How do you conjugate '1st group' verbs (the ones finishing by -er) in the present tense?

In french, three different kinds of verbs can be made: the '1st group' ones finishing by -er, the '2nd group' ones by -ir and the '3rd group' finishing by any other ending (-oir for example). The '1st group' verbs are the easiest to conjugate in the present tense because the endings are always the sames. For the 1st person, 'Je', the ending is: -e. For the 2nd person, 'Tu', the ending is: -es. For the 3rd person, 'Il, Elle, On', the ending is: -e (notice that is it the same as the ending of the 1st person). For the 4th, 'Nous', the ending is: -on. For the 5th, 'Vous', the ending is: -ez. Finally, for the 6th, 'Ils, Elles', the ending is: -ent. In order to conjugate the verb, you have to take the 'infinitif' form of the verb, take the ending away (-er), and then simply replace it by the ending according to the person doing the action. We can now try with an example. 'Danser' means (to) dance, and 'danser' is the 'infinitive' form. It is in the '1st group' category because it finishes in -er. To conjugate it, we need to take away -er, and to replace it with the other endings. So, we only keep 'dans' and add the endings. This gives us: Je danse Tu danses Il, Elle, On danse Nous dansons Vous dansez Ils, Elles dansent.

MK
Answered by Marina K. French tutor

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