In French, there are regular verbs and irregular verbs.

Regular verbs follow patterns to conjugate them, while irregular verbs are unique.

Regular verbs are split into three categories;

ER: verbs that end with -er
IR: verbs that end with -ir
RE: verbs that end with -re

The three different categories have their own ways of conjugating them, and once you practice them they are easy to remember.

For all of them, you take off their designated endings and add on their

Let's start with ER verbs.

First, we remove the -er from the verb. Then we add on our new ending.

Here is what we would get for each noun:

Je -e
Tu -es
Il/Elle -e
Nous -ons
Vous -ez
Ils/Elles -ent

An example of an ER verb is "jouer", "to play".

Je joue
Tu joues
Il/Elle joue
Nous jouons
Vous jouez
Ils/Elles jouent

Another ER verb is "aimer", "to like" or "to love".

J'aime
The reason it has an apostrophe is because "aime" starts with a vowel, and you cannot have je next to a vowel.

Tu aimes
Il/Elle aime
Nous aimons
Vous aimez
Ils/Elles aiment

A third example of an ER verb is "manger", "to eat".

This verb follows a somewhat special rule. For "nous", you need to add an E between the G and the ending. This rule only applies to verbs that have a G right before the ER.

Je mange
Tu manges
Il/Elle mange
Nous mangeons
Vous mangez
Ils/Elles mangent

Next we have IR verbs. With IR verbs, you remove the IR and add the following endings:

Je -is
Tu -is
Il/Elle -it
Nous -issons
Vous -issez
Ils/Elles -issent

An example of example of an IR verb is "choisir", "to choose".

Je choisis
Tu choisis
Il/Elle choisit
Nous choisissons
Vous choisissez
Ils/Elles choisissent

Another exanple of an IR verb is "bâtir", "to build".

Je bâtis
Tu bâtis
Il/Elle bâtit
Nous bâtissons
Vous bâtissez
Ils/Elles bâtissent

A third example of an IR verb is "courir", "to run".

Je couris
Tu couris
Il/Elle courit
Nous courissons
Vous courissez
Ils/Elles courissent

Finally, we have RE verbs. We remove our -re, and then we add on the following.

Je -s
Tu -s
Il/Elle -
For Il/Elle there is nothing to add on the end.
Nous -ons
Vous -ez
Ils/Elles -ent

An example of an RE verb is "descendre", "to go down".

Je descends
Tu descends
Il/Elle descend
Nous descendons
Vous descendez
Ils/Elles descendent

Another example of an RE verb is "vendre", "to sell".

Je vends
Tu vends
Il/Elle vend
Nous vendons
Vous vendez
Ils/Elles vendent

A third example of this is "répondre", "to respond".

Je réponds
Tu réponds
Il/Elle répond
Nous répondons
Vous répondez
Ils/Elles répondent

The next few chapters will be practicing these.