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Verb drill

French -er verbs present tense drill: parler, aimer, manger, commencer

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Practise 24 present-tense forms and sentences with parler, aimer, manger and commencer, including nous mangeons, nous commençons and j’aime.

In short

Remove -er and add -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent: je parle, vous parlez. Keep the soft sound in nous mangeons and nous commençons. Before aimer, je becomes j’: j’aime.

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A cook prepares vegetables for a meal in a quiet kitchen.
Cooking gives j’aime cuisiner an everyday setting. Illustration: Atelier
Study first: the endings and the two spelling changes
SubjectEndingparlermangercommencer
je-eparlemangecommence
tu-esparlesmangescommences
il / elle / on-eparlemangecommence
nous-onsparlonsmangeonscommençons
vous-ezparlezmangezcommencez
ils / elles-entparlentmangentcommencent

For aimer, attach these same endings to aim-. The extra e in mangeons keeps the soft g sound before o. The cedilla in commençons keeps the s sound before o. With the other present-tense subjects, write mang- and commenc-.

J’aime cuisiner, mais je ne mange pas de viande.

I like cooking, but I don’t eat meat.

The first verb is conjugated; the activity after aimer stays in the infinitive.

Write only the missing verb form. The subject is already printed. In the aimer section, the apostrophe is already there too. The final section mixes subjects, so check the noun or pronoun before choosing the ending.

1 · Parler · six present forms

  • je
  • tu
  • il / elle / on
  • nous
  • vous
  • ils / elles

2 · Aimer · six present forms

  • j’
  • tu
  • il / elle / on
  • nous
  • vous
  • ils / elles

3 · Manger and commencer · keep the sound

  1. Nous à midi. (manger)
  2. Nous le cours à neuf heures. (commencer)
  3. Vous avec nous ? (manger)
  4. Tu demain ? (commencer)
  5. Elles au café. (manger)
  6. On maintenant. (commencer)

4 · A day together · mixed subjects

  1. Mes voisins français. (parler)
  2. J’ écouter de la musique. (aimer)
  3. Ma sœur et moi, nous à travailler à huit heures. (commencer)
  4. Paul et toi, vous ici ce soir ? (manger)
  5. Mon frère le cinéma. (aimer)
  6. Tu avec ta voisine. (parler)

Which -er verb endings are silent?

With parler, the endings in je, tu, il / elle / on and ils / elles sound alike. The written subject still decides the spelling. The endings with nous and vous sound different from those forms and from each other. A singular noun such as mon frère takes the same form as il; mes voisins takes the same form as ils.

When you check your sheet

  • A missing -s usually points to the tu ending.
  • With two people including yourself, choose the nous ending.
  • Keep -ent for ils / elles even though you do not pronounce that ending.
  • Use the same present tense for “I speak” and “I am speaking”.

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