French › Level one lessons › Recreation · Récréation

Most French verbs fall into the category of -er verbs. To conjugate, drop the -er to find the stem or root. Add endings to the root based on the subject and tense.

The -e, -es, and -ent endings all have the same silent pronunciation. The -er and -ez endings are pronounced /e/ , and the -ons ending is pronounced /ɔ̃/ .

In all conjugations, je changes to j ' when followed by a vowel or silent h:

J'aime…^{I like…}

J'habite…^{I live…}

In all plural forms, the s at the end of each subject pronoun, normally unpronounced, becomes a z sound and the n of on becomes pronounced when followed by a vowel.

The direct object pronoun le ( /lə/), meaning it or him, replaces masculine singular direct objects:

Je donne le livre au prof. (I'm giving the book to the teacher.)

Je le donne au prof. (I'm giving it to the teacher.)

La ( /la/), meaning it or her, replaces feminine singular direct objects:

Je donne la calculatrice au prof. (I'm giving the calculator to the teacher.)

Je la donne au prof. (I'm giving it to the teacher.)

Les ( /le/), meaning them, replaces plural direct objects:

Je donne les livres au prof. (I'm giving the books to the teacher.)

Je les donne au prof. (I'm giving them to the teacher.)

Le and la become l' before a vowel:

Aimez-vous le concert ? Oui, je l'aime. (Do you like the concert? Yes, I like it.)

Le, la, and les can replace either people or things:

Aimez-vous le film ? Oui, je l'aime. (Do you like the film? Yes, I like it.)

Aimez-vous l'acteur ? Oui, je l'aime. (Do you like the actor? Yes, I like him.)

The verb jouer /ʒwe/ is a regular -er verb meaning to play. It can be used to refer to sports, games, and instruments.

When referring to sports or games, jouer à … is used; recall that au /o/ replaces à le, and aux /o/ replaces à les:

Je joue au baseball.^{I'm playing baseball.}

Nous jouons aux cartes.^{We are playing cards.}

When referring to instruments, jouer de … is used; recall that du /dy/ replaces de le, and des /dɛ/ replaces de les:

Je joue du piano.^{I'm playing the piano.}

Je m'amuse avec mes amis.^{I'm having fun with my friends.}
T'est en train de t'amuser.^{You're having fun.}
Il a l'air de bien s'amuser.^{Looks like he's having fun.}
Nous sommes en train de nous amuser.^{We're having fun.}
Vous avez l'air de bien vous amusez.^{It looks like you're having a lot of fun.}
Ils s'amusent avec ce ballon.^{They're having fun with this ball.}