Conjugate -é(-)er, -e(-)er verbs - except -eter and -eler - in the present tense in French (Le Présent)

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCE

Last updated: 2023-05-09

Verbs ending in -É(-)ER such as célébrer, compléter, préférer, espérer..., as well as most verbs ending in -E(-)ER (except for -ETER and -ELER verbs) such as mener, lever, semer, élever... are semi-regular -ER verbs in Le Présent (Indicatif), which means that, even though they take the regular -ER endings of Le Présent (Indicatif), their spelling and subsequently their pronunciation vary.

The rule for these verbs is as follows:

The é in -É(-)ER(or first e in -E(-)ER)becomes è with je/tu/il/elle/on/ils/elles.

ATTENTION:

This rule does NOT apply to verbs in -Ê(-)ER such as fêter, rêver, arrêter...: they follow the regular -ER pattern (See Conjugate regular -er verbs in the present tense in French (Le Présent)).

Conjugation of COMPLÉTER (to complete) in Le Présent (Indicatif) in French

je	complète
tu	complètes
il/elle/on	complète
nous	complétons
vous	complétez
ils/elles	complètent

Note that ONLY the nous and vous forms don't change.

Of course, the pronunciation is affected: complèt- [com-plett], whereas complétons / complétez are [com-play-ton / com-play-tay]

Look at and listen to these other examples:

Mes amis ne célèbrent pas Noël, mais nous le célébrons.My friends don't celebrate Christmas, but we celebrate it.

Tu préfères la vanille, mais nous préférons le chocolat.You prefer vanilla, but we prefer chocolate.

Il complète le test, mais vous ne le complétez pas.He's completing the test, but you're not completing it.

Je m'inquiète, et ensuite vous vous inquiétez.I get worried and then you get worried.

Nous interprétons les signes, mais il les interprète mieux que nous.We interpret signs, but he interprets them better than us.

Je le répète, et ensuite vous le répétez.I repeat it, and then you repeat it.

Tu révèles ton secret, et nous révélons le nôtre.You reveal your secret, and we reveal ours.

J'espère que tu vas bien, et nous espérons te voir bientôt.I hope you're ok, and we hope to see you soon.

Conjugation of MENER (to lead) in Le Présent (Indicatif) in French

je	mène
tu	mènes
il/elle/on	mène
nous	menons
vous	menez
ils/elles	mènent

Note that, once again, ONLY the nous and vous forms don't change.

Of course, the pronunciation is affected: mène/mènes/mènent are pronounced [men], whereas menons/menez are [meu-non / meu-ney]

Look at and listen to these other examples:

Le matin, je me lève à 6 heures, mais vous vous levez à 7 heures.In the morning, I get up at 6 but you get up at 7.

Je me promène dans le parc où vous vous promenez aussi.I'm taking a walk in the park where you're taking a walk too.

L'épicier pèse les légumes, puis nous les repesons.The grocer weighs the vegetables, then we weigh them again.

Elle enlève sa veste pendant que nous enlevons nos chaussures.She's taking off her jacket while we're taking off our shoes.

Il élève des poules. Nous élevons des vaches.He raises hens. We raise cows.

Ils sèment des tulipes et vous semez des tournesols.They sow tulips and you sow sunflowers.

Verbs in -ETER and -ELER are a bit more complex to handle (of course!):

See Conjugate -eter and -eler verbs in the present tense in French (Le Présent) - main rule (ll / tt)

and Conjugate -eter and -eler verbs in the present tense in French (Le Présent) - with "è"

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