French: three verbs a learner might confuse

Self-tutoring about French: the tutor mentions a situation about which he had to seek reference.

The following is according to my understanding.

In French, one might hear s’il te plaît, which means “please” or “if you please.” (More about that in a coming post, hopefully.)

Yet, there are verbs that can sound, or even look similar: plaindre (to sympathize), se plaindre (to complain) and plaider (to plead).

Some hints to tell the difference might be as follows: Plaider is regular, so in present indicative it has a d like one might expect: Je plaide, for instance, for “I plead.” Plaindre is irregular in a way like craindre, so never has a d except in the infinitive.

Plaire, present indicative, is je/tu plais, il/elle plaît, nous plaisons, vous plaisez, ils/elles plaisent.

Source:

Dubois, M-M, Keen, D.J., Shuey, B., Corbeil, J-C, Crocker, L.G. (1983). Larousse’s French-English Dictionary. Pocket Books New York.