When learning French, it is critical that you are capable of memorizing the various verb conjugations. Remember, that you must do more than simply study the spelling of the verbs, meaning that you in order to use verbs correctly in a conversation, the pronunciation is also highly important. Therefore, we have outlined seven steps to help you learn French verbs efficiently.
Step 1: Listen
Listen to the French verb conjugation and if you are learning French to speak, then you first need to know how the verb is correctly pronounced.
Make sure that you note where there are silent letters, liaisons and glidings in French, such as:
- the “ent” at the end of a verb in the “ils” form is silent
- “Je suis” is actually pronounced “shui” in modern spoken French
- There are strong liaisons in Z after nous, vous, ils and elles. If for “ils ont” you say “eel on”, the French are not going to understand you. They expect “eel zon”.
- There are glidings after il and elle – “elle est” is pronounced “el-lay”
Step 2: Repeat
Repeat saying the verbs out loud and copy the pronunciation of the speaker so that you practice using the correct pronunciation.
Step 3: Read
This time read the French verb forms as you are listening to the pronunciation. Ensure that you give attention to what letters are pronounced and which ones are silent. It can be helpful to take pronunciation notes so the written form doesn’t fool you into a wrong pronunciation.
Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the verb pronunciation comes easily to you.
Step 4: Pronouns
Typically, French verb conjugations are going to be presented in a list or a chart, with the subject pronouns, in that order: je, tu, il/elle/on, nous, vous, ils/elles.
Step 5: Affirmative & Negative
Practice being able to use a verb in both a positive and negative context so that you can quickly respond to questions requiring either an affirmation or a negation.
Step 6: Order
Do not create the habit to only practice your verbs in order of JE, TU, IL, and so forth, since being able to quickly jump between pronouns whenever required in a conversation will be an excellent skill to develop.
Step 7: Tenses
Review the French verb timeline so that you truly understand when to use the Plus Que-Parfait, Futur Proche, or the Conditionnel Présent.