Present tense (-er verbs)

-er verbs are the biggest, friendliest group in French — learn one pattern and you can use hundreds. Drop the -er and add an ending that matches the subject.

The rule

Remove -er to get the stem, then add:

Subject	Ending	parler (to speak)
je	-e	je parle
tu	-es	tu parles
il / elle / on	-e	il parle
nous	-ons	nous parlons
vous	-ez	vous parlez
ils / elles	-ent	ils parlent

Key points

• Four endings (-e, -es, -e, -ent) sound identical — only nous (-ons) and vous (-ez) stand out by ear.
• je becomes j' before a vowel: j'aime, j'écoute.
• on takes the il/elle ending though it usually means "we": on parle.
• Verbs in -ger/-cer tweak the nous form: nous mangeons, nous commençons.

Watch out

• ❌ je parles → ✅ je parle (no -s on je)
• ❌ tu parle → ✅ tu parles (tu always ends in -s)
• ❌ ils parlez → ✅ ils parlent

In context

• Je parle français. — I speak French.
• Tu écoutes la radio. — You're listening to the radio.
• Nous mangeons ensemble. — We eat together.
• Ils habitent à Lyon. — They live in Lyon.

Spoken French

The -ent ending is silent: il aime and ils aiment sound the same — context tells you which.