How to Conjugate French Verbs: -ER, -IR, and -RE Verbs for Beginners
Quick answer: Conjugating a verb means changing its form to match who is doing the action and when. English does this too ("I eat," "he eats," "I ate"). French just changes the endings more visibly, and sorts its verbs into three groups by infinitive ending: -ER, -IR, and -RE.
What is a conjugation, really?
Every verb has a base form called the infinitive: in English "to eat," in French "manger." But we almost never speak in infinitives. The moment a real person does the action at a real time, the verb changes shape. That change is conjugation.
A conjugated verb carries two pieces of information: who is doing it (the subject) and when it happens (the tense). That is the whole idea. Most students never hear it put that way; they memorize grids and fill in blanks, which passes a quiz but leaves them unsure what the forms mean. Once you see that a conjugation is just "who + when" stamped onto a verb, French stops being a memory game and starts to make sense.
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You already conjugate, every day, in English
English speakers conjugate constantly without noticing, because most of our changes are small. Watch the verb shift as the subject changes:
| Subject | Verb |
|---|---|
| I | eat |
| you | eat |
| he / she | eats |
| we | eat |
| they | eat |
See the "he / she" form quietly add an -s? That is a conjugation. The verb also changes across time: I walk today, I walked yesterday, I will walk tomorrow. Same verb, different forms, telling you when. You have been doing this your whole life.
Why it matters: the wrong conjugation sounds bizarre
Because English endings are subtle, it is tempting to treat conjugation as optional. It is not. Use the wrong form and a native speaker hears it instantly. Read these out loud and notice how off they feel:
| Wrong | Right | Why it sounds off |
|---|---|---|
| He eat breakfast every day. | He eats breakfast every day. | Missing the he/she "-s." It sounds childlike. |
| She go to school. | She goes to school. | Same missing "-s" on he/she. |
| Yesterday I eat a sandwich. | Yesterday I ate a sandwich. | Wrong tense. The time word says past, the verb does not. |
| I is happy. | I am happy. | Wrong form of "to be" for "I." |
| They was late. | They were late. | Wrong form of "to be" for a plural subject. |
Every one of those is understandable, yet every one sounds wrong, and some even change the meaning. That instinct you have in English, that "He eat" is simply incorrect, is exactly the instinct a French speaker has about French verbs. Conjugation is not decoration; it is part of being understood, which is why it is worth learning properly in any language.
How French conjugation works: the -ER, -IR, -RE system
French sorts its verbs by the last two letters of the infinitive. Almost every verb ends in -ER, -IR, or -RE. To conjugate a regular verb you do two things: drop that ending to get the stem, then add the set of endings for that group and subject.
stem (infinitive minus -er / -ir / -re) + ending (matches the subject) = conjugated verb
The endings only really stick once you say them. Try them out in a free class.
-ER verbs (the biggest group)
About 90% of French verbs are -ER verbs, like parler (to speak). Drop -er to get the stem parl-, then add the -ER endings:
| Subject | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | parle | I speak |
| tu | parles | you speak |
| il / elle | parle | he / she speaks |
| nous | parlons | we speak |
| vous | parlez | you speak (formal or plural) |
| ils / elles | parlent | they speak |
Just as English adds "-s" for "he eats," French changes the ending for every subject. Parle and parlons are the same verb, each telling you who is speaking.
-IR verbs
-IR verbs work like finir (to finish). Drop -ir to get fin-, then add the -IR endings:
| Subject | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | finis | I finish |
| tu | finis | you finish |
| il / elle | finit | he / she finishes |
| nous | finissons | we finish |
| vous | finissez | you finish (formal or plural) |
| ils / elles | finissent | they finish |
-RE verbs
-RE verbs work like vendre (to sell). Drop -re to get vend-, then add the -RE endings:
| Subject | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | vends | I sell |
| tu | vends | you sell |
| il / elle | vend | he / she sells |
| nous | vendons | we sell |
| vous | vendez | you sell (formal or plural) |
| ils / elles | vendent | they sell |
The key idea: the stem stays the same; only the ending changes. That ending does the same job as English "I eat" versus "he eats": it tells you who. Learn the three ending sets and you can conjugate thousands of regular verbs.
Do not just fill in the blank, know what it means
The goal is not to memorize grids faster. It is to hear, the way you already do in English, that the ending carries meaning. When you write nous parlons, you are not picking the right box on a worksheet; you are saying "we speak," and the -ons is the exact part that means "we." Understanding that is the difference between guessing on a test and actually speaking French.
Next steps: see the six core French tenses, and how the two past tenses differ in passé composé vs imparfait.
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Frequently asked questions
What does it mean to conjugate a verb?
Changing the verb's form to show who is doing the action and when. English does it ("I go," "he goes," "I went"), and French does it too, mainly through endings on -ER, -IR, and -RE verbs.
Why are French verbs grouped into -ER, -IR, and -RE?
The last two letters of the infinitive tell you which set of endings to use. Each group has its own endings, so once you know whether a verb is -ER, -IR, or -RE, you know which pattern to apply.
Do I really need conjugation, or can I just use one form?
You need it. Using a single form is like saying "He eat yesterday" in English: understandable but clearly wrong, and sometimes it changes the meaning, such as past versus present. Correct conjugation is part of being understood.
Which group should I learn first?
Start with -ER verbs. They make up roughly 90% of French verbs and are the most regular, so learning their endings gives you the biggest payoff fastest.
What are the present-tense endings for -ER, -IR, and -RE verbs?
-ER verbs take -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent. -IR verbs take -is, -is, -it, -issons, -issez, -issent. -RE verbs take -s, -s, (nothing), -ons, -ez, -ent. Drop the infinitive ending to get the stem, then add these endings.
Ready for your first past tense? Next, learn the passé composé, the everyday French past tense.