Conjugation

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Conjugation is a traditional term indicating that verbs can be classified according to the shape of the inflectional endings they may take. See also declension class.

Examples

For example, in French verbs that share the same endings are grouped together and are conjugated similarly as in the following example where verbs ending in -er in the infinitive are conjugated the same way in all five possible inflections: Person, Number, Mood, Tense, and Voice:

Present

je parle
tu parles
il/elle parle
Nous parlons
Vous parlez
ils/elles parlent

Imperfect

je parlais
tu parlais
il/elle parlait
Nous parlions
Vous parliez
ils/elles parlaient

Now a verb that shares the same ending -er with parler like aimer has a similar pattern when conjugated in the present and the imperfect.

Present

je aime
tu aimes
il/elle aime
Nous aimons
Vous aimez
ils/elles aiment

Imperfect

je aimais
tu aimais
il/elle aimait
Nous aimions
Vous aimiez
ils/elles aimaient

Useful Links


Other languages

German Konjugation