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-er verbs (regular) present tense
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the bootThere are three major groups of regular verbs in French: verbs with infinitives ending in -er, verbs with infinitives ending in -ir, and verbs with infinitives ending in -re. Since -er verbs are the most numerous, they are considered the first conjugation. To conjugate these verbs, drop the -er from the infinitive to form the stem. Next, add the -erendings to the stem. Different tenses have different endings.

The endings given below (-e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent) are for forming the present tense. The endings (-e, -es, -e, and -ent) are all silent. The only endings that are pronounced are the nous (-ons) and the vous (-ez) endings. The four silent endings form a boot shape in the verb conjugation.

audio
parler  'to speak'
je parle nous parlons
tu parles vous parlez
il/elle/on parle ils/elles parlent
past participle: parlé


Listen carefully to the following sentences. Note that the pronunciation of each of the verbs is the same even though the conjugations are spelled differently.

audio
Tex, il parle français? Mais c'est un tatou.   Tex speaks French? But he's an armadillo.
Tex: Bien sûr jeparle français etTammy, elle aussi, elle parle français.   Tex: Of course, I speak French and Tammy,too, she speaks French.
Eh bien dis donc, même les tatousparlent français au Texas?   Well, I'll be, even the armadillos speak French in Texas?


Here is a list of common -er verbs:

audio
adorer, to adore   habiter, to live
aimer, to like   jouer, to play
aimermieux, to prefer   montrer, to show
chanter, to sing   présenter, tointroduce
chercher,to look for   regarder, to watch
danser, to dance   rencontrer, to meet (by chance)
demander,to ask   rester, to stay,remain
détester,to hate, to detest   téléphoner,to telephone
donner,to give   travailler, to work
écouter, to listen to   trouver, to find
étudier, to study    
musique

Je changes to j' before a verb starting with a vowel or a silent h (ex.j'adore, j'habite). This phenomenon is known as élision. Listen to the following sentences. Can you hear the élision in the first two examples?

audio
Tex: J'adore la musique rap et j'écoute souvent de la musique dans les clubs.   I love rap music and I often listen to music in clubs.
Je chante et je danse aussi.   I sing and I dance, too.


Note also that the s in plural pronouns (nous, vous, and ils/elles) is usually silent except when it is followed by a verb that begins with a vowel sound. In such a case the silent s is pronounced as a /z/ and links the pronoun to the verb. This phenomenon is called liaison ('linking') and is very characteristic of French. Listen carefully to the sentences below. Which sentences contain examples of liaison?

dansent
audio
Tex et Tammy, ils écoutent de la musique cadienne avec Paw-Paw!   Tex and Tammy, they listen to Cajun music with Paw-Paw!
Tammy: Nous adorons danser.   Tammy: We love to dance.
Tex: Oui, oui, c'est vrai. Nous dansonsbeaucoup.   Tex: Yes, yes, that's true. We dance a lot.

texercises

fill in the blanks
Give the correct form of the verb indicated in parentheses.
1. Tex et Tammy, ils ______ à Austin. (habiter)


2. Tammy ______ le français. (étudier)


3. Je ______ un peu. (chanter)


4. J'______ la musique française. (adorer)


5. Nous ______ au foot. (jouer)


6. Vous ______ la musique texane? (aimer)


7. Quelle sorte de musique est-ce que tu ______? (aimer)


8. Tammy ______ les sports. (détester)


9. Joe-Bob ______ de la guitare. (jouer)


10. Est-ce que tu ______ du piano? (jouer)


11. Joe-Bob ______ son ami Corey. (chercher)


12. Tammy et Bette ______ la télévision. (regarder)




listening comprehension
Listen to the following sentences and decide if they refer to Tex (singular), Tex and Tammy (plural) -- or if it's impossible to tell. Hint: Pay close attention to liaison between subject pronoun and verb.
audio 1.
Tex Tex et Tammy impossible à distinguer
audio 2.
Tex Tex et Tammy impossible à distinguer
audio 3.
Tex Tex et Tammy impossible à distinguer
audio 4.
Tex Tex et Tammy impossible à distinguer
audio 5.
Tex Tex et Tammy impossible à distinguer
audio 6.
Tex Tex et Tammy impossible à distinguer
audio 7.
Tex Tex et Tammy impossible à distinguer
audio 8.
Tex Tex et Tammy impossible à distinguer
audio 9.
Tex Tex et Tammy impossible à distinguer
audio 10.
Tex Tex et Tammy impossible à distinguer
audio 11.
Tex Tex et Tammy impossible à distinguer
audio 12.
Tex Tex et Tammy impossible à distinguer