J'habite à Lyon et je travaille dans un café. Je parle français et j'aime beaucoup la musique. Le matin, nous commençons à huit heures et nous mangeons ensemble à midi. Le soir, les enfants jouent dans le parc pendant que j'écoute la radio. Et toi, tu aimes le café ?
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GrammarA1-er verbsverbs
Regular -er verbs (present)
Les verbes en -er (présent)
A1fr26 min
What you'll learn
- Conjugate the biggest verb group
- Spell the silent endings correctly
- Handle common spelling-change verbs
Tips for this lesson
- -e, -es and -ent are all silent — parle, parles and parlent sound identical.
- Only -ons (nous) and -ez (vous) are heard.
- Never pronounce the -ent ending out loud.
Step 1 of 6
1Reading
In context
Read. The -er verbs are in bold — notice how the ending changes with the subject.
Step 2 of 6
2The pattern
The pattern — one stem, six endings
Drop -er from the infinitive, then add the ending. Tap 🔊 to hear which endings you can actually hear.
Around 90% of French verbs end in -er, and they nearly all follow one pattern. Take the infinitive (parler), drop the -er to get the stem (parl-), and add the ending for each person. Here is the trap that surprises everyone: the endings -e, -es and -ent are completely silent, so parle, parles and parlent sound exactly the same — /paʁl/. Only nous -ons and vous -ez are actually heard. That's why learners can speak these verbs easily but misspell them: you have to choose the ending from the pronoun, not from the sound.
| Pronoun | Ending | parler → parl- | Heard? |
|---|---|---|---|
| je | -e | parle | silent |
| tu | -es | parles | silent |
| il / elle / on | -e | parle | silent |
| nous | -ons | parlons | heard |
| vous | -ez | parlez | heard |
| ils / elles | -ent | parlent | silent |
| Common -er verb | Meaning |
|---|---|
| habiter | to live (somewhere) |
| aimer | to like / love |
| travailler | to work |
| regarder | to watch / look at |
| écouter | to listen to |
| jouer | to play |
Nous habitons à Paris.
We live in Paris.
nous → -ons, one of the two endings you can hear.
Ils jouent au football.
They play football.
-ent is silent — jouent sounds just like joue.
Vous parlez anglais ?
Do you speak English?
No word for "do" — French has no do-support.
Nous mangeons à midi.
We eat at noon.
manger keeps the e: mangeons (soft g). See exceptions.
Je préfère le thé.
I prefer tea.
préférer → é becomes è: je préfère.
Erreurs fréquentes
- Je parles français.Je parle français.
je takes -e. Because -e/-es/-ent sound the same, the wrong ending is easy to write.
- Ils parlENT (pronounced)Ils parlent (silent -ent)
Never pronounce -ent — parlent sounds just like parle.
- J'aime café.J'aime le café.
Generic likes take the definite article: aimer + le/la/les.
- Nous mangons.Nous mangeons.
Keep the e in -ger verbs before -ons to keep the g soft.
Exceptions & à retenir
-ger verbs keep the e (manger, voyager, nager)
Only in the nous form: nous mangeons, nous voyageons. The extra e keeps the g soft. All other forms are normal.
-cer verbs take a cédille (commencer, placer)
Only in nous: nous commençons. The ç keeps the c soft (like an s).
é → è verbs (préférer, espérer, répéter)
The é changes to è in every form except nous/vous: je préfère but nous préférons.
e → è / double letter (acheter, appeler)
acheter → j'achète; appeler → j'appelle. Again, nous/vous keep the original spelling: nous achetons, nous appelons.
aller is NOT a regular -er verb
It looks like one but is irregular (je vais, tu vas, il va…). You'll learn it in its own lesson (A1-10).
Astuces & mémo
- Learn the two "loud" endings first — -ons (nous) and -ez (vous) — because those are the only ones you'll actually hear.
- For the three silent endings, remember: je -e, tu -es, ils -ent. Same sound, different spelling — always check the pronoun.
- French has no "do/does": tu aimes ? already means do you like? Don't add an extra word.
- After aimer, adorer, détester + a noun, always add le / la / les: j'adore le chocolat.
Step 3 of 6
3Fill the blanks
Guided practice — fill the blanks
Write the correct -er ending for each verb. Choose the ending from the pronoun.
Example
Tu (1) (parler) français ?
→ Oui, je parle français.
Ana
Tu (1) (habiter) où ?
Ben
J'(2) (habiter) à Nice. J'(3) (aimer) la mer.
Ana
Mes amis (4) (travailler) à Nice aussi. Nous (5) (jouer) au tennis le week-end.
Ben
Super ! Vous (6) (écouter) de la musique en jouant ?
Answer pool — drag onto a blank (or tap to fill the next one)
Next empty blank: 1
Step 4 of 6
4Q&A drill
Which ending do you hear?
Match each form to whether its ending is heard or silent when spoken.
- Q1je parleA____________
- Q2ils parlentA____________
- Q3nous parlonsA____________
- Q4vous parlezA____________
- Q5tu parlesA____________
Step 5 of 6
5Word order
Build the sentence
Put the words in the correct order.
Example
parlejefrançais→Je parle français.
- Sentence 1Tap the words below to build the sentence.
- Sentence 2Tap the words below to build the sentence.
- Sentence 3Tap the words below to build the sentence.
- Sentence 4Tap the words below to build the sentence.
- Sentence 5Tap the words below to build the sentence.
Step 6 of 6
6Speak freely
Produce it
Use at least four -er verbs. Try to include a nous form (mangeons, commençons…) and an aimer + le/la sentence.
Ex.J'habite à Londres. Je travaille dans un café et j'aime beaucoup la musique. Le midi, mes collègues et moi mangeons ensemble. Le week-end, je regarde des films et j'écoute la radio.
- 1.Où est-ce que vous habitez et travaillez ?
- 2.Qu'est-ce que vous aimez ? (utilisez le / la / les)
- 3.Que faites-vous le matin ? (utilisez une forme « nous »)
- 4.Que faites-vous le week-end ? (au moins deux verbes en -er)