Spelling Change Verbs -cer -ger

Verbes à orthographe corrective

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There’s no official name for them,* but I refer to French verbs that end in –cer or –ger as "spelling change verbs" because they require a small spelling change in certain conjugations. For the most part, these verbs are conjugated just like regular -er verbs, other than a little problem in some conjugations that must be corrected for reasons of pronunciation. It’s easy enough to do, once you understand why and how.

 Note that spelling change verbs are not the same thing as stem-changing verbs, though a few verbs belong to both categories.

-cer verbs

The letter c followed by e, as in the verb effacer, is pronounced [s]. But watch what happens when you conjugate it in the present tense:

j’	efface		nous	effacons
tu	effaces		vous	effacez
il	efface		ils	effacent

For 5 of the 6 conjugations, there’s no problem: the c is followed by e, so the pronunciation is correct. But in "effacons," the c is followed by an o, which means the c is pronounced [k] (see "hard vs soft" in the vowels lesson). Since we want the c to be pronounced [s] like it is in the infinitive and all the other conjugations, we need to soften it by changing it to ç (c cédille). So the correct conjugation table is this:

j’	efface		nous	effaçons
tu	effaces		vous	effacez
il	efface		ils	effacent

This same spelling change is required in all conjugations where c is followed by a or o:

present participle		effaçant
imperative		effaçons
imperfect		effaçais, effaçait, effaçaient
passé simple		effaçai, effaças, effaça, effaçâmes, effaçâtes
imperfect subjunctive		effaçasse, effaçasses, effaçât, effaçassions, effaçassiez, effaçassent

There is no spelling change in the other conjugations of the above tenses and moods, because the c is followed by e or i, so it’s already soft.

Likewise, there’s no spelling change in any of these verb forms:

• past participle
• conditional
• future
• subjunctive

  You can see all of these conjugations in action in the effacer verb table.

More -cer verbs

agacer		to annoy
amorcer		to initiate, to energize
annoncer		to announce
avancer		to advance
balancer		to swing
bercer		to rock, cradle
coincer		to jam, wedge
commencer		to begin
dénoncer		to denounce
déplacer		to move, displace
divorcer		to divorce
effacer		to erase
épicer		to spice
forcer		to force, compel
grincer		to creak, squeak
lancer		to throw
menacer		to threaten
percer		to pierce
placer		to put
prononcer		to pronounce
remplacer		to replace
renforcer		to reinforce
renoncer		to renounce
sucer		to suck
tracer		to draw, mark out

-ger verbs

Verbs that end in -ger have the exact same problem with a slightly different solution. The letter g followed by e, as in the verb bouger, is pronounced [ʒ]. But look:

je	bouge		nous	bougons
tu	bouges		vous	bougez
il	bouges		ils	bougent

Once again, for most of the conjugations, there’s no problem: the g is followed by e, so the pronunciation is [ʒ]. But in "bougons," the g is followed by an o, which means the g is pronounced [g]. To get back to [ʒ], we need to soften the g by adding an e between it and the o. Here is the correct conjugation table:

je	bouge		nous	bougeons
tu	bouges		vous	bougez
il	bouges		ils	bougent

This spelling change is required in all conjugations where g is followed by a or o – which are, of course, exactly the same conjugations as for -cer verbs:

present participle		bougeant
imperative		bougeons
imperfect		bougeais, bougeait, bougeaient
passé simple		bougeai, bougeas, bougea, bougeâmes, bougeâtes
imperfect subjunctive		bougeasse, bougeasses, bougeât, bougeassions, bougeassiez, bougeassent

There is no spelling change in the other conjugations of the above tenses and moods, since the g is followed by e or i, or in the past participle, conditional, future, or subjunctive.

  You can see all of these conjugations in the bouger verb table.

More -ger verbs   

abréger**		to shorten, abridge
affliger		to afflict
allonger		to lengthen, stretch
aménager		to fit, develop, adjust
arranger		to arrange
bouger		to move
changer		to change
corriger		to correct
décourager		to discourage
dégager		to release, clear
déménager		to move
déranger		to disturb
diriger		to direct
échanger		to exchange
encourager		to encourage
endommager		to damage
engager		to bind, to hire, to involve
envisager		to imagine
exiger		to demand
figer		to congeal, fix
héberger		to accommodate, harbor
infliger		to inflict
juger		to judge
loger		to lodge
longer		to border
manger		to eat
mélanger		to mix
nager		to swim
neiger		to snow
obliger		to oblige
partager		to share
piéger**		to trap
plonger		to dive
protéger**		to protect
ranger		to arrange, tidy up
rédiger		to write
ronger		to gnaw
songer		to dream
soulager		to soothe, relieve
télécharger		to download, upload
voyager		to travel

* Le Bon Usage discusses these verbs in a section called Observations sur le radical, a) Verbes en -er : faits purement graphiques (as opposed to faits aussi phonétiques).

** These are spelling change as well as stem-changing verbs.

 Related lessons

• Present tense
• Regular -er verbs
• Irregular -er verbs
• Stem-changing verbs
• Introduction to verbs
• Vowels
   

 En español

• Verbos con cambio ortográfico
   

 In italiano

• Verbi di cambio ortografico
   

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