Manger is a regular French -er verb, but it is also a spelling-change verb. This means that it takes all the regular -er endings, but a small spelling change is made to the stem for consistency of pronunciation. The stem: the infinitive manger minus the -er ending, which leaves the stem mang-. All endings are added to this stem.
Spelling-Change Verb
Here's how the spelling change works: Verbs like manger that end in -ger change spelling slightly before endings that begin with the hard vowels a or o. Because g followed by a or o makes a hard g sound (as in gold), an e has to be added after g to keep a soft g (like the j in je). In short, wherever the g is not followed by an e, an e must be inserted so that the g remains soft throughout the conjugations.
For example, in the present tense and the imperative, this g-to-ge spelling change is found only in the nous conjugation: mangeons. It is needed for the present participle, mangeant, but not for the past participle, mangé.
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 the spelling change conjugations. You might want to take a look at manger conjugated in all tenses to get the full picture of how often an e is needed after each g.
Use and Expressions of Manger
The food-conscious French have plenty of expressions using manger. Note that in familiar, everyday language, people frequently use the synonym bouffer, another regular -er verb that means "to eat," as in On a bien bouffé. ("The food was great." / "We ate well.") Here are a few expressions with manger:
- Elle mange de tout: She eats everything
- On en mangerait: It looks good enough to eat (Notice how much meaning was conveyed here by the simple use of the conditional)
- manger de la vache enragée: to have a hard time of it
- Il a mangé du lion aujourd'hui: He's full of beans today
- Il ne mange pas de ce pain-là: That's not his cup of tea
- Elle est mignonne. On le mangerait! She's so cute; I could eat her up!
- On peut toujours essayer; ça ne mange pas de pain: We can always try; it won't cost us anything
- manger à sa faim: to eat one's fill
- Je veux à manger: I want something to eat
- As-tu eu assez à manger? Did you get enough to eat?
- Que veux-tu que je fasse à manger ce soir? What would you like me to cook / make for dinner tonight?
Conjugations of Manger
Present | Future | Imperfect | Present participle |
|
je |
mange | mangerai | mangeais | mangeant |
tu | manges | mangeras | mangeais | |
il | mange | mangera | mangeait | |
nous | mangeons | mangerons | mangions | |
vous | mangez | mangerez | mangiez | |
ils | mangent | mangeront | mangeaient |
Passé composé |
|
Auxiliary verb | avoir |
Past participle |
mangé |
Subjunctive |
Conditional | Passé simple |
Imperfect subjunctive |
|
je | mange | mangerais | mangeai | mangeasse |
tu | manges | mangerais |
mangeas | mangeasses |
il |
mange | mangerait | mangea | mangeât |
nous | mangions | mangerions | mangeâmes | mangeassions |
vous | mangiez | mangeriez | mangeâtes | mangeassiez |
ils | mangent | mangeraient | mangèrent | mangeassent |
Imperative | |
(tu) |
mange |
(nous) |
mangeons |
(vous) |
mangez |
Other Verbs Ending in '-ger'
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