How to Conjugate the Regular French Verb 'Acheter' ('To Buy')

'Achete' ("to buy") is a very common French stem-changing verb. It is a verb that has two different stems but is conjugated with the same endings as regular -er verbs.

Stem-changing verbs are sometimes also called boot verbs or shoe verbs because if you circle the forms that have stem changes in the conjugation table below, the resulting shape looks like a boot or shoe.

The Actual Stem Change

For the present tense of verbs that end in -e_er ( _ indicates one or more consonants), the stem change consists of changing the e before that consonant to è in all forms but nous and vous. See this happen in the table below. Stem changes are not limited to the present tense; they occur across several French tenses and moods, as shown in the table below.

Note that the table below has only the simple conjugations of the verb acheter; it does not include the compound tenses, which consist of a form of the auxiliary verb and the past participle.

Common '-e_er' Stem-Changing Verbs

•    acheter > to buy
•    amener > to take
•    emmener > to take 
•    enlever > to remove
•    geler > to freeze
•    harceler > o harass
•    lever > to lift, raise
•    mener > to lead
•    peler > to peel
•    peser > to weigh
•    promener > to walk

Other than acheter, geler, harceler and peler, most verbs that end in -eler and -eter are part of a different stem-change group that includes -eler verbs and -eter verbs.

Verbs that end in -é_er have a similar stem change. For the present tense of verbs that end in -é_er, the stem change consists of changing é to è in all forms but nous and vous, as in the following example:

   je considère       nous considérons
tu considères     vous considérez
il considère        ils considèrent

Common '-é_er' Stem-Changing Verbs

•   céder > to give up, dispose of
•    célébrer > to celebrate
•    compléter > to complete
•    considérer > to consider
•    différer > to differ
•    espérer > to hope
•    exagérer* > to exaggerate
•    gérer > to manage
•    inquiéter > to worry
•    modérer > to moderate
•    pénétrer > to enter
•    posséder > to possess
•    préférer > to prefer
•    protéger* > to protect
•    refléter > to reflect
•    répéter > to repeat
•    révéler > to reveal
•    suggérer > to suggest
•    zébrer > to stripe
  *These are also spelling change verbs.

Verbs that end in -e_er have a similar stem change. For -e_er verbs and -é_er verbs, the penultimate e takes on or changes to è.

Simple Conjugations of the French Stem-Changing Verb 'Acheter'

	Present	Future	Imperfect	Present participle
j'	achète	achèterai	achetais	achetant
tu	achètes	achèteras	achetais
il	achète	achètera	achetait
nous	achetons	achèterons	achetions
vous	achetez	achèterez	achetiez
ils	achètent	achèteront	achetaient

Passé composé
Auxiliary verb	avoir
Past participle	acheté

	Subjunctive	Conditional	Passé simple	Imperfect subjunctive
j'	achète	achèterais	achetai	achetasse
tu	achètes	achèterais	achetas	achetasses
il	achète	achèterait	acheta	achetât
nous	achetions	achèterions	achetâmes	achetassions
vous	achetiez	achèteriez	achetâtes	achetassiez
ils	achètent	achèteraient	achetèrent	achetassent

	Imperative
tu	achète
nous	achetons
vous	achetez