A1Unit 5 of the A1 course · « Ma journée »

Daily routine in French: -er verbs and reflexive verbs

Nine French verbs out of ten end in -er and follow one pattern. Learn it once and you can describe your whole day, from « je me réveille » to « je me couche ».

By the end of this unit you can: describe your daily routine with regular -er verbs.

Start the lessons free 28 words and phrases

What this unit covers

1Les verbes en -er: Use the most common type of French verb.
2Ma routine: Describe what you do on a normal day.
3Les jours de la semaine: Say what day it is and when things happen.
4Toujours ou jamais ?: Say how often you do things.
5La journée de Karim: Follow and tell the story of someone's day.

Grammar and usage, explained

One pattern, thousands of verbs

Nine out of ten French verbs end in -er and follow the same pattern. Take off -er, then add -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent. Four of the six forms sound exactly the same.

je parle, tu parles, il parleI speak, you speak, he speaks
nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlentwe speak, you speak, they speak

Verbs you do to yourself

Some verbs carry a little pronoun because you do the action to yourself: je me lève is literally « I raise myself ». For now, learn them as fixed phrases with je me.

Je me lève à sept heures.I get up at seven.
Je me couche à onze heures.I go to bed at eleven.

A trick for remembering

Most days are named after the Moon and the planets: lundi (the Moon), mardi (Mars), mercredi (Mercury), jeudi (Jupiter), vendredi (Venus). Samedi comes from the Sabbath and dimanche from « the Lord's day ».

Never works like ne… pas

Jamais takes the place of pas: wrap the verb in ne… jamais. The other words just follow the verb.

Je mange souvent du poisson.I often eat fish.
Je ne regarde jamais la télé.I never watch TV.

Story: Karim's Monday

Karim is a nurse in Marseille. Listen to his day and answer the questions.

Vocabulary: 28 words and phrases

Tap 🔊 to hear each one, recorded by a native-sounding French voice.

Les verbes en -er

Listen	French	English
	parlerJe parle français. (I speak French.)	to speak
	manger	to eatWith nous, keep the e: nous mangeons.
	travailler	to work
	regarder	to watch / to look at
	écouter	to listen toNo « to » after it: j'écoute la radio.
	nous parlons	we speak
	vous parlez	you speak (plural / formal)
	ils parlent	they speakThe -ent is silent. Ils parlent sounds just like il parle.

Ma routine

Listen	French	English
	je me lève	I get up
	je me douche	I have a shower
	je prends le petit-déjeuner	I have breakfast
	je vais au travail	I go to work
	je rentre	I come home
	je me couche	I go to bed

Les jours de la semaine

Listen	French	English
	lundi	MondayDays take a small letter. Le lundi means on Mondays (every week).
	mardi	Tuesday
	mercredi	Wednesday
	jeudi	Thursday
	vendredi	Friday
	samedi	Saturday
	dimanche	Sunday
	le matin	in the morningThen l'après-midi (afternoon) and le soir (evening).
	aujourd'hui	todayTomorrow is demain, yesterday is hier.

Toujours ou jamais ?

Listen	French	English
	toujours	always
	souvent	often
	parfois	sometimes
	ne… jamaisJe ne mange jamais de viande. (I never eat meat.)	never
	tous les jours	every day

Example sentences

Je parle un peu français.I speak a little French.
Je me lève à sept heures et je me douche.I get up at seven and I have a shower.
Le samedi matin, je vais au marché.On Saturday mornings, I go to the market.
J'écoute souvent de la musique le soir.I often listen to music in the evening.
Le lundi, je travaille et le dimanche, je me repose.On Mondays I work, and on Sundays I rest.

Practise it, don't just read it

This unit is part of French Ultimate's A1 course: 5 short lessons with an animated video each, speaking and listening practice, a reading and an end-of-unit test.

Start the lessons free