Present Tense-

Irregular R E Verbs, Part 2-

We will now learn to conjugate in the present tense a few more irregular French verbs whose infinitives end with the letters R E.   Some examples include: dire (to say, tell), lire (to read), écrire (to write), vivre (to live), mettre (to put, place, put on), connaître (to know, to be acquainted or familiar with), faire (to do, make), rire (to laugh), and plaire (to please).

Following are the verbs dire and écrire conjugated in the present tense. Be sure to listen for the z sound in the nous and ils, elles forms of dire, and the v sound in all plural forms of écrire.

The verb dire is one of three verbs that end in an s in the second-person plural of the present tense: vous dites. The two other verbs that also do this are faire and être: vous faites, vous êtes. The verb lire is conjugated like dire except for the second-person plural form which is vous lisez. The verb rire is conjugated like dire and lire in the singular only. No new consonant sound is added to the plural forms.

When you have mastered the verb écrire, you should feel comfortable using vivre.

Now, listen to your screen reader conjugate mettre, suivre, conduire, connaître, craindre, faire and plaire in the present tense:

• Introduction
• Present
• Commands
• Passé Composé
• Imperfect
• Near Future
• Future
• Conditional
• Subjunctive
• Review
• Table of Contents