Regular French Verbs Ending in -DRE
A high percentage of verbs in French end in -DRE. These are for the most part regular verbs, and their conjugation in the present tense follows a set pattern; you just need to drop the -RE ending of the infinitive form of the verb (in English, the infinitive form is the verb preceded by the word ‘to’). The verb minus its ending is called the stem or radical.
Scroll down to the bottom of this post to watch my video lesson on regular -DRE verbs in the present, past, and future tenses.
Conjugating the verbs
In order to conjugate the verbs, you need to drop the -RE and replace it with the following endings:
Répondre (to respond / to reply / to answer)
Je répond + s
Tu répond + s
Il/elle/on répond + (nothing)
Nous répond + ons
Vous répond + ez
Ils/elles répond + ent
Attendre (to wait)
J’attend + s
Tu attend + s
Il/elle/on attend + (nothing)
Nous attend + ons
Vous attend + ez
Ils/elles attend + ent
Note: When verbs are conjugated in the present tense, they can be interpreted as either the continuous present (“ing” in English) or the simple present.
Examples:
Je réponds à un email. = I am replying to an email.
Il répond à tous ses emails = He replies to all of his emails.
Tu attends un ami = You are waiting for a friend.
J’attends toujours le bus à 5h00 = I always wait for the bus at 5:00..
Note: The verbs PRENDRE, APPRENDRE, and COMPRENDRE do not follow the same pattern as regular verbs ending in -IR.
A short list of common regular French -DRE verbs:
- attendre – to wait for
- défendre – to defend
- dépendre – to depend on
- descendre – to descend
- entendre – to hear
- étendre – to stretch
- fondre – to melt
- mordre – to bite
- pendre – to hang, to suspend
- perdre – to lose
- rendre – to give back
- répondre – to answer
- vendre – to sell
Want to know more about my regular French verbs audio drill?
Practice is what it takes when learning verb conjugations. This audio recorded drill (native speaker) will help you learn regular French -ER, -IR and -RE verbs in the present tense. This is a verb drill of 100 common regular French verbs that you can use at any time to improve your skills, pronunciation and speed when conjugating.
Example:
👉FINIR – TO FINISH – JE – 5 seconds to say or write answer before recorded response – JE FINIS
👉ATTENDRE – TO WAIT – TU – 5 seconds to say or write answer before recorded response – TU ATTENDS
👉VENDRE – TO SELL – IL – 5 seconds to say or write answer before recorded response – IL VEND
👉ABOLIR – TO ABOLISH – NOUS – 5 seconds to say or write answer before recorded response – NOUS ABOLISSONS
👉MANGER – TO EAT – VOUS – 5 seconds to say or write answer before recorded response – VOUS MANGEZ
👉RÉUSSIR – TO SUCCEED – ILS – 5 seconds to say or write answer before recorded response – ILS RÉUSSISSENT
During the recording the verbs are not numbered so that you can easily choose a group of 10 or 15 at any point during the exercise to use as a quick review whether you’re at home, in the car on a road trip, or on a plane headed for Paris!
Included:
👉20 minute mp3 audio recording of 100 regular French verbs in the present tense.
👉Answer sheet
👉Student response sheet
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