Why this matters

You already know a few -ER verbs from A1. Now it's time to level up. The -ER family is the largest in French — over 90% of new verbs you encounter will follow this pattern. Mastering it means you can guess how to conjugate almost any new verb on the spot. On the DELF A2 exam, -ER verb conjugation shows up constantly in the compréhension écrite fill-in-the-blank tasks and in the production écrite letter/email task — examiners expect these endings to be automatic.

🦝 Remy says: "Think of -ER verbs as your French superpower. Learn the pattern once, unlock hundreds of verbs forever. Not bad for one lesson, right?"

Document Déclencheur

SMS entre amis

Léa : Tu travailles cet aprem ? 😅 Nadia : Non, je cherche un appart avec Sam. Et toi tu bosses ? Léa : Je commence à 14h... J'espère qu'on termine tôt, j'adore regarder des séries le soir ! Nadia : Haha ok, on s'appelle après ?

What do you notice?

Spot the -ER verbs: travailles, cherche, bosses, commence, termine, adore, regarder, appelle — how many endings can you identify without looking back? (six visible conjugations)
"Bosser" is slang for travailler — texting French often swaps formal verbs for casual ones.
Why does "termine" end in -e and not -es? (it's "on termine" — informal "we", which conjugates like il/elle)

The -ER Conjugation Pattern

Remove the -er ending from the infinitive, then add these endings:

--|

-| | je | -e | je parle [zhuh parl] | | tu | -es | tu parles [tü parl] | | il/elle/on | -e | il parle [eel parl] | | nous | -ons | nous parlons [noo par-lohn] | | vous | -ez | vous parlez [voo par-lay] | | ils/elles | -ent | ils parlent [eel parl] |

Key insight: The je, tu, il/elle, and ils/elles forms are all pronounced the same for most -ER verbs. The -ent ending is always silent!

More examples with the same verb, different contexts:

Je parle un peu français. = I speak a little French.
Nous parlons anglais à la maison. = We speak English at home.
Elles parlent trop vite pour moi. = They speak too fast for me.

Expanding Your -ER Verb Vocabulary

Here are 16 essential -ER verbs you must know at A2:

🦝 Remy's memory trick: "To remember that -ent is silent, picture the letters sleeping at the end of the word. Ils parlent — they speak... but those last letters? Completely napping."

🔊 Phonétique: The four singular/3rd-person-plural forms of an -ER verb (je parle, tu parles, il parle, ils parlent) are all pronounced exactly the same — [parl]. The -e, -es, and -ent endings are silent letters, not sounds. Say j'habite, tu habites, ils habitent out loud back to back: your mouth should not change.

Spelling-Change -ER Verbs

A few -ER verbs need a small spelling tweak to keep their sound consistent:

--|

Mini-dialogue — at a café, using -ER verbs naturally:

Léa : Tu travailles ce soir ? (Are you working tonight?)
Marc : Non, je cherche un restaurant sympa. Tu viens ? (No, I'm looking for a nice restaurant. Are you coming?)
Léa : J'adore essayer de nouveaux endroits ! On commence par l'apéro ? (I love trying new places! Shall we start with drinks?)
Marc : Parfait, j'appelle une réservation. (Perfect, I'll call to book a reservation.)

Common Mistakes

❌ Je parles français. → ✅ Je parle français. — English speakers often add an -s to "je" out of habit from other patterns, but je never takes -s on -ER verbs.
❌ Nous mangons ensemble. → ✅ Nous mangeons ensemble. — forgetting the extra e in -ger verbs before -ons; without it, the "g" would sound hard instead of soft.
❌ Il aimes le café. → ✅ Il aime le café. — the il/elle form takes -e, not -es; the -es ending only belongs to tu.
❌ Nous commencons à midi. → ✅ Nous commençons à midi. — missing the cédille (ç) on -cer verbs before -ons, which keeps the soft "s" sound.

Civilisation

In France, verb conjugation isn't just grammar — it's a social signal. Using tu conjugations (tu parles) with someone you should address as vous (vous parlez) can come across as overly familiar or even rude, especially with strangers, older people, or in professional settings. The French are gradually loosening this rule with younger generations and in startups, but shopkeepers, doctors, and teachers still expect vous by default. When in doubt, listen for how the other person conjugates when speaking to you, and mirror it back.

Recap

The -ER pattern (-e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent) is the most common conjugation in French.
Je, tu, il/elle, and ils/elles forms of regular -ER verbs sound identical when spoken — the ending is nearly silent.
-cer, -ger, and -yer verbs need small spelling adjustments to preserve pronunciation.
Mixing up je/tu/il endings is the most frequent beginner error — double-check which pronoun you're using before adding the ending.

📝 Exercise 1 — Fill in the blank

Conjugate the verb in parentheses correctly.

Nous ________ (habiter) à Paris.
Tu ________ (chercher) quoi ?
Ils ________ (écouter) la radio.
Je ________ (travailler) ce soir.
Vous ________ (regarder) quel film ?
Elle ________ (commencer) à 8h.

✅ Answers:

habitons
cherches
écoutent
travaille
regardez
commence

📝 Exercise 2 — Sentence building

Use these prompts to write a full sentence in French.

(I / love / French music) → ___
(She / forget / her bag) → ___
(We / explain / the problem) → ___
(You [formal] / think / it's good?) → ___
(They [m.] / prepare / dinner) → ___

✅ Model answers:

J'aime la musique française.
Elle oublie son sac.
Nous expliquons le problème.
Vous pensez que c'est bon ?
Ils préparent le dîner.

📝 Exercise 3 — Translation

They (f.) watch the news. → ___
I'm looking for a job. → ___
He lives in Lyon. → ___
We try to speak French. → ___
Do you (tu) listen to podcasts? → ___
We start work at 9am. → ___

✅ Answers:

Elles regardent les informations.
Je cherche un emploi.
Il habite à Lyon.
Nous essayons de parler français.
Tu écoutes des podcasts ?
Nous commençons le travail à 9h.

📝 Exercise 4 — Error correction

Find and fix the mistake in each sentence.

Je parles italien.
Il aimes les chats.
Nous mangons à midi.
Elles travaille le samedi.

✅ Answers:

Je parle italien.
Il aime les chats.
Nous mangeons à midi.
Elles travaillent le samedi.

📝 Exercise 5 — Matching

Match the French verb to its English meaning.

essayer a) to forget
oublier b) to try
montrer c) to hate
détester d) to show

✅ Answers: 1-b, 2-a, 3-d, 4-c

🎯 Today's challenge

Pick three -ER verbs from the tables above that you don't use yet. Write one sentence with each — about your own life. Say them aloud three times each. Hearing yourself speak French is the fastest way to make it stick!

Agissons !

Find three -ER verbs on a French website, app, or product packaging you own (food label, app menu, YouTube video description). Write down the infinitive and conjugate it in je and nous form. If you have a French-speaking contact, text them one sentence using an -ER verb today and see if they reply in French — real conversation is the fastest way to make the pattern permanent.

⭐ Key takeaways

The -ER verb pattern is the most common in French — learn it deeply and you unlock hundreds of verbs.
The endings -e, -es, -e, -ent are all silent — only -ons and -ez are clearly pronounced.
Spelling-change verbs (-cer, -ger, -yer) need small tweaks to protect their sound — don't skip the ç, e, or i.
Practice with verbs that are personally relevant to you — it makes them stick much faster.