Compared to English, verbs in French have a lot more variety on their end depending on the word they follow. What I mean here is the ending of a verb changes, sometimes drastically, to match its subject.
French verbs can be either regular or irregular. Regular verbs follow a certain pattern when being put together with another word. Irregular verbs, as you can probably guess, do not follow a straight pattern.
So take the regular verb "aimer", which translates into "to like" or "to love".
Aimer (to like)
J'aime (I like)
Tu aimes (you like; informal)
Vous aimez (you like; informal or plural)
Il/elle aime (he/she likes)
Nous aimons (we like)
Ils/elles aiment (They [boys/girls] like)
See how the end of aimer changes depending on how it's used? That is a pattern that is commonly used or at least mimicked by most regular French verbs.
The vast majority of regular French verbs end with an -er, -ir, or a -re in their infinitive form. (Keep in mind that there are irregular verbs with these endings too. You gotta be careful there). An infinitive form is basically a French verb in its raw, unchanged state. It will always translate as "to <verb>". Aimer is an example of a regular verb ending in -er.
Here are examples of regular verbs ending in -ir and -re.
Répondre (to answer)
Je réponds (I answer)
Tu réponds (you answer; informal)
Vous répondez (you answer; formal or plural)
Il/Elle répond (he/she answers)
Nous répondons (we answer)
Ils/elles répondent (they [boys/girls] answer)
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Finir (to finish)
Je finis (I finish)
Tu finis (you finish; informal)
Vous finissez (you finish; formal or plural)
Il/elle finit (he/she finishes)
Nous finissons (we finish)
Ils/elles finissent (they [boys/girls] finish)
So, what about irregular verbs? There is no way to classify irregular verbs other than them simply having no pattern. Here's a common irregular verb you will see being used often: avoir. Avoir means "to have." It will definitely come in handy when creating French sentences; "to have" is used more frequently in French than in English.
Avoir (to have)
J'ai (I have)
Tu as (you have; informal)
Vous avez (you have; formal or plural)
Il/elle a (he/she has)
Nous avons (we have)
Ils/elles ont (they [boys/girls] have)
That's it for now! I'm probably going to visit the topic of French verbs again because I most likely skipped over
teaching some things in this chapter.
-Saltyfurs
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A Guide to the French Language
Non-FictionSalut, tout le monde! If you need help with French grammar or words, we at RosehFrenchClub are here to provide the help you need! :D And of course, if we get something wrong, feel free to correct us. :)
