Regular -ier Verbs

Verbes du premier groupe

Regular French verbs
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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

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French -ier verbs

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