Grammar is the set of conventions and rules that dictate how French works. This set consists of simple tools used by speakers to communicate and convey their message the correct way. We understand it is not everyone’s cup of tea especially when they don’t master the language. The thing is that in order to excel at anything you have to take some time to practice! That’s why in today’s blog article we will learn how to conjugate third group -re verbs in French the easiest way possible!
Let’s make it more interesting and fun to learn!
What you need to know is that : Third group French verbs are a little bit more complicated than other groups because there are no specific rules when it comes to irregular verbs and the only way to know them is by practicing to the maximum. We will therefore start with a general rule of third group regular verbs then move on to see some examples of irregular third group verbs.
Regular -re French verbs: The following are the steps to get the present tense of an -re regular verb :
Step one : – Delete the -re of the infinitive
Step two : -Add the present tense endings specific to the -re verbs as illustrated by the following table :
| Subject | Endings |
| Je | -s |
| Tu | -s |
| Il/elle/on | — (nothing) |
| Nous | -ons |
| Vous | -ez |
| Ils/ elles | -ent |
Let’s go through some examples together to practice :
- Verb ‘Vendre’ = To sell :
| Subject | Verb in present tense |
| Je | Vends |
| Tu | Vends |
| Il/elle/on | Vend |
| Nous | Vendons |
| Vous | Vendez |
| Ils/elles | Vendent |
-The verb ‘Attendre’ = To wait :
| Subject | Verb in present tense |
| Je | Attends |
| Tu | Attends |
| Il/elle/on | Attend |
| Nous | Attendons |
| Vous | Attendez |
| Ils/elles | Attendent |
Moving on to the -re irregular French verbs, as mentioned earlier there exists no rule as to how to conjugate these verbs but here’s a list that can facilitate it for you :
- ‘Rompre’ and its derivatives : Corrompre (To corrupt) / Interrompre (To interrupt) /’Rompre’ (To break) : The exception is with the third person singular :
| Subject | The verb ‘Rompre’ in present tense |
| Je | romps |
| Tu | romps |
| Il/Elle/On | Rompt |
| Nous | Rompons |
| Vous | Rompez |
| Ils/Elles | Rompent |
-’Cuire’ and its derivatives : ‘Conduire’ (To drive) /’Construire’ (To build) / ‘Contredire’ (To contradict) :
All verbs that end in -uire, –dire, –fire and –lire are conjugated in the present tense by dropping -re and adding s to the plural forms. They are conjugated as the following:
| Subject | The verb ‘Cuire’ in present tense |
| Je | Cuis |
| Tu | Cuis |
| Il/Elle/On | Cuit |
| Nous | Cuisons |
| Vous | Cuisez |
| Ils/Elles | Cuisent |
–’Ecrire’ and its derivatives : ‘Circonscrire’ (Confine) /’Décrire’ (To describe) / ‘Prescrire’ (To prescribe) :
All verbs that end in -crire are conjugated in the present tense by dropping -re and adding v to the plural forms. They are conjugated as the following:
| Subject | The verb ‘Ecrire’ in present tense |
| J’ | écris |
| Tu | écris |
| Il/Elle/On | écrit |
| Nous | écrivons |
| Vous | écrivez |
| Ils/Elles | écrivent |
-’Craindre’ and its derivatives : ‘Adjoindre’ (To appoint) /’Atteindre’ (To attain) / ‘Craindre’ (To fear) :
All verbs that end in -aindre, -eindre, and -oindre are conjugated in the present tense by dropping the d in all forms and adding g in front of n in the plural forms.They are conjugated as the following:
| Subject | The verb ‘Craindre’ in present tense |
| Je | Crains |
| Tu | Crains |
| Il/Elle/On | Craint |
| Nous | Craignons |
| Vous | Craignez |
| Ils/Elles | Craignent |
-’Prendre’ and its derivatives : ‘Apprendre’ (To learn) /’Comprendre’ (To understand) / ‘Entreprendre’ (To undertake) :
Prendre and all of its derivations are conjugated in the present tense by dropping the d in all the plural forms and doubling the n in the third person plural. They are conjugated as the following :
| Subject | The verb ‘Prendre’ in present tense |
| Je | Prends |
| Tu | Prends |
| Il/Elle/On | Prend |
| Nous | Prenons |
| Vous | Prenez |
| Ils/Elles | Prennent |
-’Connaître ’ and its derivatives : ‘Connaître’ (To know) /’apparaître’ (To seem) / ‘’ ‘Comparaître’ (To appear) :
All verbs that end in -aître (except naître) are conjugated in the present tense as follows: drop –tre in all forms and use these irregular endings.
| Subject | The verb ‘Connaître’ in present tense |
| Je | Connais |
| Tu | Connais |
| Il/Elle/On | Connaît |
| Nous | Connaissons |
| Vous | Connaissez |
| Ils/Elles | Connaissent |
For the above reasons the -re French verbs are not easy to conjugate and a lot of French learners describe it as very complex and difficult but by practicing more and memorizing the irregular verbs it can turn out to be much easier than what you thought it would be! Learn French online on our site.
