This lesson covers verbs in French that have minor spelling changes in the present tense, such as those with infinitive forms ending in -cer, -ger, -eler, -eter, and -yer.
Some verbs have minor spelling changes, where the verb stem is adjusted slightly. These are mainly used to maintain the correct pronunciation while different endings are being added. Let’s take a look at some common cases where this occurs:
Watch out for the nous form of the verb, where the ‘c’ becomes ‘ç’ in order to maintain the s-sound. An example of a verb that behaves this way is commencer, ‘to start’:
French | English |
---|---|
je commence | I start |
tu commences | you start |
il commence | he starts |
elle commence | she starts |
nous commençons | we start |
vous commencez | you start |
ils commencent | they start |
elles commencent | they start |
Other verbs that operate like this include:
annoncer | to announce |
avancer | to advance |
menacer | to threaten |
placer | to place |
prononcer | to pronounce |
tracer | to draw |
Just like ‘c,’ the letter ‘g’ can be hard or soft, which means we have to make a small change to the nous form, as in the example manger, ‘to eat’:
French | English |
---|---|
je mange | I eat |
tu manges | you eat |
il mange | he eats |
elle mange | she eats |
nous mangeons | we eat |
vous mangez | you eat |
ils mangent | they eat |
elles mangent | they eat |
Other examples:
arranger | to arrange |
bouger | to move |
diriger | to direct |
nager | to swim |
partager | to share |
voyager | to travel |
These verbs often double up the consonant at the end of the stem to retain the pronunciation, as we can see in this example rappeler (‘to recall’):
French | English |
---|---|
je rappelle | I recall |
tu rappelles | you recall |
il rappelle | he recalls |
elle rappelle | she recalls |
nous rappelons | we recall |
vous rappelez | you recall |
ils rappellent | they recall |
elles rappellent | they recall |
However, there are exceptions to this, most notably acheter (‘to buy’), geler (‘to freeze’), peler (‘to peel’) and celer (‘to conceal’). These belong to a different group of verbs, which change the letter ‘e’ instead, as below.
An example is acheter (‘to buy’):
French | English |
---|---|
j’achète | I buy |
tu achètes | you buy |
il achète | he buys |
elle achète | she buys |
nous achetons | we buy |
vous achetez | you buy |
ils achètent | they buy |
elles achètent | they buy |
When we remove the ‘-er’ ending, if the final ‘e’ in the stem is ‘é’, then this will become ‘è’ for the verb forms where the endings are silent.
For example, the verb céder (‘to yield’) becomes céd- when we remove the -er ending.
This means that the last (and only) ‘e’ has the acute accent (é), which will need to become the grave accent (è) when we put our verb endings on, except for the forms nous and vous, where the endings are pronounced.
In another example, the stem of espérer (‘to hope’) is espér-, so the same applies. Préférer (‘to prefer’) also follows the same logic. Let’s see this in practice, keeping an eye on that final ‘e’ in the verb.
French | English |
---|---|
je préfère | I prefer |
tu préfères | you prefer |
il préfère | he prefers |
elle préfère | she prefers |
nous préférons | we prefer |
vous préférez | you prefer |
ils préfèrent | they prefer |
elles préfèrent | they prefer |
Other examples:
célébrer | to celebrate |
exagérer | to exaggerate |
inquiéter | to worry |
posséder | to posses |
répéter | to repeat |
suggérer | to suggest |
You’ll come across some verbs that end in ‘-yer,’ such as nettoyer (‘to clean’) or essuyer (‘to wipe’). For these verbs, the ‘y‘ becomes an ‘i‘ when the ending is not a syllable, so again for all forms of the verb except nous and vous. Here’s how it looks:
French | English |
---|---|
je nettoie | I clean |
tu nettoies | you clean |
il nettoie | he cleans |
elle nettoie | she cleans |
nous nettoyons | we clean |
vous nettoyez | you clean |
ils nettoient | they clean |
elles nettoient | they clean |
Other examples include appuyer (‘to lean’), ennuyer (‘to annoy’) and envoyer (‘to send’).