One of the most common things I hear from students is:
“Ma’am, I know the rule. I know singular and plural subjects. But when I speak, I still end up making mistakes in their conjugations.”
And as a teacher, I think this is completely normal. I’ve been there too.
Because knowing grammar and using grammar AUTOMATICALLY while speaking are two different skills.
Many learners can easily identify the correct answer in an exercise, but the moment they start speaking, they suddenly say:
❌ Les étudiants veut apprendre plusieurs langues.
❌ Mes amis peut travailler à distance.
❌ Les citoyens doit respecter les lois.
If this happens to you, don’t worry. You’re not forgetting French. You’re simply going through a stage that every language learner goes through.
Step 1: Find the SUBJECT first
Before thinking about the verb, ask yourself:
Who is doing the action?
- One person or one thing → singular
- Several people or things → plural
Once you know the subject, the first verb changes accordingly.
Step 2: Remember that only the first verb changes
When two verbs appear together in French, ONLY THE FIRST ONE is conjugated.
The SECOND verb always remains in the INFINITIVE.
Par exemple,
Le citoyen doit respecter les lois. (not doivent)
Les citoyens doivent respecter les lois. (not doit)
Here, only doit / doivent changes.
The verb respecter stays unchanged.
Similarly:
Un étudiant veut apprendre plusieurs langues.
Les étudiants veulent apprendre plusieurs langues.
The first verb changes.
The second verb (apprendre) remains in the infinitive.
For speaking, choose verbs whose pronunciation changes
This is something I insist on with my students.
Many textbooks give examples like:
- souhaite / souhaitent
- cherche / cherchent
- préfère / préfèrent
But in spoken French, these forms sound exactly the same.
So if your goal is to improve speaking, these examples are not very helpful.
Instead, please practise with verbs whose pronunciation changes between singular and plural forms.
Vouloir
Un étudiant veut apprendre plusieurs langues. (not veulent)
Les étudiants veulent apprendre plusieurs langues. (not veut)
Pouvoir
Mon ami peut travailler à distance. (not peuvent)
Mes amis peuvent travailler à distance. (not peut)
Devoir
Le citoyen doit respecter les lois. (not doivent)
Les citoyens doivent respecter les lois. (not doit)
Aller
Mon collègue va travailler à l’étranger. (not vont)
Mes collègues vont travailler à l’étranger. (not va)
Avoir
Mon voisin a une voiture électrique. (not ont)
Mes voisins ont une voiture électrique. (not a)
Être
Mon frère est optimiste. (not sont)
Mes frères sont optimistes. (not est)
Faire
Cette entreprise fait des efforts pour protéger l’environnement. (not font)
Ces entreprises font des efforts pour protéger l’environnement. (not fait)
Dire
Le gouvernement dit vouloir investir dans l’éducation. (not disent)
Les gouvernements disent vouloir investir dans l’éducation. (not dit)
These pairs train both your ears and your mouth, which is exactly what speaking requires.
“But why do I still make mistakes while speaking?”
Because your brain is doing too many things at the same time.
When speaking, you’re trying to:
- think about ideas,
- find vocabulary,
- remember grammar,
- pronounce correctly,
- and keep the conversation flowing.
As a result, your brain sometimes chooses speed over ACCURACY.
That’s why you may know perfectly well that les étudiants requires veulent, but your mouth still says veut.
This doesn’t mean you don’t know the rule. It simply means the structure has not become AUTOMATIC yet.
So how can you fix this?
1. SLOW DOWN
Many students think fluency means speaking quickly. It doesn’t.
A small PAUSE is completely acceptable.
I’d rather hear a correct sentence spoken slowly than a fast sentence full of mistakes.
2. Ask yourself “WHO?” before the verb
Before speaking, quickly think: Who is doing the action?
One person?
Several people?
This tiny habit becomes automatic with practice.
3. Practise singular-plural pairs aloud
Don’t just read silently. Say them out loud:
- Mon ami peut travailler à distance.
- Mes amis peuvent travailler à distance.
- Mon collègue va travailler à l’étranger.
- Mes collègues vont travailler à l’étranger.
Speaking is a PHYSICAL SKILL. Your mouth needs practice just as much as your brain does.
4. Correct yourself immediately
If you say: “Les citoyens doit… pardon… les citoyens doivent respecter les lois.”
That’s perfectly fine.
SELF-CORRECTION is NOT a sign of weakness.
It’s a sign that your brain has noticed the mistake. And that’s progress.
5. Accept that speaking comes later
Language learning usually follows this order:
Understand → Recognise → Produce → Produce Automatically
Most students become frustrated because they expect automatic speech immediately.
But AUTOMATICITY comes only after REPETITION.
I always tell my students:
Don’t just aim to speak fast. Aim to speak CORRECTLY. Speed comes LATER.
And remember: If your French level inside your head feels higher than the French coming out of your mouth, you’re probably progressing NORMALLY.
EVERY LEARNER goes through this stage.
Learn French with LingoRelic Language Academy
At LingoRelic Language Academy, we help students prepare for DELF/DALF, TEF Canada or TCF Canada through structured online classes focused on pronunciation, sentence formation and real speaking practice.
Our approach goes beyond grammar rules and memorisation. We help students understand how French actually works so that they can communicate with confidence.
Whether you’re starting from A1 or preparing for B2 and beyond, you’ll find a supportive and judgement-free environment where mistakes are considered a natural part of learning. Because fluency is not built by memorising rules. It’s built by using them consistently.
Recent Comments