Silent -ent in French verbs: parlent, aiment and prennent

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated 25 September 2026 · About the library

Keep the third-person plural verb ending silent in parlent and aiment. Compare verb stems, singular and plural forms, then try three quick checks.

In short

The third-person plural verb ending -ent adds no sound: ils parlent has /paʁl/, just like il parle. Keep the letters when writing plural agreement. In speech, keep the sounds of the stem and look to the whole sentence for singular or plural meaning.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

Two women playing tennis on a modest French outdoor court, shown from a distance, rackets natural, no signs writing or scoreboards. — Lina and Zoé jouent au tennis. Illustration: Atelier

Les verbes en -ent · fiche de prononciation

1 · Parle, parles and parlent share one verb sound

These four present forms of parler all have /paʁl/. The spelling shows distinctions that the verb sound leaves unmarked.

je parle / tu parles	I speak / you speak
il parle / ils parlent	he speaks / they speak

Ils parlent français.They speak French.

2 · Read the verb ending, rather than a nasal vowel

In aiment, -ent is the plural ending. The whole verb is /ɛm/. Compare the adjective lent, /lɑ̃/: its letters belong to a different pattern.

Elles aiment danser.They like dancing.

Ce mouvement est lent.This movement is slow.

3 · Keep the rest of the verb

In ils prennent, keep /n/: the verb is /pʁɛn/. In ils sentent, keep /t/: the verb is /sɑ̃t/. Removing the ending leaves sounds in the stem.

Ils prennent des cours.They take classes.

Elles sentent le parfum.They smell the perfume.

4 · Singular and plural can sound alike

Elle joue and elles jouent can both be /ɛl ʒu/. The earlier conversation tells you whether one person or several people are playing.

Lina et Zoé ? Elles jouent au tennis.Lina and Zoé? They’re playing tennis.

5 · Liaison can make a plural pronoun audible

Compare il aime /ilɛm/ with ils aiment /ilzɛm/. The /z/ comes from the pronoun ils before the vowel; the verb ending remains silent.

Ils aiment ce jeu.They like this game.

6 · Other present-tense endings have their own sounds

The silent -ent rule leaves nous parlons /paʁlɔ̃/ and vous parlez /paʁle/ intact. Learn the full form when the stem changes too.

nous parlons	we speak
vous parlez	you speak

Read the sheet once, then cover the examples. For each question, identify the verb before choosing a sound. The key distinction is between the plural ending and the rest of the word.