Giáo trình động từ tiếng Pháp - Part I Living in the Here and Now: The Present Indicative -

Chapter 3

Knowing How to Handle

Spelling-Change Verbs

In This Chapter

Trying out different spelling-change verbs

Making sentences with these verbs

Spelling-change verbs are common verbs that you use every day. For instance, when

you buy (acheter) groceries, when you call (appeler) someone, or when you travel

(voyager) somewhere, you use this type of verb. Spelling-change verbs are similar to regular

-er verbs but with a slight change in the stem. For example, verbs whose infinitives end in

-ger or -cer require changes only in the first person plural (the nous form). Everything else

is regular. Other verbs require an accent grave on the mute e or a double consonant after

the mute e. Don’t worry though, in this chapter I show you these changes step by step.

Keep in mind that no matter what the changes are, the endings of all these verbs are those

of regular -er verbs, like parler (to speak). (Check out Chapter 2 for information about con￾jugating regular verbs.)

Taking a Stab at Spelling-Change Verbs

When speaking French, sometimes you encounter regular -er verbs that have a slight spelling

change. Don’t worry about difficult spelling. I don’t ask you to spell “hors-d’oeuvre” or

“Versailles” in this section. Instead, this section focuses on the -er verbs that have spelling

changes within their conjugations. I show you these changes, but note that the endings of

these verbs are the same as those of regular -er verbs.

Managing -ger verbs

The verbs that end in -ger, like manger (to eat) have a spelling change in the nous form only.

Unlike the regular -er verbs, -ger verbs need to keep the e before the -ons in the nous form.

To form the present tense, drop the -er of the infinitive and add the following endings, just

like you do for the regular -er verbs:

Common Spelling Change for -ger Verb Endings

je -e nous -eons

tu -es vous -ez

il/elle/on -e ils/elles -ent

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