Languages › French -CER Verbs - French Spelling Change Verbs Verbes qui changent d'orthographe Print Jamie Grill/Getty Images French Grammar Pronunciation & Conversation Vocabulary Resources For Teachers By ThoughtCo Team Updated on January 30, 2019 Verbs that end in -cer, like lancer, have a spelling change before endings that begin with the hard vowels a or o. Because c followed by a or o would make a hard c sound (like in cold), the c has to change to ç (c with a cedilla) to keep the c soft (as in cell).In the present tense and the imperative, this c > ç spelling change is found only in the nous conjugation: lançons. It is needed in the present participle, lançant, but not the past participle, lancé. And it occurs in the following tenses/moods: Read More How to Conjugate French Spelling-Change Verbs By ThoughtCo Team Imperfect - singular conjugations plus the third person plural Passé simple - all conjugations except the third person plural Imperfect subjunctive - all conjugations There is no spelling change in the conditional, future, or subjunctive.The table below summarizes just the spelling change conjugations, or you can see lancer conjugated in all tenses.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 remplacer to replace renoncer to renounce Present Imperfect Passé simple Imperfect subjunctive Participles je lance lançais lançai lançasse tu lances lançais lanças lançasses Present il lance lançait lança lançât lançant nous lançons lancions lançâmes lançassions vous lancez lanciez lançâtes lançassiez Past ils lancent lançaient lancèrent lançassent lancé Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Team, ThoughtCo. "-CER Verbs - French Spelling Change Verbs." ThoughtCo, Dec. 6, 2021, thoughtco.com/french-cer-verbs-1368948. Team, ThoughtCo. (2021, December 6). -CER Verbs - French Spelling Change Verbs. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/french-cer-verbs-1368948 Team, ThoughtCo. "-CER Verbs - French Spelling Change Verbs." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/french-cer-verbs-1368948 (accessed March 29, 2024). copy citation By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies