commencer)
Nous ___ souvent.
(voyager)
I'm listening to music.
I'm looking at the photos.
She's looking for a job.
I'm studying French.
Je reste à la maison means…
Je demande l'addition means…

Score: 0 / 18

Cheat sheet

The whole lesson on one card

The -ER engine

The recipe	infinitive − er = stem (parler → parl-) · stem + ending
The endings	je -e · tu -es · il/elle/on -e · nous -ons · vous -ez · ils/elles -ent
What you hear	je parle, tu parles, il parle, ils parlent: all "parl" · nous parlons (par-lon) · vous parlez (par-lay) = parler
Vowel verbs	j'aime, j'habite · liaison: nous‿aimons, vous‿habitez, ils‿aiment (z)
One tense, three Englishes	je parle = I speak · I'm speaking · I do speak · never je suis parler
-cer, -ger	nous commençons (ç) · nous mangeons, nous voyageons (ge)
No preposition needed	regarder (look at) · écouter (listen to) · chercher (look for)
Faux amis	rester = to stay · demander = to ask · passer un examen = to take (not pass) an exam
Not this pattern	aller (Lesson 19) · a few verbs change their stem: j'achète, j'appelle, je préfère (A2)

Say it out loud

Your turn to talk

Model sentenceLe matin, je travaille. Le soir, je regarde une série et j'écoute de la musique.In the morning I work. In the evening I watch a series and listen to music.

Describe your typical day out loud with five -er verbs: travailler, manger, regarder, écouter, parler. Then say the same sentences about a friend (il / elle) and about yourself and a friend (nous).

Quick check

Did it stick?

A fresh set. Each answer tells you why.

Je ___ à Vancouver.
(habiter)
Tu ___ anglais ?
(parler)
Il ___ dans un hôpital.
(travailler)
Nous ___ le français.
(étudier)
Vous ___ quoi ?
(chercher) What are you looking for?
Elles ___ la télé.
(regarder)
Nous ___ au restaurant.
(manger)
ils parlent sounds like…
I'm working.
I'm looking for my phone and listening to a podcast.
Il reste ici means…
Which -er verb is NOT regular?

Score: 0 / 12

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