Posted by Chester Morton / Friday 10 February 2017 / No comments
The present tense of commencer and lancer
Commencer (to
begin)
je
commence nous
commençons
tu
commences vous
commencez
il/elle/on commence ils/elles
commencent
lancer (to throw, launch)
je lance nous lançons
tu lances vous lancez
il/elle/on
lance ils/elles
lancent
The spelling change in -cer
verbs is also found in forms of the imperfect past tense. Other verbs like commencer
include the following:
annoncer to announce percer
to pierce
avancer to advance placer to place
dénoncer to denounce prononcer
to pronounce
divorcer to divorce remplacer to replace
forcer (à) to force tracer to trace (out)
menacer to threaten
Tu lances ta boîte
cette année?
Are you opening
your business this year?
Nous prononçons bien
le nouveau vocabulaire!
We pronounce the new vocabulary
well!
Mes voisins sont en train
de divorcer. —Quel dommage! C’est un beau couple.
My neighbors are divorcing. —What
a pity! They’re a lovely couple.
Vous remplacez ce
cours par un autre? Are you replacing this class with another
one?
Verbs
like manger (to
eat)
To keep
the soft g sound [j], verbs with infi nitives ending in -ger introduce
the letter e (a mute e) before an -a- or an -o- at
the start of the conjugated verb ending. In the present tense this spelling
change occurs in the nous form only (nous mangeons).
Present
Tense of manger and exiger
manger (to eat) exiger (to demand)
je mange j’exige
tu manges tu exiges
il/elle/on
mange il/elle/on exige
nous mangeons
nous exigeons
vous
mangez vous exigez
ils/elles
mangent ils/elles exigent
Other verbs like manger include
the following:
arranger (to
arrange) loger (to live [somewhere];
to house)
bouger (to move) changer (to change)
mélanger (to mix) corriger (to correct)
nager (to swim) dégager (to free, release)
neiger (to snow) diriger (to direct)
obliger (à) (to oblige; to
force) échanger (to exchange)
partager (to share) engager (to hire)
songer
(à) (to dream; to think of, interroger
(to question) about)
juger (to judge) voyager (to travel)
Nous mélangeons le sucre et
les fruits. We mix the sugar
and the fruit.
Mes
parents voyagent beaucoup. My
parents travel a lot.
Le
patron engage deux ingénieurs. The boss is hiring two engineers.
Nous logeons chez tante Lucie cet été? Are
we staying with Aunt Lucie this summer?
Tu nages
bien? Do you
swim well?
Il neige (it
snows, it is snowing) is used only in the third-person singular (impersonal).
Verbs like
acheter (to buy)
Verbs with
a mute e in the syllable before the -er infinitive ending (acheter,
lever) change
the mute e to è (adding a grave accent) in forms that have a
mute e in
the verb ending. This means that the rule does not apply to nous
and vous
forms.
Present
Tense of acheter and lever
acheter
(to
buy)
lever (to raise, lift)
j’achète
je
lève
tu achètes
tu
lèves
il/elle/on
achète il/elle/on
lève
nous
achetons nous
levons
vous
achetez vous
levez
ils/elles
achètent ils/elles
lèvent
Other verbs
like acheter include:
achever
(de)
to finish amener to bring (someone.)
élever to
erect; to raise emmener to lead away
enlever
to remove geler to freeze
se
lever to get up, stand up mener to lead, guide
peser
to weigh promener to walk (e.g., the dog)
se
promener to take a walk, a drive soulever
to lift (up)
The
pronoun se (or s’), when listed with an infi nitive (se lever,
se promener),
indicates
that the verb is reflexive or pronominal.
Je
pèse les légumes? Shall
I weigh the vegetables?
Nous amenons nos amis ce soir. We will bring our
friends this evening.
Guy
et sa copine promènent le chien? Are Guy and his girlfriend walking the
dog?
Tu n’achèves pas le travail? Aren’t you finishing the job?
