How to Conjugate French Spelling-Change Verbs

There are two groups of otherwise regular -er verbs that have spelling changes in certain conjugations due to hard and soft consonants and vowels. That is, they are conjugated like regular -er verbs, except for slight spelling variations in certain conjugations in order to maintain soft consonant sounds throughout. They are known as are spelling-change verbs.

The Consequences of Orthography

These orthographic changes occur because of how hard and soft letters affect pronunciation. The letters  a, o, and u are sometimes called hard vowels while e and i are soft vowels. Certain consonants (c, g, s) change pronunciation according to which vowel follows them. Place the soft vowels e or i after them, and they have a soft sound; place the sometimes hard vowels a, o and u after these consonants and you could get a hard-sounding consonant. 

The spelling-change verbs follow these rules of orthography. Thus, wherever the g in -ger verbs is followed by a hard vowel like o, it changes to ge to keep the g soft, as in gel. In -cer verbs, wherever the c is followed by a hard vowel, it changes to ç to keep the c soft, as in cell. 

The Actual Changes: '-cer' Verbs

Generally, for -cer verbs, the  c > ç spelling change is found only in the imperative and the nous conjugation of the present tense: lançons. It is also needed in the present participle, lançant, but not the past participle, lancé.

All verbs that end in -cer undergo this spelling change, including:

•    annoncer > to announce
•    avancer > to advance
•    commencer > to begin
•    dénoncer > to denounce
•    divorcer > to divorce
•    effacer > to erase
•    lancer > to throw
•    menacer > to threaten
•    placer > to put
•    prononcer > to pronounce
•    remplace > to replace
•    renoncer > to renounce

The Actual Changes: '-ger' Verbs

For -ger verbs, the g > ge spelling change is likewise found only in the imperative and the present tense nous conjugation: mangeons. It is needed in the present participle, mangeant, but not the past participle, mangé.

All verbs that end in -ger undergo this spelling change, including:

•    arranger > to arrange
•    bouger > to move
•    changer > to change
•    corriger > to correct
•    décourager > to discourage
•    déménager > to move
•    déranger > to disturb
•    diriger > to direct
•    encourager > to encourage
•    engager > to bind
•    exiger > to demand
•    juger > to judge
•    loger > to lodge
•    manger > to eat
•    mélanger > to mix
•    nager > to swim
•    obliger > to oblige
•    partager > to share
•    rédiger > to write
•    voyager > to travel

For both types of spelling-change verbs, these slight changes also occur in the following tenses and moods:

• Imperfect - singular conjugations plus the third person plural
• Passé simple - all conjugations except the third person plural
• Imperfect subjunctive - all conjugations

For both, there is no spelling change in the conditional, future, or subjunctive.

See the Full Conjugations to Understand

Check out the full conjugations of spelling-change  -ger verbs and -cer verbs for a global picture of how these small changes affect spelling.

One caveat: Do not confuse spelling-change verbs with stem-changing verbs. They are completely different, as their names indicate.