Ents and Entwives

A final word about conjugating regular ER verbs in the present tense.

Remember this post about modal verbs and the boot? ER verbs are not boot verbs, but I often think of them that way because everything inside the boot is pronounced the same way.

Yes, even the ils/elles conjugation. Never pronounce the "-ent" ending in a conjugated verb. The "-ent" might affect how the letters before it are pronounced, but the "-ent" itself is never pronounced.

 

Je parle        Nous parlons
Tu parles    Vous parlez
Elle parle    Ils parlent

Yes, that's right. "Parle", "parles", and "parlent" are all pronounced exactly the same way. Fight the urge to say "parl-ant." You can beat this – I know you can.

That said, not every "-ent" is silent. Only the "-ent" ending of a conjugated verb. If the "ent" is part of the stem (or "radical") of the verb, or if you find "-ent" at the end of a word that is not a verb – it's fair game. Go ahead and pronounce that sucker. (For example: un accident, un élément, un tempérament.)

And I'm sorry, but just like in the Lord of the Rings, there are no Entwives here. Only -ents.

 

What’s a kinnamon?

I’ve talked a lot about patterns this week, and guess what? I’m not done.  Take a look at these groups of English words:

Do you see any patterns? Look again. “C” and “g” – how are they pronounced and why are they pronounced that way?

 Now look at these English words:

What is the difference between this group and the first group? Come up with a rule and write it down. Seriously – don’t look online, don’t ask someone else, don’t scroll to the rest of the post until you have a rule.

 …

                            …

                                                            …

Now I’ve got some clumps of French words for you. How do you think each of these sets of words is pronounced?

 

This is a rare instance where French and English have the same rule. (Of course, there are plenty of exceptions to this rule, but it’s helpful nonetheless.)

Last chance! If you don’t have your own rule – come up with it now! The answer follows…

* * *

When ‘c’ or ‘g’ are followed by ‘a’, ‘o’, or ‘u’ they are hard. When they are followed by “e” or “i" they are soft.

* * *

Okay, now remember how we conjugate –ER verbs? What will happen when we conjugate "manger" – "to eat"? If we follow the rules for ER verbs without making any changes then the "nous" form will be "mangons". According to our new pronunciation rules, how will this word be pronounced? Does that sound good?

Nope.

This is fixed by simply adding an "e". "Nous mangeons."

Je mange             Nous mangeons

Tu manges          Vous mangez

Il mange               Elles mangent

 
Any regular –er verb with a 'g' at the end of the stem will follow this rule in the present tense (e.g.: nager = to swim, nous nageons.)

Commencer (to start) has the same problem, but it is not solved by adding an 'e'. Instead of adding an 'e', simply add une cedille. You've seen them plenty of times (ça, français).

Je commence                    Nous commençons

Tu commences                 Vous commencez

Il commence                      Ils commencent

 

Every regular -er verb with a stem that ends in "c" will work this way in the present tense (e.g. placer = to place, nous plaçons.)

What did I tell you? It's all about the patterns.

(Frustrated when you need to type a letter with an accent? To type a c with une cedille in Word, just hold down the Ctrl key while you hit the ' , ' key and then type ' c '. It will appear with the accent. Voilà !)

Puzzling Out Verbs

This piece is the right shape, but the wrong design. This piece is the right design, but the wrong shape. This piece should fit, but it doesn’t and that piece shouldn’t, but apparently it does.  I’ve always loved jigsaw puzzles – the more challenging the better.  In fact I’m crazy enough to think of 2,000 pieces as the minimum size for a puzzle.

All of this really has nothing to do with verb conjugation, except that sometimes I think of conjugating verbs like working a puzzle. First you take your infinitive (part of the picture on the puzzle box) and then you take the stem (one puzzle piece) and finally you find the right ending (another puzzle piece), put them together and you have your verb – part of your sentence (your completed puzzle).  A little sad maybe, but anything that makes verb conjugation less painful is a good thing.

Lost? Okay, we’re going back to the basics:

I cake.
You cakes.
We with each other.

Does something seem to be missing from those “sentences”? How’s this:

I love cake.
You bake cakes.
We belong with each other.

Aww… but maybe that was:

I love cake.
You hate cakes.
We fight with each other.

Huh.

Lesson #1: Verbs are important!

Okay, and then there’s:

I loves cake.
You baking cakes.
We to belong together.

Lesson #2: How you form the verb matters!

Lesson #2 is a perfect example of what happens when you don’t know how to conjugate a verb. Verb conjugation is simply the act of forming the verb correctly based on the subject (who’s doing the action) and the format of the rest of the sentence. It’s tempting for students of a foreign language to think that as long as they know the verb and what it means, that’s enough, but really, do you want to walk around in French saying “you baking cakes” when you mean “you bake cakes”?

I didn’t think so. So, you start with your infinitive (the unconjugated verb). For example:

 parler                    to talk

Take the stem (the beginning) of the verb and separate it from the ending. How do you know where to break the verb? Some of it will just come down to memorization and comfort with the language, but there are five core categories of verbs in French and they are defined largely by their endings.

-ER verbs

-IR verbs
-RE verbs
-Stem changing verbs
-Irregular verbs

-          ER verbs are by far the most common regular French verbs and they all end with, you guessed it, -ER. So, in our example, “parl-” would be your stem and “-er” would be your ending.

-          IR verbs are the second most common regular French verbs and, shockingly, they all end with –IR. (Finir – stem = fin, ending = ir.)

-          RE verbs… I think you know where I’m going with this. (Rendre – stem = rend, ending = re.)

-          Stem changing verbs – usually it is the ending that changes and the stem that stays the same, but some verbs are just a little trickier and to conjugate them you have to change both the stem and the ending. These verbs are particularly difficult for beginners because only the infinitive shows up in the dictionary. So if you stumble across an unfamiliar stem-changing verb and want to look it up… it might be a little tricky. (Essayer – “j’essaie” and “nous essayons.”

-          Irregular verbs – A lovely category meaning “everything else.” Okay, so technically it means all the verbs that don’t follow one easily memorized pattern. Irregular verbs have to be memorized individually or in small groups.

 Then you choose your subject or subject pronoun. In French the subject pronouns are:

(The brackets show subjects that share the same conjugation. You’ll notice that when I’m writing out the full conjugation of a verb, I often write only “il” or “elle” and “ils” or “elles”. The rule still applies to the missing pronouns; I just leave them out for simplicity.)

 

 

So, now you have your verb stem (parl) and your subject pronoun – now you, um…, conjugate the verb. You take the stem and you add the appropriate ending, depending on what your subject is.

 

 

It might help if you had some rules, so we’re just going to dive into the ER verbs in the present tense. There is one pattern, one rule, for conjugating all regular –ER verbs and remember, once you know it, you know how to conjugate the largest group of French verbs! Here goes:

 

Simple, right? Every single regular ER verb follows that pattern. Our example was “parler” and here’s how it looks conjugated in the present tense:  

Okay, now it’s your turn. Try with the verb “aimer” “to love”. Answers below, (highlight to see them – but don’t cheat! Try it yourself first!)

J’aime                   Nous aimons

Tu aimes              Vous aimez

Elle aime              Ils aiment

Congratulations! You’re on your way to being a verb-conjugating fiend!