French Present Tense: Regular -ER Verbs

Level: A1. Most French verbs end in -er (parler, aimer, habiter), and they nearly all conjugate the same way in the present tense. Learn this one set of endings and you can speak about thousands of everyday actions. The twist for English speakers is in the sound, not the spelling: three of the six endings are completely silent.

The rule

A verb is a word for an action or a state (to speak, to live). Its infinitive is the basic, unconjugated form — the one in the dictionary. For regular -ER verbs, you build the present tense in two steps:

1. Find the stem. Take the infinitive and drop the -er ending. From parler (to speak) the stem is parl-.
2. Add the present ending that matches the subject: -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent.

So parler becomes je parle, tu parles, il/elle parle, nous parlons, vous parlez, ils/elles parlent. The endings never change from verb to verb in this group — only the stem does.

The forms (parler, “to speak”)

How to say it

French spelling and sound part ways here; watch these:

Example sentences

1. Je parle français.
   I speak French.
2. Tu parles trop vite.
   You speak too fast.
3. Il habite à Paris.
   He lives in Paris.
4. Nous habitons en France.
   We live in France.
   liaison: nous_habitons
5. Vous travaillez beaucoup.
   You work a lot.
6. Ils regardent la télé.
   They watch TV.
   -ent is silent
7. J'aime le café.
   I like coffee.
   je → j' before a vowel
8. Elle chante bien.
   She sings well.
9. Nous mangeons à midi.
   We eat at noon.
   manger keeps the e: mangeons
10. Vous écoutez de la musique.
    You listen to music.
    liaison: vous_écoutez
11. Je cherche la gare.
    I'm looking for the station.
12. Tu aimes voyager.
    You like to travel.
13. On commence à huit heures.
    We start at eight o'clock.
    on takes the il/elle form
14. Ils jouent au foot.
    They play football.
15. Elle étudie l'anglais.
    She studies English.
16. Nous commençons le travail.
    We're starting the work.
    commencer → commençons (ç)
17. Je préfère le thé.
    I prefer tea.
    préférer → préfère (accent change)
18. Vous dansez très bien.
    You dance very well.

Common mistakes

• ❌ je parl → ✅ je parle. Even though it is silent, you must still write the -e ending.
• ❌ ils parlentent / pronouncing the -ent → ✅ ils parlent (said “parl”). The -ent ending is silent; it is never a spoken syllable.
• ❌ nous mangons → ✅ nous mangeons. Keep the -e- after g so the sound stays soft (“zh”), not a hard “g”.
• ❌ nous commencons → ✅ nous commençons. The cedilla (ç) keeps the soft “s” sound before -ons.
• ❌ je aime → ✅ j’aime. Before a vowel, je drops its -e and becomes j’.
• ❌ je vais treated as regular → ✅ aller is irregular. It ends in -er but does not follow this pattern.

A short conversation

A: Tu parles anglais ? — Do you speak English? B: Oui, je parle anglais et un peu d’espagnol. Et vous ? — Yes, I speak English and a little Spanish. And you? A: Nous parlons français à la maison. — We speak French at home.

Usage notes

• on = “we” in everyday speech. In conversation, on usually means “we” and takes the il/elle ending: on mange = “we eat”. The ending is the singular -e, even though the meaning is plural.
• je → j’ before a vowel or silent h. je aime is wrong; it must be j’aime, j’habite, j’écoute.
• Spelling-change verbs still use the normal endings. manger, commencer, préférer, acheter keep the -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent endings; only the stem’s spelling shifts to protect the sound.
• The present tense covers English “I speak” and “I am speaking”. French has one present form: je parle is both “I speak” and “I am speaking”.

Compared with…

• -IR verbs (like finir, to finish) use a different set of endings (je finis, nous finissons), with an added -iss- in the plural. They are a separate regular group, covered in the French grammar section.
• -RE verbs (like vendre, to sell) drop -re and add -s, -s, —, -ons, -ez, -ent (je vends, il vend, nous vendons). They are the third regular family; see the French grammar section.

Quick recap before you practise.

Practice

Practice

French -ER verbs present practice

Try each one, then press Check. No sign-up, nothing is sent anywhere — it all runs in your browser.

1 Which is the correct form: 'Nous ___ français' (parler)?

parle parles parlons parlez

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parlons — nous takes -ons: nous parlons.

2 Fill in (aimer): J'____ le café.

Check

Hint: je form of aimer, elided to j'

Show answer

aime — je + aimer → j'aime (the stem aim- + -e).

3 Fill in (habiter): Vous ____ à Lyon.

Check

Hint: vous ending

Show answer

habitez — vous takes -ez: vous habitez.

4 Order the words: 'They watch TV.'

la téléIlsregardent

CheckReset

Show answer

Ils regardent la télé — Ils regardent la télé. The -ent ending is silent.

5 Match each subject to the ending of a regular -ER verb.

• je Match for je — choose — -e-ent-ez-ons
• nous Match for nous — choose — -e-ent-ez-ons
• vous Match for vous — choose — -e-ent-ez-ons
• ils / elles Match for ils / elles — choose — -e-ent-ez-ons

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• je → -e
• nous → -ons
• vous → -ez
• ils / elles → -ent

je -e, tu -es, il -e, nous -ons, vous -ez, ils -ent.

6 Which spelling is correct for 'we eat' (manger)?

nous mangons nous mangeons nous manjons nous mangeonts

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nous mangeons — manger keeps the -e- to protect the soft g: nous mangeons.

Quiz

Check yourself

French -ER verbs present quiz

12 questions · pick an answer and you'll see straight away if it's right.

0/12 0 answered

1. 1To conjugate a regular -ER verb, you first…

   A add -ing B drop -er to get the stem C change the vowel D add an accent
   Show answer

   drop -er to get the stem — Drop -er from the infinitive to find the stem (parler → parl-).

2. 2The six present endings for -ER verbs are…

   A -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent B -s, -s, -t, -ons, -ez, -ent C -is, -is, -it, -issons, -issez, -issent D -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont
   Show answer

   -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent — Regular -ER verbs take -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent.

3. 3'Nous ___' (parler):

   A parle B parles C parlons D parlez
   Show answer

   parlons — nous → -ons: nous parlons.

4. 4'Ils ___ la télé' (regarder):

   A regarde B regardes C regardez D regardent
   Show answer

   regardent — ils → -ent: ils regardent (said 'regard').

5. 5Which three forms sound identical?

   A je parle, nous parlons, vous parlez B je parle, tu parles, ils parlent C nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent D tu parles, nous parlons, il parle
   Show answer

   je parle, tu parles, ils parlent — The -e, -es and -ent endings are all silent, so je parle / tu parles / ils parlent sound the same.

6. 6How is the -ent ending of 'ils parlent' pronounced?

   A 'ont' B 'ent' as a syllable C it is silent D 'an'
   Show answer

   it is silent — The -ent ending is silent; ils parlent is said 'parl'.

7. 7Before a vowel, 'je' becomes…

   A ja B j' C je reste D jE
   Show answer

   j' — je aime → j'aime; je drops its -e before a vowel or silent h.

8. 8Why is it 'nous commençons' with ç?

   A for decoration B to keep the soft 's' sound before -ons C because of the plural D it is a typo for commencons
   Show answer

   to keep the soft 's' sound before -ons — The cedilla keeps c soft (s) before o: commençons.

9. 9'On mange' uses which ending?

   A the nous ending -ons B the il/elle ending -e C the vous ending -ez D no ending
   Show answer

   the il/elle ending -e — on takes the il/elle form: on mange.

10. 10Which verb looks like -ER but is IRREGULAR?

    A parler B aimer C aller D habiter
    Show answer

    aller — aller ('to go') ends in -er but is irregular: je vais, tu vas…

11. 11'Vous ___ beaucoup' (travailler):

    A travaille B travailles C travaillez D travaillent
    Show answer

    travaillez — vous → -ez: vous travaillez.

12. 12Fill in (chanter): Elle ____ bien.
    Check
    Show answer

    chante — il/elle/on → -e: elle chante.

Recap cheat-sheet

Next

• Review the pronouns that drive the endings: French Subject Pronouns
• Learn the key irregular verb pair: être in the present and avoir in the present
• Back to the French grammar section