e es e ent

1
le français 2 nom___________________________
Chapitre 3 date ___________________________
les verbes qui changent d’orthographe
A. What is a stem-change verb (un verbe qui change d’orthograhpe) ?
 It is a regular –er verb that uses the normal endings : -e -ons
-es -ez
-e -ent
 However, there is a small change in the spelling of the stem when the ending is not
pronounced. (The stem is the part of the verb up to the –er.)
 The endings that are not pronounced are:
e
es
e
ent
« la botte»
 This forms a “boot” including the je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles forms of the verb.
B. What kind of changes take place?
 change an accent é→è (répéter ; préférer ; espérer)
 add an accent e→è (lever; mener; acheter)
 double a consonant t→tt; l→ll (appeler; jeter)
 letter change y→i (verbs with –ayer retain the option of spelling with “y”)
(payer; essayer)
( for verbs with –oyer or –uyer, the change to “i” is required.)
(envoyer [has an irregular future stem]; appuyer)
exemples:
nous envoyons → ils envoient
vous appuyez → j’appuie
nous nous levons → tu te lèves

2
C. Tout le monde travaille au bureau. Qui fait quoi ? (Everyone is working at the office. Who’s
doing what?) Donnez le verbe à la forme convenable.
1. M. DuPont ___________________________- un fax. (envoyer)
2. Marie et moi, nous _________________________ des clients. (appeler)
3. Vous ____________________________ des factures. (payer)
4. Monique _________________________ de réparer son ordinateur. (essayer – try)
5. Je me _________________________ d’une petite sieste – Ah ! Non !. (se lever)
6. Tu ____________________________ sur les touches de ton clavier. (appuyer)
7. Jessica et Kevin _______________________ le bureau. (nettoyer – clean)
8. Katherine ________________________ de vieux papiers à la corbeille. (jeter – throw)
9. Les clients ________________________ de rappeler Marie et moi. (essayer)
10. Je ______________________________ ces clients. (rappeler)
D. Other tenses. The stem change does not take place in passé composé or imparfait.
Redo all of the sentences above in passé composé. Write the subject and the verb.
1. M. DuPont a envoyé…
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

3
Now redo all of the sentences from Part C in imparfait. Write the subject and the verb
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Create 3 original sentences with 3 different verbs and tenses of stem-change verbs)
1.
2.
3.
NB: The stem-change does take place in future tense. (except for verbs that change é→è, such
as répéter)