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Present Tense: Regular Verbs with Spelling Irregularities

Updated: Jul 1



Reminder:


A description of the conjugations of regular verbs in the present tense without spelling irregularities can be found here: https://www.myfrenchblog.com/post/present-tense-with-regular-verbs



Spelling Irregularities:


Some regular verbs have spelling irregularities when they are conjugated in the present tense. This is due to the way they are pronounced.


There are 5 spelling irregularities you need to be aware of:


-Regular verbs ending in –ger (e.g: manger)

-Regular verbs ending in –cer (e.g: commencer)

-Regular verbs ending in –eler or –eter (e.g: appeler or jeter)

-Regular verbs ending in –oyer (e.g: nettoyer)

-Regular verbs ending in –ayer (e.g: essayer)


You can check these irregularities in the table below:

NOTES:


1. Regular verbs ending in –ger: g becomes ge before an a or an o.


2. Regular verbs ending in –cer: c becomes ç before an a or an o.


3. Regular verbs ending in –eler or –eter: the consonant is doubled for the je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles forms. Except for acheter (see below).


4. Regular verbs ending in –oyer: y becomes i for the je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles forms.


5. Regular verbs ending in –ayez: there are two ways to spell these verbs. You can either change the y to an i or keep the y. Both spellings are correct.



Irregularities involving Accents:


These irregularities are found in the following regular verbs:


1. Regular verbs ending in -e_er (e.g: acheter)

2. Regular verbs ending in -é_er (e.g: espérer)

You can check these irregularities in the table below:

NOTES:


1. Regular verbs ending in –e_er: e becomes è for the je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles forms.


2. Regular verbs ending in –é_er: é become è for the je, tu, il/ elle/ on and ils/ elles forms.



Recommendation:


For Students of A Level:


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