- Learning the patterns shown on means you can now work out the forms of most -er verbs. A few verbs, though, involve a small spelling change. This is usually to do with how a word is pronounced. In the tables below the form(s) with the irregular spelling is/are underlined.
1 Verbs ending in -cer
- With verbs such as lancer (meaning to throw), which end in -cer, c becomes ç before an a or an o. This is so the letter c is still pronounced as in the English word ice.
| Pronoun | Example verb: lancer |
| je | lance |
| tu | lances |
| il elle on | lance |
| nous | lançons |
| vous | lancez |
| ils elles | lancent |
2 Verbs ending in -ger
- With verbs such as manger (meaning to eat), which end in -ger, g becomes ge before an a or an o. This is so the letter g is still pronounced like the s in the English word leisure.
| Pronoun | Example verb: manger |
| je | mange |
| tu | manges |
| il elle on | mange |
| nous | mangeons |
| vous | mangez |
| ils elles | mangent |
3 Verbs ending in -eler
- With verbs such as appeler (meaning to call), which end in -eler, the l doubles before -e, -es and -ent. The double consonant (ll) affects the pronunciation of the word. In appeler, the first e sounds like the vowel sound at the end of the English word teacher, but in appelle the first e sounds like the one in the English word pet.
| Pronoun | Example verb: appeler |
| j’ | appelle |
| tu | appelles |
| il elle on | appelle |
| nous | appelons |
| vous | appelez |
| ils elles | appellent |
- The exceptions to this rule are geler (meaning to freeze) and peler (meaning
to peel), which change in the same way as lever. - Verbs like this are sometimes called ‘1, 2, 3, 6 verbs’ because they change in the first person singular (je), second person singular (tu), and third person singular and plural (il/elle/on and ils/elles).
4 Verbs ending in -eter
- With verbs such as jeter (meaning to throw), which end in -eter, the t doubles before -e, -es and -ent. The double consonant (tt) affects the pronunciation
of the word. In jeter, the first e sounds like the vowel sound at the end of the English word teacher, but in jette the first e sounds like the one in the English word pet.
| Pronoun | Example verb: jeter |
| je | jette |
| tu | jettes |
| il elle on | jette |
| nous | jetons |
| vous | jetez |
| ils elles | jettent |
- The exceptions to this rule include acheter (meaning to buy), which changes in the same way as lever.
- Verbs like this are sometimes called ‘1, 2, 3, 6 verbs’.
5 Verbs ending in -yer
- With verbs such as nettoyer (meaning to clean), which end in -yer, the y changes to i before -e, -es and -ent.
| Pronoun | Example verb: nettoyer |
| je | nettoie |
| tu | nettoies |
| il elle on | nettoie |
| nous | nettoyons |
| vous | nettoyez |
| ils elles | nettoient |
- Verbs ending in -ayer, such as payer (meaning to pay) and essayer (meaning to try), can be spelled with either a y or an i. So je paie and je paye, for example, are both correct.
- Verbs like this are sometimes called ‘1, 2, 3, 6 verbs’.
6 Changes involving accents
- With verbs such as lever (meaning to raise), peser (meaning to weigh) and acheter (meaning to buy), e changes to è before the consonant + -e, -es and -ent. The accent changes the pronunciation too. In lever the first e sounds like the vowel sound at the end of the English word teacher, but in lève and so on the first e sounds like the one in the English word pet.
| Pronoun | Example verb: lever |
| je | lève |
| tu | lèves |
| il elle on | lève |
| nous | levons |
| vous | levez |
| ils elles | lèvent |
- With verbs such as espérer (meaning to hope), régler (meaning to adjust) and préférer (meaning to prefer), é changes to è before the consonant + -e, -es and -ent.
| Pronoun | Example verb: espérer |
| j’ | espère |
| tu | espères |
| il elle on | espère |
| nous | espérons |
| vous | espérez |
| ils elles | espèrent |
- Verbs like this are sometimes called ‘1, 2, 3, 6 verbs’.
Key points
- In verbs ending in -cer and -ger:
c → ç and g → ge in the nous form. - In verbs ending in -eler and -eter:
l → ll and t → tt in all but the nous and vous forms. - In verbs ending in -yer:
y → i in all but the nous and vous forms (optional in -ayer verbs).