French grammar · Intermediate
Spelling Change Verbs in French: -cer, -ger, and the Letters That Guard a Sound
Spelling change verbs are the -cer and -ger verbs that add a cedilla or an extra e before a or o: commencer gives nous commençons, manger gives nous mangeons. Nothing about the pronunciation changes. The spelling changes precisely so that it doesn't.
Nous commençons à huit heures et nous mangeons vers midi.
We start at eight and we eat around noon.
What it is
In French, c and g are soft before e and i and hard before a, o, and u. A verb like commencer has a soft c in its infinitive, so whenever an ending begins with a or o the c would harden. French prevents that by adding a cedilla, and -ger verbs do the same job with an extra e.
commencer → nous commençons ; manger → nous mangeons. — to begin → we begin ; to eat → we eat.
How to spot it
Look at the letter right after the stem. If an ending starts with a or o and the stem ends in c or g, expect ç or ge. Every other ending leaves the verb alone.
- Nous plaçons les chaises en cercle. — We're arranging the chairs in a circle.
- Je voyageais beaucoup à l'époque. — I used to travel a lot back then.
- En avançant, on voit mieux. — By moving forward, you can see better.
- Nous partageons un bureau. — We share an office.
This is not irregularity. These verbs are as regular as parler; they're just written with more care.
Spelling Change Verbs Quick Reference
Where -cer and -ger verbs change, and where they don't
| Form | commencer | manger | Changed? |
|---|---|---|---|
| je (present) | commence | mange | no |
| nous (present) | commençons | mangeons | yes |
| vous (present) | commencez | mangez | no |
| imperfect je | commençais | mangeais | yes |
| imperfect nous | commencions | mangions | no |
| future je | commencerai | mangerai | no |
| present participle | commençant | mangeant | yes |
| past participle | commencé | mangé | no |
Common Spelling Change Verbs Examples in French
The two families in everyday sentences:
-cer Verbs
- Nous commençons la réunion.
- We're starting the meeting.
- Nous annonçons les résultats demain.
- We're announcing the results tomorrow.
- Il remplaçait le professeur habituel.
- He was standing in for the usual teacher.
- Nous prononçons mal ce mot.
- We pronounce that word badly.
Commencer, placer, lancer, annoncer, remplacer, avancer, menacer, effacer, prononcer, forcer, and divorcer all behave identically.
-ger Verbs
- Nous mangeons dehors ce soir.
- We're eating outside tonight.
- Nous nageons deux fois par semaine.
- We swim twice a week.
- Je rangeais ma chambre.
- I was tidying my room.
- Nous changeons de train à Lille.
- We change trains at Lille.
Manger, nager, changer, voyager, ranger, bouger, partager, obliger, and déranger all keep the e before a and o.
The Imperfect, Where It Bites Hardest
- Je commençais tout juste.
- I was only just starting.
- Tu mangeais trop vite.
- You used to eat too fast.
- Elle voyageait pour son travail.
- She used to travel for work.
- Ils avançaient lentement.
- They were moving forward slowly.
Four of the six imperfect endings begin with a, so the change appears in four forms out of six here.
Verbs That Look Similar and Don't Change
- Nous naviguons près de la côte.
- We're sailing near the coast.
- Nous fabriquons des meubles.
- We make furniture.
- Nous distinguons les deux modèles.
- We can tell the two models apart.
- Nous marquons un point.
- We're scoring a point.
Verbs in -guer and -quer keep the u, which already hardens the consonant. There's nothing to protect.
How Spelling Change Verbs Work
One phonetic fact about French orthography drives the whole pattern, and once you have it you can predict every form.
C and G Change Value Before A, O, and U
In French spelling, c is soft in cerise and hard in carotte; g is soft in girafe and hard in gare. Any ending starting with a or o would therefore harden the stem of commencer or manger, changing how the verb sounds.
Nous lançons l'idée.
We're floating the idea.
a and o harden c and g.
-cer Verbs Take a Cedilla
The cedilla forces the c to stay soft. It appears in nous commençons, in the imperfect wherever the ending begins with a, in the present participle, and in the passé simple.
En avançant, elle a trouvé la sortie.
As she moved forward, she found the exit.
ç before a and o.
-ger Verbs Keep an E
There is no cedilla for g, so French inserts a silent e between the stem and the ending. Mange- plus -ons gives mangeons; mange- plus -ais gives mangeais. The e is doing exactly the work the cedilla does.
Nous voyageons en train.
We travel by train.
ge before a and o.
Endings in E and I Need No Help
Because e and i already keep the consonant soft, forms like nous commencions, je commencerai, and vous mangez are written plainly. This is why the change looks so sporadic: it depends entirely on the first letter of the ending.
Nous mangions du poisson le vendredi.
We used to eat fish on Fridays.
e or i → no change needed.
The Sound Is Constant Throughout
Every form of manger has the same soft g, and every form of commencer the same soft c. If you learn these verbs by ear you'll never notice the pattern at all, which is why it's purely a writing problem.
Je mange, nous mangeons, je mangeais.
I eat, we eat, I used to eat.
Spelling varies, sound doesn't.
Common Mistakes with Spelling Change Verbs
Incorrect: Nous commencons dans dix minutes. — We're starting in ten minutes.
Correct: Nous commençons dans dix minutes. — We're starting in ten minutes.
Without the cedilla the c would be hard, giving a word that sounds like commenconce. This is the single most common French spelling error among learners at every level.
Incorrect: Nous mangons ensemble ce soir. — We're eating together tonight.
Correct: Nous mangeons ensemble ce soir. — We're eating together tonight.
The g needs the e to stay soft before -ons. Mangons would rhyme with wagon rather than with mange.
Incorrect: Nous mangeions à la même table. — We used to eat at the same table.
Correct: Nous mangions à la même table. — We used to eat at the same table.
The imperfect nous ending is -ions, which begins with i, so the g is already soft and the extra e is wrong. Learners who have drilled nous mangeons often carry the e into the imperfect.
Incorrect: Nous naviguons, donc nous navigons vers le sud. — We're sailing, so we're sailing south.
Correct: Nous naviguons, donc nous naviguons vers le sud. — We're sailing, so we're sailing south.
Naviguer belongs to the -guer family, where the u is part of the stem and never disappears. Removing it would soften the g and change the word.
The Change Across the Tenses
Track the first letter of each ending. Where it's a or o, the cedilla or the e appears; where it's e or i, the verb is written as though nothing were happening.
The present tense
Only nous is affected, because -ons is the one present ending that begins with o. Everything else is untouched.
| Pronoun | commencer | manger | placer | voyager |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | commence | mange | place | voyage |
| tu | commences | manges | places | voyages |
| il / elle / on | commence | mange | place | voyage |
| nous | commençons | mangeons | plaçons | voyageons |
| vous | commencez | mangez | placez | voyagez |
| ils / elles | commencent | mangent | placent | voyagent |
One changed form out of six. It's a small detail that native writers get right automatically and learners consistently miss.
The imperfect
Four of the six imperfect endings start with a, so the change is the rule here rather than the exception. Nous and vous escape because their endings start with i.
| Pronoun | commencer | manger |
|---|---|---|
| je / j' | commençais | mangeais |
| tu | commençais | mangeais |
| il / elle / on | commençait | mangeait |
| nous | commencions | mangions |
| vous | commenciez | mangiez |
| ils / elles | commençaient | mangeaient |
Nous mangions has no e and nous mangeons does. The two forms differ by one letter for a purely mechanical reason.
The future and the compound past
Neither tense is affected. The future endings all begin with a consonant or with e, and the past participle ends in -é, so the stem stays plain throughout.
| Pronoun | futur (commencer) | futur (manger) | passé composé (manger) |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | commencerai | mangerai | ai mangé |
| tu | commenceras | mangeras | as mangé |
| il / elle / on | commencera | mangera | a mangé |
| nous | commencerons | mangerons | avons mangé |
| vous | commencerez | mangerez | avez mangé |
| ils / elles | commenceront | mangeront | ont mangé |
If you only ever needed the present, the future, and the passé composé, you would meet this pattern exactly once, in nous.
The literary past
The passé simple is where -cer and -ger verbs look most alarming, because most of its endings begin with a. It's a reading tense rather than a speaking one, but the pattern is the same as everywhere else.
| Pronoun | passé simple (commencer) | passé simple (manger) |
|---|---|---|
| je / j' | commençai | mangeai |
| tu | commenças | mangeas |
| il / elle / on | commença | mangea |
| nous | commençâmes | mangeâmes |
| vous | commençâtes | mangeâtes |
| ils / elles | commencèrent | mangèrent |
Only the third-person plural escapes, because -èrent begins with e.
Where the Cedilla Disappears Again
The rule cuts both ways, and the forms where nothing changes are just as diagnostic as the ones where something does.
Before i and e, write the verb plainly
Nous commencions, vous mangiez, je commencerai, elle mangera: none of these takes a cedilla or an extra e, because the following vowel already keeps the consonant soft. Adding the cedilla anyway is a real and common error.
- Nous commencions à comprendre.
- We were beginning to understand.
- Vous mangiez déjà quand je suis arrivé.
- You were already eating when I arrived.
- Elle rangera ses affaires plus tard.
- She'll tidy her things away later.
The pairs nous mangeons and nous mangions, or nous plaçons and nous placions, are worth writing out side by side once.
The -guer and -quer verbs keep their u
Verbs like naviguer, fatiguer, distinguer, fabriquer, and marquer already have a u doing the hardening or softening. Nothing is added and nothing is removed, in any tense.
- Nous distinguons à peine la côte.
- We can barely make out the coast.
- Nous fatiguons les chevaux.
- We're tiring the horses out.
- Je fabriquais des étagères.
- I used to make shelves.
Their present participles keep the u too: naviguant, fabriquant. This is a frequent exam question.
The present participle and the gerund
The present participle ends in -ant, so every -cer and -ger verb changes there. That form then powers the gerund with en, which is extremely common in speech.
- En mangeant, il lisait le journal.
- While eating, he read the paper.
- En commençant plus tôt, on finira plus tôt.
- By starting earlier, we'll finish earlier.
- En avançant la date, on gagne une semaine.
- By bringing the date forward, we gain a week.
The past participle escapes: commencé and mangé need nothing, because -é is a soft vowel.
Spelling Change Verbs FAQs
- Why is it nous commençons and not nous commencons?
- Because c is hard before o. The cedilla forces it to stay soft, so the verb keeps the sound it has in je commence. The same logic gives nous plaçons, nous annonçons, and nous prononçons.
- Which French verbs need a cedilla?
- Verbs whose infinitive ends in -cer: commencer, placer, lancer, annoncer, remplacer, avancer, menacer, effacer, prononcer, forcer, divorcer. They take the cedilla whenever the ending begins with a or o, which means nous in the present, most of the imperfect, the present participle, and most of the passé simple.
- Why does manger keep an e in nous mangeons?
- For the same reason -cer verbs take a cedilla: g would harden before o. French has no cedilla for g, so it inserts a silent e instead. The e disappears again in nous mangions, where the following i already softens the g.
- Are spelling change verbs irregular?
- No. They take the standard -er endings in every tense and their pronunciation never varies. The only thing that changes is a letter of spelling, and it changes according to a rule you can apply mechanically.
- Do -quer and -guer verbs change too?
- No, and that's a useful contrast. In fabriquer and naviguer the u already fixes the consonant's value, so nous fabriquons and nous naviguons need no adjustment. Their present participles keep the u as well: fabriquant, naviguant.