Spelling Change Verbs
[alias: Orthographic Changing Verbs]
(It's a neat word; learn it and impress your friends!)
Click *HERE* for Orthographic Exercise
Some verbs change accents, others double letters or change -y- to -i- when the final -e/-ent is silent (e.g., payer> paie/paient).
These changes take place inside the "shoe", and the forms outside the "shoe" tend to resemble the infinitive.
Changes involving:
1. Double letters: appeler, jeter [N.B.: the -l- and the -t- are single letters in the infinitive.]
appeler
| j'appelle | nous appelons (like infin., single -l-) |
|
tu -ll- |
vous appelez (like infin.) |
| il,elle -ll- | ils, elles -ll- |
The verb jeter doubles the -tt- inside the shoe and keeps a single -t- outside the shoe.
2. Accents: acheter, promener. [N.B.: No matter how many times the letter -e- appears in the infinitive, the one that changes will always be the last one before the infinitive ending -er.]
acheter
| j'achète | nous achetons (like infin., unaccented -e-) |
| tu -è- | Vous achetez (like infin.) |
| elle -è- | ils -è- |
promener
| je promène | nous promenons (like infin., unaccented -e-) |
| tu -è- | Vous promenez (like infin.) |
| elle -è- | ils -è- |
3. Change -y- to -i-: verbs ending in -yer, like employer, nettoyer. [N.B.: -ayer verbs have a choice, either keep -y- or change to -i-.]
employer
| j'emploie | nous employons (like infin., -y- |
| tu -i- | Vous employez (like infin.) |
| il -i- | elles -i- |
4.Before -ons, verbs ending in -cer > -çons, -ger > -geons: commencer, manger. These changes are necessary in order to maintain the pronunciation as in the infinitive: -c- + -o- is pronounced [k], not [s] as in commencer. Likewise, -g- next to -o- = a hard [g] and not the soft g, as in je.
commencer