Understand what others do: -er verbs 3rd persons singular and plural | French

Starter quiz

Which of the following are verbs?
- le déjeuner
- préparer ✓
- dehors
- nous
- manger ✓
Match the French subject pronouns to the English.
- je/j'
  
  ⇔
  
  I ✓
- tu
  
  ⇔
  
  you ✓
- il
  
  ⇔
  
  he ✓
- elle
  
  ⇔
  
  she ✓
- nous
  
  ⇔
  
  we ✓
Which subject pronoun refers to the 1st person singular?
- je/j' ✓
- tu
- il
- elle
- nous
Which subject pronoun refers to the 1st person plural?
- je/j'
- tu
- il
- elle
- nous ✓
Which verbs are in their 1st person plural form?
- regardons ✓
- travaillons ✓
- marche
- mange
- écoutons ✓
Match the French to the English.
- Il mange dehors.
  
  ⇔
  
  He eats outside. ✓
- Elle travaille dehors.
  
  ⇔
  
  She works outside. ✓
- Nous marchons à l'école.
  
  ⇔
  
  We walk to school. ✓
- Nous aimons l'école.
  
  ⇔
  
  We like the school. ✓
- Il prépare le déjeuner.
  
  ⇔
  
  He prepares lunch. ✓
- Nous mangeons le déjeuner.
  
  ⇔
  
  We eat lunch. ✓

Exit quiz

Read the following sentence in French. How many times do you hear [a]? 'L'animal est malade, il est sur la table.'
- twice
- three times
- four times
- five times
- six times ✓
Which words are cognates or near-cognates?
- la radio ✓
- l'histoire ✓
- le déjeuner
- dehors
- le fruit ✓
Match the English to the French verbs.
- to look, looking
  
  ⇔
  
  regarder ✓
- to sing, singing
  
  ⇔
  
  chanter ✓
- to play, playing
  
  ⇔
  
  jouer ✓
- to find, finding
  
  ⇔
  
  trouver ✓
- to prepare, preparing
  
  ⇔
  
  préparer ✓
- to listen, listening
  
  ⇔
  
  écouter ✓
Which subject pronouns indicate that the verb which follows is in its 3rd person plural form?
- il
- elle
- nous
- ils ✓
- elles ✓
Which of these verbs are in their 3rd person plural form?
- donnent ✓
- trouve
- écoutent ✓
- regardent ✓
- joue
Match the English to the French.
- He looks for a solution.
  
  ⇔
  
  Il cherche une solution. ✓
- They (m) look for a solution.
  
  ⇔
  
  Ils cherchent une solution. ✓
- They (f) wear a uniform.
  
  ⇔
  
  Elles portent un uniforme. ✓
- She (f) wears a uniform.
  
  ⇔
  
  Elle porte un uniforme. ✓
- She finds that interesting.
  
  ⇔
  
  Elle trouve ça intéressant. ✓
- They (mf) find that interesting.
  
  ⇔
  
  Ils trouvent ça intéressant. ✓

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Lesson Details

Key learning points

The sound symbol correspondence [a] is very common in French and sounds like the 'a' in 'animal'.
To say 'he/she' + -er verb in French, the verb ending is -e, which is an SFe and so is silent.
To say 'they' + -er verb, the ending is -ent which is also silent. We call this the third person plural verb form.
'Ils' means 'they' when referring to a group of boys or a mixed gender group.
'Elles' mean 'they' when referring to a group of girls. The final 's' of 'ils/elles' is a SFC.

Common misconception

The -ent ending of the 3rd person plural of the verb is pronounced.

The -ent ending of the 3rd person plural of the verb is not pronounced. It is therefore difficult to tell the difference between the 'il/elle' form and the 'ils/elles' form of verbs when spoken.

Keywords

[a] - Sounds like the 'a' in 'animal'.
Ils - The subject pronoun for 'they' in French, referring to a group of boys or mixed gender.
Elles - The subject pronoun for 'they' in French, referring to a group of girls.