Who does it: the subject pronouns
A pronoun is a short word that stands in for a noun: I, you, she. The subject is whoever does the action. French has two words for “you”, and one word, on, that English does not have.
Regular -er verbs
The infinitive is the dictionary form of a verb, the one translated with “to”: parler, to speak. Remove -er to get the stem, parl-, and add the ending for each person. Press a row to hear it.
| parler · to speak | Said | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ▶ je parle | parl | I speak |
| ▶ tu parles | parl | you speak |
| ▶ il / elle / on parle | parl | he / she / one speaks |
| ▶ nous parlons | par-LOH(N) | we speak |
| ▶ vous parlez | par-LAY | you speak |
| ▶ ils / elles parlent | parl | they speak |
Être and avoir: to be and to have
These two verbs are the most frequent in the language, and both are irregular: their forms do not follow the -er pattern. They also build the main past tense, so every hour spent on them pays off twice. Watch the pair ils sont (they are) and ils ont (they have): the only difference is s against z.
French uses avoir where English uses “to be” for age and several feelings: j’ai vingt ans, “I have twenty years”, means “I am twenty”. J’ai faim is “I have hunger”, I am hungry; j’ai froid, I am cold. Counting to twenty and beyond is in French numbers.
Four more verbs: aller, faire, finir, vendre
Aller and faire are irregular and as common as être and avoir. Finir and vendre are models for the two other regular groups, verbs ending in -ir and -re. Choose a verb to see its table.
The present in a real conversation
Two people meet at a language exchange. Every word has its English meaning underneath, and each line notes the verb at work.