French conjugation

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Conjugation is the variation in the endings of verbs (inflections) depending on the person (I, you, we, etc), tense (present, future, etc.) and mood (indicative, imperative, subjunctive, etc.). Most French verbs are regular and their inflections can be entirely determined by their infinitive form. If not regular, a verb may incur changes its stem, changes in the endings or spelling adjustments for the sake of keeping correct pronunciation.

French verbs are conventionally divided into three groups. Various official and respectable French language sites explain this. The first two are the highly regular -er and -ir conjugations (conjugaisons) so defined to admit of almost no exceptions. The third group is simply all the remaining verbs and is as a result rich in patterns and exceptions. This article follows the classification verb by verb of the Dictionary of the Academie Francaise^[1] though better descriptions of the three group system are to be found on the site of Le Figaro,^[2] in a short article published by the Academy of Montpellier^[3] or on the Quebec government page^[4]

The third group is a closed class,^[5] meaning that no new verbs of this group may be introduced to the French language. Most new words are of the first group (téléviser, atomiser, radiographier), with some in the second group (alunir).

In summary the groups are:

• 1st conjugation: verbs ending in -er (except aller. There are about 6000 verbs in this group.^[2]

• 2nd conjugation: verbs ending in -ir, with the present participle ending in -issant. There are about 300 verbs in this group.^[2]

• 3rd group: All other verbs: verbs with infinitives in -re, -oir, -ir with the present participle ending in -ant, the verb aller.