Grammar
Aimer, adorer, détester and -er verbs
Most French verbs end in -er in the infinitive, and nearly all of them follow the same pattern. Remove the -er to get the stem (aim-), then add: -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent. So j'aime, tu aimes, il aime, nous aimons, vous aimez, ils aiment. Je becomes j' before a vowel or silent h: j'aime, j'adore, j'habite.
In speech, the endings -e, -es and -ent sound exactly the same, so aime, aimes and aiment are all pronounced alike. Only nous aimons and vous aimez sound different. A tiny spelling note: with nous, verbs like manger keep an e to keep the g soft: nous mangeons.
To say you like something in general, use aimer, adorer, détester or préférer with le, la, l' or les (never du or des): J'aime le chocolat. You can also follow them with a verb in the infinitive: J'adore cuisiner. English speakers sometimes drop the article ('I like chocolate'), but French needs it.
| j'aime | I like |
| tu aimes | you like |
| il / elle aime | he / she likes |
| nous aimons | we like |
| vous aimez | you like |
| ils / elles aiment | they like |
J'aime le chocolat.
I like chocolate.
Tu adores la pizza ?
Do you love pizza?
Elle déteste le poisson.
She hates fish.
Nous mangeons de la salade.
We are eating salad.
Ils adorent cuisiner.
They love cooking.