French Regular -RE Verbs

There are five main kinds of verbs in French: regular -ER, -IR, -RE; stem-changing; and irregular. Once you've learned the rules of conjugation for each of the first three kinds of verbs, you should have no problem conjugating regular verbs in each of those categories—the smallest category of regular French verbs, -RE verbs.

The verb form that ends in -RE is called the infinitive (in English, the infinitive is the verb preceded by the word "to"), and -RE is the infinitive ending. The verb with the infinitive ending removed is called the stem or radical. To conjugate -RE verbs, remove the infinitive ending to find the stem and add the endings in the table below.

French Regular -RE Verb Conjugation

To conjugate an -RE verb in the present tense, remove the infinitive ending and then add the appropriate endings. For example, here are the present tense conjugations for the regular -RE verbs descendre (to descend), perdre (to lose), and vendre (to sell):

Regular -RE verbs share conjugation patterns in all tenses and moods.

French regular -RE verbs are a small group of French verbs which share a conjugation pattern. Here are the most common regular -RE verbs:

• attendre: to wait (for)
• défendre: to defend
• descendre: to descend
• entendre: to hear
• étendre: to stretch
• fondre: to melt
• pendre: to hang, suspend
• perdre: to lose
• prétendre: to claim
• rendre: to give back, return
• répandre: to spread, scatter
• répondre: to answer
• vendre: to sell