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
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
| Present | Imperfect | Passé simple | Imperfect subjunctive | Participles | ||||||
| je | mange | mangeais | mangeai | mangeasse | ||||||
| tu | manges | mangeais | mangeas | mangeasses | Present | |||||
| il | mange | mangeait | mangea | mangeât | mangeant | |||||
| nous | mangeons | mangions | mangeâmes | mangeassions | ||||||
| vous | mangez | mangiez | mangeâtes | mangeassiez | Past | |||||
| ils | mangent | mangeaient | mangèrent | mangeassent | mangé | |||||
