Irregular -er Verbs

	Share / Tweet / Pin Me!

Verbes irréguliers

Technically, there is only one irregular -er verb: aller (to go). Its conjugations are completely unique and in French it’s categorized in le troisième groupe.

But there are three patterns in the conjugation of so-called regular -er verbs that set them apart from the rest. French grammarians consider them all part of le premier groupe, but I think it’s helpful to classify them as irregular, or at least odd.

-ier verbs

The conjugations of –ier verbs like étudier (to study) and crier (to scream) are identical to those of regular -er verbs, but the -i- right before the infinitive ending results in some odd-looking and -sounding conjugations.

Spelling-change verbs

Verbs that end in –cer and –ger like effacer (to erase) and bouger (to move) follow the normal conjugation rules, but require spelling changes in a few conjugations in order to maintain the correct pronunciation.

Stem-changing verbs

Appeler (to call), payer (to pay), and nearly 100 other verbs have two different stems or roots; which one to use depends on the grammatical person the verb is conjugated for.

 Related lessons

• Regular -er verbs
• -ER verb conjugations – PwLF super list
• Irregular verbs
• Introduction to French verbs

 Share / Tweet / Pin Me!