Irregularities in Regular Verbs

1. Verbs that end in -ger and -cer:   The
nous form of manger isn't mangons, but mangeons.  The

e has to stay so the g can retain the soft sound.   The
nous form of commencer isn't commencons, but commençons.
 The c must have the accent (called a cedilla) under it to make the
c sound soft.

manger-to eat					commencer-to begin
mange	mawnzh	mangeons	mawn-zhohn		commence	koh-mawnz	commençons	koh-mawn-sohn
manges	mawnzh	mangez	mawn-zhay		commences	koh-mawnz	commencez	koh-mawn-say
mange	mawnzh	mangent	mawnzh		commence	koh-mawnz	commencent	koh-mawnz

2. Verbs that add or change to an accent grave:  Some verbs add
or change to an accent grave (è) in all the forms except the

nous and vous.

acheter-to buy					espérer-to hope
j'achète	zhah-shet	achetons	ahsh-tohn		j'espère	zhess-pehr	espérons	ess-pay-rohn
achètes	ah-shet	achetez	ahsh-tay		espères	ess-pehr	espérez	ess-pay-ray
achète	ah-shet	achètent	ah-shet		espère	ess-pehr	espèrent	ess-pehr

3. Verbs that are conjugated as -er verbs: Some -ir verbs are conjugated
with -er endings.  For example:  offrir-to offer, give,
ouvrir-to open, couvrir-to cover, découvrir-to
discover and souffrir-to suffer.

offrir-to offer

j'offre	zhaw-fruh	offrons	aw-frohn
offres	aw-fruh	offrez	aw-fray
offre	aw-fruh	offrent	aw-fruh

4. Verbs that end in -yer: Change the y to an i in
all forms except the nous and vous.  Examples: envoyer-to send

(awn-vwah-yay), nettoyer-to clean
(nuh-twah-yay), essayer-to try
(ess-ah-yay)

envoyer-to send

j'envoie	zhawn-vwah	envoyons	awn-vwah-yohn
envoies	awn-vwah	envoyez	awn-vwah-yay
envoie	awn-vwah	envoient	awn-vwah

5. Verbs that double the consonant:  Some verbs, such as

appeler-to call (ahp-lay), and jeter-to
throw (zheh-tay) double the consonant in all forms
except the nous and vous.

appeler-to call

j'appelle	zhah-pell	appelons	ahp-lohn
appelles	ah-pell	appelez	ahp-lay
appelle	ah-pell	appellent	ah-pell

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This article was used with permission from:
Indo-European Languages