Conjugate semi-regular -ger verbs in the present tense in French (Le Présent)

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCE

Last updated: 2022-09-29

In French, verbs in -ger* are semi-regular in Le Présent as they undergo a slight spelling change.

Learn how to conjugate MANGER (to eat) in Le Présent (Indicatif) in French

In French, to preserve the soft g in front of vowels a/o/u, we use ge.
This rule applies to verbs ending in -ger when they are conjugated.

In Le Présent (Indicatif), it only affects the nous form of the verb, because of the ending -ons.

je	mange
tu	manges
il / elle / on	mange
nous	mangeons
vous	mangez
ils/elles	mangent

Similarly conjugated verbs:

ranger (to tidy up)
changer (to change)
voyager (to travel)
corriger (to correct/mark)
obliger (to force)
nager (to swim)
mélanger (to mix)
bouger (to move)
etc

Have a listen to these examples:

Je range mon bureau.I'm tidying up my desk.

Tu mélanges les couleurs sur ta palette.You're mixing the colours on your palette.

Guillaume voyage beaucoup.Guillaume travels a lot.

Nous changeons la couleur du papier peint.We are changing the colour of the wallpaper.

Vous nagez tous les samedis matins.You swim every Saturday morning.

Les professeurs corrigent les copies.The teachers mark copies.

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Examples and resources

Nous mangeons au restaurant.We're eating at the restaurant.