How to Conjugate French -ER Verbs

If you’re going to master one pattern in French, make it this one. Roughly 90% of French verbs end in -er — parler, aimer, manger, travailler, écouter — and they all conjugate the same predictable way. Learn the pattern once, and you can produce hundreds of verbs correctly without memorizing each one individually. That’s why -ER verbs are the natural starting point for conjugation practice.

The core pattern

To conjugate a regular -ER verb, drop the -er from the infinitive to get the stem, then add an ending based on the subject:

• je → -e
• tu → -es
• il/elle/on → -e
• nous → -ons
• vous → -ez
• ils/elles → -ent

Take parler (to speak). The stem is parl-:

• je parle
• tu parles
• il/elle/on parle
• nous parlons
• vous parlez
• ils/elles parlent

Notice that je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles are all pronounced the same way despite different spellings — the endings are mostly silent in speech. Nous and vous are the ones that actually sound different, so they’re worth extra attention when you’re speaking, not just writing.

Building other tenses from the same stem

Once you have the stem, several other tenses reuse it with their own set of endings:

• Imparfait (was speaking / used to speak): stem + -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. So je parlais, nous parlions.
• Subjonctif présent (that I speak): stem + -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent. So que je parle, que nous parlions — identical to the present tense except for nous/vous.
• Passé composé (spoke / have spoken): a form of avoir plus a past participle ending in -é. For -ER verbs, the participle is just the stem + -é: parlé. So j’ai parlé, tu as parlé, nous avons parlé.

Two tenses build off the full infinitive instead of the stem:

• Futur simple (will speak): infinitive + -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont. So je parlerai, nous parlerons.
• Conditionnel présent (would speak): infinitive + -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient — the same endings as imparfait, just attached to the infinitive instead of the stem. So je parlerais, nous parlerions.

Once parler clicks, the same six endings carry over to every other regular -ER verb for each of these tenses. That repetition is what makes this pattern worth drilling first.

Watch out for these spelling changes

A handful of -ER verbs keep the same endings above but tweak the spelling of the stem to preserve pronunciation. You don’t need to master every rule right away — just know they exist so the forms don’t catch you off guard:

• Verbs like manger and nager insert an extra e before -ons: nous mangeons, nous nageons (without the e, “geons” would sound wrong).
• Verbs like commencer change c to ç before -ons: nous commençons.
• Verbs like acheter and préférer shift their accent when the stressed syllable falls on the e: j’achète, je préfère — but nous achetons, nous préférons stay unaccented.

These are variations on the same core pattern, not separate rules to learn from scratch. As you practice more verbs, you’ll start to recognize which ones follow the plain pattern and which have one of these small quirks.

Ready to put this into practice? Head to the Verbs & Tenses page, select a few -ER verbs like parler, manger, and acheter, pick a couple of tenses to start with — présent and imparfait are a good pair — and then jump into flashcard practice to drill them until the endings feel automatic.