-GER Verbs - French Spelling Change Verbs

Verbs that end in -ger, like manger, have a spelling change before endings that begin with the hard vowels a or o. Because g followed by a or o would make a hard g sound (like in gold), e has to be added after g to keep the g soft (as in gel).

In the present tense and the imperative, this g > ge spelling change is found only in the nous conjugation: mangeons. It is needed in the present participle, mangeant, but not the past participle, mangé. And it occurs in the following tenses/moods:

• 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 manger conjugated in all tenses.

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