Regular -re verbs
French verbs ending in -re form the third major group of verbs (Group 3). Many common verbs dealing with time and correspondence, like attendre (to wait) and perdre (to lose), follow a predictable regular pattern.
To conjugate them in the present tense, drop the -re ending from the infinitive and add these new endings:
| Subject | Ending | attendre (to wait) |
|---|
| je / j' | -s | attends |
| tu | -s | attends |
| il/elle/on | (nothing) | attend |
| nous | -ons | attendons |
| vous | -ez | attendez |
| ils/elles | -ent | attendent |
For je and tu, simply add an -s. For il, elle, and on, you add nothing at all! Because the stem of verbs like attendre, répondre, and perdre already ends in a -d, the il/elle/on form just keeps that final consonant.
Since the final -ds and -d are silent, all three singular forms are pronounced exactly the same.
The plural endings (-ons, -ez, -ent) are the exact same ones used for regular -er verbs.
Waiting and answering
When using attendre and répondre, pay special attention to how they connect to the rest of the sentence:
- attendre: The "for" is already built into the verb. Never use pour after it; just state directly what you are waiting for.
- répondre: This verb usually requires the preposition à (to) before the thing or person you are answering.
