-s for the third person of the singular in the present simple.-ed for regular verbs at the past simple.-ing for certain occasions.
What are French verb endings?
No need to turn your nose up Ryan, I’m going to explain!
So as you might know it (or have guessed it, because you’re a genius) – verb endings are…. endings for verbs.
Woooooow, I bet you’re so happy to read this. Amazed by so much wisdom. I love you too.
No need to be sarcastic… I’m getting to the interesting part. 🤭
Here’s an example:
Tu allais : You went
Vous vendez : You sell (Second person of the plural)
This is the verbs ‘aller’ (to go) and ‘vendre’ (to sell).
See how the ending of the infinitive (the raw form of the verb) and the ending of the conjugated verb differ?
Aller -> Allais
Vendre -> Vendez
That’s verb endings. Now, why do they change? and how?
What is it used for?
Ryan, keep the focus 😒
So a verb ending is what you put at the end of a verb, cool. But when?
Verb endings change according to 4 criteria.
1. Their function in the sentence
The function of a word, is its role within a sentence. For exemple, in English, in the following sentence ‘you’ is the subject.
You are amazing.
To Be is the verb, and it is conjugated because his function here is to be the verb of the sentence.
Following?
Good.
Now consider this other sentence.
I am so lucky to be a girl.
To Be doesn’t have the same function here as it does in the other sentence.
And so, it looks different.
In French too, the function of the verb will influence the verb form, and so, its ending.
Examples in French with the verb manger (to eat):
Tu n’as pas le droit de manger de la viande : You are not allowed to eat meat.
Here the verb manger is in its infinitive form because it is not the conjugated verb of the sentence.
Tu manges de la viande. : You eat meat
Manger is here conjugated at the second person singular of the present simple.
2. The tense at which they are conjugated
Second criteria in which the ending of the verb varies: the tense.
Each tense in French has a different set of endings for verbs.
Tu manges de la viande : You eat meat / You are eating meat
Present simple.
Tu mangeais de la viande : You were eating meat. / You ate meat.
Imperfect tense (it’s a tense of the past).
3. The group the verb belongs to
When you know the tense you are supposed to use to conjugate that verb, you then need to know the group the verb belongs to.
There are 3 verb groups in French.
For example, the verb manger (to eat – yes you know it by now) is the verb of the first group.
Je mange.
But the verb finir (to finish) is a verb of the second group.
Je finis.
Both are conjugated here at the present simple.
4. The person the verb is conjugated at
Fourth and last criteria of variation for verb endings – the person it is conjugated at.
The verb ending will change drastically depending on who is the subject of your sentence.
Je mange de la viande. : I eat meat / I am eating meat.
First person singular of the simple present.
Tu manges de la viande. : You eat meat / You are eating meat.
Second person singular of the present simple.
Nous mangeons de la viande. : We eat meat / We are eating meat.
First person plural of the present simple.
How do you actually use all of that?
Yes, I know Ryan – but don’t worry, we’ve done the hard part 🤗
Oui, that’s a lot to take in. How are you supposed to remember all of that? Or even start to identify the tense or subject with so many rules?
Is French really evil? No wonder why French people are complaining all the time… Imagine having to remember all of that when you speak!
Oy oy oy. Calm down.
Where there’s a hard French rule – there’s an easy solution to remember it all.
Ryan! Open your eyes!
Yes, French verbs ending can differ A LOT. BUT….
1. All endings are basically following the same pattern
S T ONS EZ ENT
If for the moment, you don’t need to know more than the basics for tenses, this is the only line to memorise.
S T ONS EZ ENT
Pretty much all endings are going to follow this pattern:
Easier right?
2. You don't need to know everything about every single French tense
This article is very heavy, lots of things to learn. But to be able to speak in French, have a conversational French – knowing about every single rules is not necessary.
In fact, for some people, it might even be useless.
Why do I tell you all of this then? – Good question Ryan.
Because a little bit of grammar never hurts. It is going to allow you to understand more how French works.
Maybe to become more flexible.
Definitely, it will de-mystify French for you.
BUT, it shouldn’t be something you think about when you speak.
When you speak French, the sentences you use should be sentences you already know and can say – like if they were reflexes.
3. Mastery comes with practice
French tenses and verbs are difficult for you? It simply means you should spend more time using the tenses, building sentences with verbs,…
Practice, practice, practice.
And the goal is obviously not to be perfect. Hell, even French people are not perfect (especially French people actually).
So keep a positive mindset, practice more if it’s difficult, and release the pressure!
You got this! Right Ryan?
