putting it together an er verb assembly kit

Putting It TogetherAn ER verb assembly kit

La Conjugaison des VerbesVerb Conjugation

So what is conjugation? What does “conjugate” mean?

In grammatical terms, it’s…

Taking the regular form of the verb (such as: to have, to eat, to dance, to speak, etc) and changing it to agree with the subject of the verb (the person/object performing the action)

Lost? Don’t you worry. We conjugate verbs in English every day! How???


Watch carefully as our verb repair specialty crew conjugates an English verb in the present tense.

to be

I am We are

You are You (pl) are

He/She is They are


Don’t they do excellent work? Here are some other familiar projects:

to dance to eat

I dance We dance

You dance You (pl) dance

He/She dances They dance

I eat We eat

You eat You (pl) eat

He/She eats They eat

Is it making sense yet? We change “to dance” to “dance” or “dances” depending on who we’re talking about (I, You, They). The same goes for “to eat.” Try a few on your own:

La Conjugaison des VerbesParts and Accessories

In order to be a successful verb conjugator, you will need to know the following 4 terms:

Stem-

Infinitive-

The verb by itself: danser, parler, inviter, regarderWhat others can you name?

The verb without the er: dans, parl, invit, regard

Subject-The person or thing doing the action (je, vous, la télé)

travailler

habiter organiser

écouter chanter

Ending-


And most importantly:

The combination of letters that we put in place of the “er” that we dropped earlier. Each pronoun has it’s own ending to be used.

Below is a chart that gives these endings

ent [—]

ez [eh]

ons [ohn]

e [—]

es [—]

e [—]

Ils/Elles

Il/ Elle

Vous

Tu

Nous

Je

-ER Endings

Je

TuIl/Elle

parler

Nous

Vous

Ils/Elles

Je

Tu

Il/Elle

jouer

Nous

Vous

Ils/Elles

Je

Tu

Il/Elle

habiter

Nous

Vous

Ils/Elles

Je

Tu

Il/Elle

aimer

Nous

Vous

Ils/Elles


Go to the next page to see how you did!

Je parle

Tu parles

Il/Elle parle

parler

Nous parlons

Vous parlez

Ils/Elles parlent

Je joue

Tu joues

Il/Elle joue

jouer

Nous jouonsVous jouez

Ils/Elles jouent

J’habite

Tu habites

Il/Elle habite

habiter

Nous habitonsVous habitez

Ils/Elles habitent

J’aime

Tu aimes

Il/Elle aime

aimer

Nous aimons

Vous aimez

Ils/Elles aiment


How did you do? Ready for a new twist?

Parts ReviewSurveying the Foundation

You should know the following terms before proceeding:

-conjugate

-subject

-infinitive

-stem

-ending

Remember, when putting something together, it’s always better to have a strong foundation than a weak one. You want what you are making to last, right? Make sure your foundation is strong before you begin further building.

La Règle de TROISThe Rule of THREE

1

2

3

Most conjugated forms of an ER verb sound the same (even though their spellings are different), so you only have to learn THREE pronunciations!

There are THREE “Special G” verbs that break the rules for conjugating the nous form:

-nager -voyager -manger

Each conjugated form of an ER verb in the present tense has THREE meanings.

1Most conjugated forms of an ER verb sound the same (even though their spellings are different), so you only have to learn THREE pronunciations!

TROIS PrononciationsThree Pronunciations

danser

Je danse Nous dansons

Tu danses Vous dansez

Il/Elle danse Ils/Elles dansent


Trois Pononciations!

1. [dawnss] 2. [dawnss-ohn] 3. [dawnss-eh]

How does it work?


When you take off the ending, or “la terminaison” (er), you get the stem, called “la racine.”

The stem is pronounced just like it looks. It’s like saying the infinitive form without the ER sound at the end:

Infinitive drop ER = Stem

-étudier = étudi

-inviter = invit

-habiter = habit

And then…


Add the ending! Let's say each one out loud.

Note that the first three have the same pronunciation.

ent

ez

ons

e (silent)

es (silent)

e (silent)

Ils/EllesIl/ Elle

VousTu

NousJe

-ER Endings

2There are THREE “Special G” verbs that break the rules for conjugating the nous form:

Les verbes du “G” specialSpecial G verbs

These three “special G” verbs are:


nager

voyager

manger

They are all three ER verbs with a “G” before the –er.


Ils/Elles voyagent

Il/Elle voyage

Vous voyagez

Tu voyages

Nous voyageons

Je voyage

voyager

Ils/Elles nagent

Il/Elle nage

Vous nagezTu nages

Nous nageons

Je nage

nager

Ils/Elles mangent

Il/Elle mange

Vous mangez

Tu manges

Nous mangeons

Je mange

manger

For these “special G” verbs, the “Nous” form is different. What changes?

Why? (think pronunciation)

Something about the spelling has changed…


-We’ve added an “e” between the “g” and “ons”

forms (je, tu, nous, vous, etc) consistently.

And if we didn’t?

-We’d have: nagons [nah – gohn]

voyagons [voy –a-gohn]

mangon [mah –gohn]

And the French

would say…

So what changes?

[nah-gohn]??? NON!!! C’est horrible! Quelle horreur!!!! Et [voy-a-gohn]?!? Quelle mauvaise prononciation!!!!

Oh là là! Fermez les oreilles!!! [mahn-gohn]??? Zut! C’est un massacre de la langue française! NON! NON! NON!!!


So… in the interest of positive foreign relations, let’s remember:

-The “NOUS” form is special for nager, voyager, and manger

-In the “NOUS” form of these three verbs, we need to insert and “e” after the “g” to make the pronunciation sound nice

SPECIAL “G” needs an “E” to sound “JOLI!” (pretty)

3 pronunciations, 3 special “G” verbs, and now…

TROIS SensThree Meanings

3Each conjugated form of an ER verb in the present tense has THREE meanings.


For example, let’s conjugate:

voyager

Je voyage Nous voyageons

Tu voyages Vous voyagez

Il/Elle voyage Ils/Elles voyagent

“Je voyage” has three meanings: I travel, I am traveling, I do travel

“Ils/Elles voyagent” has three meanings: They travel, they are traveling, and they do travel


Need a few more examples?

Nous jouons

We play

We are playing

We do play Elles empruntent

They borrow

They are borrowing

They do borrow Je gagne

I win

I am winning

I do win

Practiquons!

(Let's practice!)

Visit the following sites and try to activities to test your newfound skills and knowledge:

http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/rgshiwyc/school/curric/HotPotatoes/index.htm (click on “Français, scroll down and select Present Tense, click on Regular –ER Verbs)

http://french.about.com/library/weekly/aa101199t.htm

http://www.quia.com/mc/66100.html (you may play several times)

http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/gr/ver1.html (scroll down towards the bottom, starting with “fill in the blanks”)

Be sure to record your scores on the activity sheet!

Les Questions FréquentesFrequently Asked Questions

Technical Questions:

Why is the “e” missing in “Je” when I conjugate verbs like “aimer, habiter, écouter, inviter, etc.”

If the stem begins with a vowel sound, you eliminate the “e” in “Je” and put an apostrophe in it’s place. For example: J’habite, J’aime, J’invite.

putting it together an er verb assembly kit

Documents

english verb

successful verb conjugator

arela conjugaison

verb repair specialty

nous form

following terms

mangereach conjugated

action je