Semi-regular -ger Verbs Conjugation in The Present Tense (Le Présent)

In this French grammar lesson we will learn about semi-regular -ger verbs conjugation in the present tense. In this lesson you will learn about:

• how regular -ger verbs are conjugated in French,
• how regular -ger verbs are used in French,
• how regular -ger verbs are pronounced in French,
• how regular -ger verbs are used in sentences in French,
• how regular -ger verbs conjugation Anki files can be downloaded.

By the end of the lesson you will know all about regular -ger verbs conjugation in the present tense!

Semi-regular -ger Verbs Conjugation Table

	new ending	voyager (to travel)
je	e	voyage
tu	es	voyages
il/elle/on	e	voyage
nous	geons	voyageons
vous	ez	voyagez
ils/elles	ent	voyagent

Semi-regular -ger Verbs Conjugation Method

This section will show you how semi-regular -ger verbs are conjugated. There is a three step method that will make everything very easy for you.

In French some verbs change in the “nous” form in order to make it easier to pronounce them. The “g” becomes “ge” before the letter “o”. This is done in order to keep the soft g sound before the a/o/u vowels.

In order to conjugate semi-regular -ger verbs in the present tense for the nous form one must:

1. Find the infintive (full verb)
2. Cut off the -ger
3. Add the new ending

In the conjugation table above you can see the verb voyager which means “to travel” in English. We will take this verb and conjugate it in the “nous” form using the three step method.

1. voyager

The full verb of “to travel” is voyager in French

2. voya

Once you cut of the ger ending all that is left is voya

3. voyageons

When we add the new ending geons the final conjugated form will be voyageons

So if we wish to say “we travel” we say:

Nous voyageons

Usage of Semi-regular -ger Verbs

French has three regular verb groups

• regular -er verbs
• regular -ir verbs
• regular -re verbs

Semi-regular -ger verbs are a variation on regular -er verbs. That is why the endings are so similar. Here is a list of common verbs that you are sure to encounter in day-to-day life:

bouger	to move
changer	to change
corriger	to correct
déménager	to move (out of a house)
exiger	to demand
encourager	to encourage
manger	to eat
partager	to share
protéger	to protect

Pronunciation of Semi-regular -ger verbs

In this section on semi-regular -ger verbs conjugation we will focus on pronunciation. There are 3 important rules to take into account when we want to pronounce semi-regular -ger verbs in French.

1. The je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles form all have the same pronunciation. The e, es, and ent ending are not pronounced.

Je voyage

Tu voyages

Il voyage

Ils voyagent

All these VERBS have the same exact pronunciation.

2. The “ge” in the nous form will have a soft pronounciation

Nous voyageons

Please note the soft “ge” sound.

3. If the first letter of the verb is a vowel or an “h” then we must remove the first “e” in the “je” form and replace this with an apostrophe.

exiger

J‘exige

Please note how it is NOT “je exige”. This would be wrong.

We don’t pronounce the “e” in “je” but immediately move onto the “e” sound of “exige“

4. If the first letter of the verb is a vowel or “h” then we must perform a liason. This happens in the nous, vous, and ils/elles form. This means that the final “s” of nous, vous, and ils/elles will have a “z” sound.

Nous exigeons

Vous exigez

Ils exigent

Please note how the final “s” in all of the subject pronouns sounds like a “z”

Example Sentences with Semi-regular -ger Verbs

The final section of this lesson on semi-regular -ger verbs conjugation is about seeing it in action, so you can improve your understanding on how semi-regular -ger verbs are used in practice. Here are some example sentences that show how semi-regular -ger verbs are used French.

bouger

Désolé, je bouge un peu lentement

Sorry. I’m moving a little slow

changer

Et maintenant tu changes de sujet.

And now you’re changing the subject.

corriger

Il corrige une erreur

He corrects a mistake

déménager

Nous déménageons à Paris

We’re moving to Paris

encourager

Vous nous encouragez à poursuivre sur cette voie.

You encourage us to continue along this path.

manger

Ils sont là et mangent des frites.

They are there and eating french fries.

Anki File for Semi-regular -ger Verbs

It is important to do the Anki excercises for this lesson, so that you can better remember what you just studied.

By downloading the Anki File for French A1, you can practice every French A1 lesson that is on Language Atlas.

You can also choose to just get the Anki File for French A1 Verbs. This only has the verbs for French A1.

If you don’t know why you should use Anki, or if you don’t know what Anki is, then please click here.

Anki can be downloaded from here.