Lessons · Vocabulary · Grammar · Appendices · Texts
- Aimez-vous ce film ? Oui, je l'aime.
- Nous jouons aux cartes.
and possibly understand:
- Je lui donne le livre.
- Il adore jouer aux jeux vidéo.
Dialogue
Grammar · Regular -er verbs · Les verbes en -er
Formation
Most French verbs fall into the category of -er verbs. To conjugate, drop the -er to find the stem or root. Add endings to the root based on the subject and tense.
| Pronoun | Ending | Verb | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| je | -e | joue |  |
| tu | -es | joues | |
| il/elle | -e | joue | |
| nous | -ons | jouons | |
| vous | -ez | jouez | |
| ils/elles | -ent | jouent | |
Pronunciation, elision and liaison
The -e, -es, and -ent endings all have the same silent pronunciation. The -er and -ez endings are pronounced
In all conjugations, je changes to j ' when followed by a vowel or silent h:
In all plural forms, the s at the end of each subject pronoun, normally unpronounced, becomes a z sound and the n of on becomes pronounced when followed by a vowel.
Conjugation examples
| Infinitive | Stem | Present indicative conjugation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First person | Second person | Third person | ||||||
| aimer | aim | J' | aime | Tu | aimes | Il | aime | Singular |
| Nous | aimons | Vous | aimez | Ils | aiment | Plural | ||
| parler | parl | Je | parle | Tu | parles | Il | parle | Singular |
| Nous | parlons | Vous | parlez | Ils | parlent | Plural | ||
| habiter | habit | J' | habite | Tu | habites | Il | habite | Singular |
| Nous | habitons | Vous | habitez | Ils | habitent | Plural | ||
| écouter | écout | J' | écoute | Tu | écoutes | Il | écoute | Singular |
| Nous | écoutons | Vous | écoutez | Ils | écoutent | Plural | ||
Supplementary vocabulary · Common -er verbs
| aimer | | to like | J’aime beaucoup ce tableau. | I love this painting. | |
| arriver | | to arrive, to happen | |||
| chercher | | to look for | Je cherche du boulot. | I'm looking for some work. | |
| demander | | to ask (for) | |||
| donner | | to give | Il donne aux pauvres. | He gives to the poor. | |
| écouter | | to listen to | J’écoute la radio. | I'm listening to the radio. | |
| entrer | | to enter | Il entre dans la salle. | He's entering the room. | |
| parler | | to speak, to talk | Zoé parle couramment le français. | Zoé speaks French fluently. | |
| passer | | to pass, to spend (time) | |||
| porter | | to carry, to wear | Quentin porte un sac de blé. | Quentin is carrying a bag of wheat. | |
| regarder | | to watch, to look | Je regarde dehors. | I look outside. | |
| sembler | | to seem, to resemble | Tu sembles fatigué. | You seem tired. | |
| trouver | | to find, to surprise |
Vocabulary · Places
|
| la bibliothèque | | library | caution: a librairie is a bookshop | On est à la bibliothèque publique. | We are at the public library. |
| le parc | | park | |||
| la piscine | | swimming pool | |||
| la plage | | beach | |||
| le restaurant | | restaurant | On dîne au restaurant français. | We are dining at the French restaurant. | |
| la salle de concert | concert hall | ||||
| le cinéma la salle de cinéma | | cinema | |||
| le casino la maison de jeu | | casino | Les jeux de casino sont des bons exemples de jeu de hasard. | Casino games are good examples of games of chance. | |
| la salle de jeux | | game room, playroom | Le casino a six salles de jeu. | The casino has six game rooms. | |
| le stade | | stadium | |||
| le théâtre | | theater |
Grammar · Direct object pronouns le, la, and les
The direct object pronoun le (
- Je donne le livre au prof. (I'm giving the book to the teacher.)
- Je le donne au prof. (I'm giving it to the teacher.)
La (
- Je donne la calculatrice au prof. (I'm giving the calculator to the teacher.)
- Je la donne au prof. (I'm giving it to the teacher.)
Les (
- Je donne les livres au prof. (I'm giving the books to the teacher.)
- Je les donne au prof. (I'm giving them to the teacher.)
Le and la become l' before a vowel:
- Aimez-vous le concert ? Oui, je l'aime. (Do you like the concert? Yes, I like it.)
Le, la, and les can replace either people or things:
- Aimez-vous le film ? Oui, je l'aime. (Do you like the film? Yes, I like it.)
- Aimez-vous l'acteur ? Oui, je l'aime. (Do you like the actor? Yes, I like him.)
Summary
| masculine singular direct object | le | |
it, him |
|---|---|---|---|
| feminine singular direct object | la | |
it, her |
| singular direct object, before a vowel | l' | /l/ | it, him, her |
| plural direct object | les | |
them |
Examples
Vocabulary · Sports, games, and instruments
The verb jouer /ʒwe/ is a regular -er verb meaning to play. It can be used to refer to sports, games, and instruments.
When referring to sports or games, jouer à … is used; recall that au /o/ replaces à le, and aux /o/ replaces à les:
- Je joue au baseball.I'm playing baseball.
- Nous jouons aux cartes.We are playing cards.
When referring to instruments, jouer de … is used; recall that du /dy/ replaces de le, and des /dɛ/ replaces de les:
- Je joue du piano.I'm playing the piano.
Supplementary vocabulary · Sports
| le baseball | | baseball | |||
| le basket | | basketball | |||
| le football | | football/soccer | Il est un bon joueur de football. | He is a good football player. | |
| le football américain | | American football | |||
| le golf | | golf | |||
| le tennis | | tennis | |||
| le volley | | volleyball |
Supplementary vocabulary · Games · Les jeux
|
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| le jeu (les jeux) | | game | Nous avons plein de jeux pour les enfants. | We have many games for the children. | |
| le jeu de hasard | game of chance | Poker est un jeu de hasard. Il joue aux jeux de hasard. | Poker is a game of chance. He plays games of chance. | ||
| le jeu vidéo | | video game | Ce jeu vidéo est très difficile. | This video game is very difficult. | |
| le jeu de société | | board game | |||
| le jeu de rôle | role-playing game | ||||
| les cartes | | cards | |||
| les dames | | checkers/draughts | |||
| les échecs | | chess | Le jeu d’échecs a des règles complexes. | The game of chess has complex rules. | |
| les dés | | dice |
Supplementary vocabulary · Instruments
|
| la clarinette | | clarinet | Le son de cette clarinette est agréable. | The sound of this clarinet is nice. | |
| le piano | | piano | Elle joue du piano depuis l’âge de trois ans. | She plays the piano since the age of three. | |
| la guitare | | guitar | |||
| le violon | | violin | On danse au son du violon. | We are dancing to the sound of the violin. | |
| la batterie | | drums | singular in French |
Supplementary grammar · Indirect object pronouns lui and leur
The indirect object pronoun lui /lɥi/ means to him or to her:
- Je lui donne le livre.I'm giving the book to him/her.
- Je lui donne un coup de main.I'm giving a hand to him/her.
Likewise, the indirect object pronoun leur /lœʁ/ means to them:
- Je leur donne le livre.I'm giving the book to them.
- Je leur donne un coup de main.I'm giving a hand to them.
Lui replaces à [person]:
- Je parle à Jean.I'm speaking to Jean.
- Je lui parle.I'm speaking to him.
Likewise, leur replaces à [people]:
- Je parle à Jean et Marie.I'm speaking to Jean and Marie.
- Je leur parle.I'm speaking to them.
Lui and leur usually only refer to people; they will sometimes also be used in reference to things.
Examples
Supplementary grammar · Conjugated verb + infinitive
Like in English, some verbs can be followed by infinitives. Three -er verbs used in this manner are aimer, adorer, and détester:
- Nous aimons jouer aux cartes.We like to play cards
- Je déteste jouer au golf.I hate playing golf.
- Il adore jouer aux jeux vidéo.He loves to play video games.
Examples
Supplementary grammar · To have fun · S'amuser
The verb s'amuser means to have fun in English. It is a type of pronominal verb (a verb that includes a pronoun as part of it) called a reflexive verb, which means that the action of the verb is reflected back onto the subject. Literally translated, the verb means To amuse oneself.
Formation
| Infinitive | Stem | Present indicative conjugation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First person | Second person | Third person | ||||||
| s'amuser | amus | Je m' | amuse | Tu t' | amuses | Il s' | amuse | Singular |
| Nous nous | amusons | Vous vous | amusez | Ils s' | amusent | Plural | ||
Examples
Je m'amuse avec mes amis.I enjoy with my friends.
Dialogue
Exercises
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.) Fill in each blank with the correct form of jouer.
| nous ______ | nous jouons |
| elle ______ | elle joue |
| tu ______ | tu joues |
| il ______ | il joue |
| elles ______ | elles jouent |
| vous ______ | vous jouez |
| je ______ | je joue |
| ils ______ | ils jouent |
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.) Translate from French to English.
| le théâtre | theater |
| le parc | park |
| la piscine | swimming pool |
| la salle de jeux | game room, playroom |
| le restaurant | restaurant |
| le stade | stadium |
| le cinéma la salle de cinéma |
cinema |
| la plage | beach |
| le casino la maison de jeu |
casino |
| la salle de concert | concert hall |
| la bibliothèque | library |
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.) Translate from English to French.
| restaurant | le restaurant |
| game room, playroom | la salle de jeux |
| theater | le théâtre |
| concert hall | la salle de concert |
| swimming pool | la piscine |
| cinema | le cinéma la salle de cinéma |
| casino | le casino la maison de jeu |
| library | la bibliothèque |
| stadium | le stade |
| beach | la plage |
| park | le parc |
Supplementary exercises
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.) Translate from French to English.
| porter | to carry, to wear |
| donner | to give |
| regarder | to watch |
| écouter | to listen to |
| parler | to speak, to talk |
| entrer | to enter |
| aimer | to like |
| demander | to ask (for) |
| sembler | to seem, to resemble |
| trouver | to find, to surprise |
| passer | to pass, to spend (time) |
| chercher | to look for |
| arriver | to arrive, to happen |
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.) Translate from English to French.
| to find, to surprise | trouver |
| to look for | chercher |
| to give | donner |
| to watch | regarder |
| to carry, to wear | porter |
| to speak, to talk | parler |
| to enter | entrer |
| to arrive, to happen | arriver |
| to listen to | écouter |
| to seem, to resemble | sembler |
| to like | aimer |
| to ask (for) | demander |
| to pass, to spend (time) | passer |
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.) Fill in each blank with the correct form of the -er verb in parentheses.
| nous ______ (parler) | nous parlons |
| elle ______ (chercher) | elle cherche |
| tu ______ (écouter) | tu écoutes |
| il ______ (entrer) | il entre |
| elles ______ (regarder) | elles regardent |
| vous ______ (aimer) | vous aimez |
| je ______ (demander) | je demande |
| ils ______ (sembler) | ils semblent |
| nous ______ (donner) | nous donnons |
| tu ______ (arriver) | tu arrives |
| on ______ (porter) | on porte |
| ils ______ (chercher) | ils cherchent |
| nous ______ (demander) | nous demandons |
| je ______ (regarder) | je regarde |
| vous ______ (sembler) | vous semblez |
| on ______ (aimer) | on aime |
| elles ______ (donner) | elles donnent |
| vous ______ (chercher) | vous cherchez |
French : Lessons · Vocabulary · Grammar · Appendices · Texts