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Linguarudo's Tip
The -er group covers about 90% of all French verbs, making it the most important pattern to master.
About French Conjugation
French Verb Conjugation
French verbs fall into three groups: first (-er, ~90% of verbs), second (-ir with -issons pattern), and third (all others — -re, -oir, and irregular -ir verbs). The first group is highly regular, while the third group contains most of the complexity and irregularity.
Silent Endings: A distinctive feature of French conjugation is that many written endings are silent. In the present tense of "parler," the forms "parle," "parles," and "parlent" all sound identical [paʁl]. This makes spelling challenging but listening easier.
Compound Tenses: The passé composé (have/has + past participle) is the primary past tense in spoken French. Approximately 17 verbs of motion/state change use "être" instead of "avoir" as their auxiliary, and the past participle then agrees in gender and number with the subject.