Regular -ier Verbs

Verbes du premier groupe

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French verbs that end in –ier are regular –er verbs, but that -i- in front of the infinitive ending can be a little confusing, so here’s a closer look.

–ier verbs take the regular –er verb endings:

je	-e		nous	-ons
tu	-es		vous	-ez
il	-e		ils	-ent

Once you remove the –er ending from the infinitive, you’re left with a stem that ends in –i, so of course that letter must be maintained in all the conjugations.

Par exemple…

copier (to copy)

je	copie		nous	copions
tu	copies		vous	copiez
il/elle/on	copie		ils/elles	copient

Easy enough, right? You’ll note that the nous and vous forms end in –ions and –iez, respectively, which might remind you of the imperfect and subjunctive. Just remember that for –ier verbs, the -i- is part of the stem, not the ending, so a single i before the ending indicates the present tense.

 Here’s where it gets confusing. You know that the stem ends in -i, and you know that the nous and vous imperfect and subjunctive endings begin with -i, so what happens when you want to conjugate them into those verb forms? You end up with –ii-.

	imperfect	subjunctive
je	copiais	copie
tu	copiais	copies
il/elle/on	copiait	copie
nous	copiions	copiions
vous	copiiez	copiiez
ils/elles	copiaient	copient

That -ii- in the nous and vous forms does more than just look weird; it also has to be pronounced.

  Compare

nous		copions [kuh pyo(n)]	copiions [kuh pi yo(n)]
vous		copiez [kuh pyay]	copiiez [kuh pi yay]

So there you have it – just a bit of weirdness to add to all that French verb conjugation fun.  🙂

French –ier verbs

allier		to ally
amplifier		to amplify
apprécier		to appreciate
approprier		to suit, adapt
associer		to associate
balbutier		to stammer, babble
bénéficier		to benefit
certifier		to certify
châtier		to chastise
confier		to confide
copier		to copy
crier		to scream
dédier		to dedicate
défier		to challenge
s’écrier		to exclaim
étudier		to study
se fier		to trust, rely on
identifier		to identify
justifier		to justify
licencier		to lay off, dismiss
lier		to bind, link
marier		to marry
se méfier		to mistrust
modifier		to modify
multiplier		to multiply
négocier		to negotiate
nier		to deny
oublier		to forget
pallier		to overcome, compensate for
parier		to bet, wager
planifier		to plan
plier		to fold, bend
prier		to pray
rassasier		to satisfy
rectifier		to rectify
remercier		to thank
répudier		to repudiate
scier		to saw
signifier		to signify, mean
simplifier		to simplify
skier		to ski
se soucier		to care
spécifier		to specify
strier		to streak, ridge
vérifier		to verify

 Related lessons

• Regular –er verbs
• Present tense
• Imperfect
• Subjunctive

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