Learn French: Lesson 3
In this lesson I will cover numbers and present tense verb conjugation. Let’s learn French!
Numbers
In Lesson 2 you learned how to count from eleven to twenty; now we will learn how to count from 20 to 100! Don’t worry, it is easy.
A quick explanation: in French, just like in English, in order to say 34 you need only say trente-quatre, which is literally just thirty-four. However, not all of the numbers from 0-100 follow this rule. You will find that 80 is called quatre-vingts which is literally just four-twenties. Furthermore, 90 is called quatre-vingts-dix which is literally four-twenties-ten, followed by quatre-vingts-onze, quatre-vingts-douze, etc. I will provide an audio file specifically for 80 to 100, just to be clear.
Follow along with these audio files:
Learn French - Lesson 3 - Numbers 20-30
Learn French - Lesson 3 - Numbers 0 - 100 By 10s
Learn French - Lesson 3 - Numbers 80 - 100 (not shown below)
- 20
- 21
- 22
- 23
- 24
- 25
- 26
- 27
- 28
- 29
- 30
- vingt
- vingt et un
- vingt-deux
- vingt-trois
- vingt-quatre
- vingt-cinq
- vingt-six
- vingt-sept
- vingt-huit
- vingt-neuf
- trente
- 0
- 10
- 20
- 30
- 40
- 50
- 60
- 70
- 80
- 90
- 100
- zéro
- dix
- vingt
- trente
- quarante
- cinquante
- soixante
- soixante-dix
- quatre-vingts
- quatre-vingts-dix
- cent
As you can see, all the numbers beyond twenty follow a simple formula just like English numbers. Practice counting to one-hundred once a day to keep these numbers fresh; it only takes a minute.
Verb Conjugation
If you need to brush up on the concept of conjugation, please read this: Learn English: Verb Conjugation.
There are three types of regular verbs in French: -er verbs, -re verbs, and -ir verbs. These verb groups are called regular because they follow a pattern for conjugation. Once we have established the patterns then we will be able to conjugate any regular verb. Let’s get started!
Regular -er Verbs
These verbs are the most common and are usually the first ones taught to students. We will start by conjugating etudier; etudier means to study. Please have a look at this table:
- je etudie
- tu etudies
- il/elle/on etudie
- nous etudions
- vous etudiez
- ils/elles/ons etudient
- I study, I do study, I am studying
- You study, you do study, you are studying
- He studies, he does study, he is studying
- We study, we do study, we are studying
- You-all study, you-all do study, you-all are studying
- They study, they do study, they are studying
For these verbs, like all conjugations, you remove the -er suffix and replace it with the correct conjugated ending. These are shown above and they are very simple, but they must be memorized. There’s not much more to say about -er verbs at this time so let’s move on.
Regular -ir Verbs
The regular -ir verb we’ll look at is courir, meaning to run.
- je cours
- tu cours
- il/elle/on court
- nous courons
- vous courez
- ils/elles/ons courent
- I run, I do run, I am running
- You run, you do run, you are running
- He runs, he does run, he is running
- We run, we do run, we are running
- You-all run, you-all do run, you-all are running
- They run, they do run, they are running
As with the -er verbs above, we have removed the -ir ending and replaced it with the correctly conjugated ending. These endings must also be memorized as we will use them every time we conjugate a regular -ir verb.
Regular -re Verbs
For our regular -re verb we will examine rendre, meaning to return.
- je rends
- tu rends
- il/elle/on rend
- nous rendons
- vous rendez
- ils/elles/ons rendent
- I return, I do return, I am returning
- You return, you do return, you are returning
- He returns, he does return, he is returning
- We return, we do return, we are returning
- You-all return, you-all do return, you-all are returning
- They return, they do return, they are returning
That’s it! That is every type of regular verb in French. There are many verbs that do not follow these rules, as well as some other caveats, but we will cover them as we come upon them.
In the next lesson we will be forming sentences; many tutorials start out in this manner, but I think that it will be easier with an established basis of knowledge. As always, comments are welcome. Thanks for reading.
Tags: Learn French