How do you conjugate a French 'er' verb?

Answer 1

Most French "er" verbs are conjugated by replacing the ending "er" with the appropriate suffix according to the phrase's subject:

For example, conjugate the French verb nager (to swim):

• Je nage
• Tu nages
• Il/Elle nage
• Nous nagons
• Vous nagez
• Ils/Elles nagent

To use a French "er" verb in past tense, replace the "er" with an "é" and put the verb after the helping verb, which is the conjugated form of avoir (to have).

For example, J'ai nagé hier means "I swam yesterday."

Il a joué au foot. means "He played football."

Aller (to go) is an irregular "er" verb with its own conjugation:

• Je vais
• Tu vas
• Il/Elle/On va
• Nous allons
• Vous allez
• Ils/Elles vont

To use a verb in future tense, put that verb after the conjugated form of aller:

Je vais jouer au base-ball demain means "I will play Baseball tomorrow."

Elles vont faire ses devoirs le soir means "They will do their homework this evening."

To use aller in past tense, do the same as you would for any other "er" verb with one important exception: conjugate the verb être (to be) instead of avoir for your helping verb:

Je suis allé au café means "I went to the café."

Tu es allé au stade means "You went to the stadium."