Lesson 8: Stem-Changing Verbs in the Present Tense

Good news! Not all irregular verbs are so irregular. Some common ‑ER verbs make only small, predictable spelling changes in the present tense, usually to preserve their pronunciation.

For most of the patterns in this lesson, the change appears with je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles, while nous and vous keep the original stem.

Let's look at the four main patterns.

Some verbs change an e or é near the end of the stem to è in the je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles forms.

The nous and vous forms keep the original vowel:

• nous préférons, vous préférez
• nous levons, vous levez

Some verbs in the appeler and jeter families double their l or t in the je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles forms:

The nous and vous forms keep a single consonant:

• nous appelons, vous appelez
• nous jetons, vous jetez

Not every verb ending in ‑eler or ‑eter doubles its consonant. Some instead follow the accent-grave pattern:

With ‑oyer and ‑uyer verbs, y changes to i in the je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles forms:

The nous and vous forms keep the y:

• nous nettoyons, vous nettoyez
• nous ennuyons, vous ennuyez

With ‑ayer verbs, either spelling is accepted in the changing forms:

The nous and vous forms always keep the y:

• nous payons, vous payez

Verbs ending in ‑ger and ‑cer are a little different: they change only in the nous form to preserve the soft g or c sound.

‑ger Verbs

Add an e before ‑ons:

In French, g normally has a hard sound before o. The extra e in mangeons keeps the soft g sound heard in manger.

‑cer Verbs

Change c to ç before ‑ons:

In French, c normally has a hard sound before o. The cédille (ç) in commençons keeps the soft c sound heard in commencer.

These patterns appear in many other common verbs. Here are a few more examples to help you recognize each group: