Group 1 stem change: e → è / consonant doubling

Summary

Some -er verbs with a mute e in the last stem syllable strengthen it to an open è-sound before a silent ending, either by writing è (acheter, lever) or by doubling the consonant (appeler, jeter); the device is lexical and learned per verb.

Explanation

A group of -er verbs has a mute e in the last syllable of the stem — the e in lev-er, achet-er, appel-er, jet-er — and that e is normally barely pronounced. When the verb ending is itself silent, French strengthens this weak e into a clearly open è-sound (the vowel of père). There are exactly two spelling devices for doing so, and each verb uses one or the other: an accent grave (è), or a doubled consonant. The choice is lexical: it is a property of the individual verb and must be learned, not deduced.

The first device is the accent grave. Verbs like lever and acheter write è before a silent ending: je lève, tu lèves, il lève, ils lèvent, but nous levons, vous levez (where the ending is pronounced and the e stays mute). The same goes for mener, peser, acheter, se promener, élever and semer: je mène, je pèse, j'achète, je me promène, j'élève, je sème. The second device is consonant doubling. Verbs like appeler and jeter double the final consonant instead: j'appelle, tu appelles, il appelle, ils appellent, but nous appelons; je jette, nous jetons. So do rappeler, épeler, rejeter and feuilleter.

Both devices produce the same open è-sound; the only difference is the spelling. The change also carries through the entire future and conditional, where every form has a silent stem-ending: j'achèterai and j'achèterais, je lèverai, j'appellerai, je jetterai. The forms that take the change are exactly those with a silent ending — je, tu, il/elle and ils/elles in the present, plus all of the future and conditional — while nous and vous in the present keep the plain mute e.

The key contrast, and the main pitfall, is choosing the wrong device: appeler and jeter double the consonant, while acheter and lever take è — same sound, opposite spelling. So *j'achette (doubling the t like jeter) and *j'appèle (accenting like acheter) are both wrong; the correct forms are j'achète and j'appelle. A second pitfall is applying the change to nous and vous, producing *nous lèvons or *nous appellons instead of the correct nous levons and nous appelons. Note that the 1990 spelling reform regularises some marginal verbs toward è (for example it allows j'amoncèle), but appeler and jeter keep their doubled consonant in standard usage.

Rule of thumb: before a silent ending, make the mute e sound like è — some verbs write è (lève, achète), others double the consonant (appelle, jette) — and learn which device each verb uses; the nous and vous forms keep the plain e.

Examples

Je me lève tôt, mais nous nous levons tard le dimanche. — I get up early, but we get up late on Sundays. (Lever takes è before the silent ending (lève), but nous keeps the plain e (levons).)

Elle s'appelle Marie et elle achète du pain. — Her name is Marie and she is buying some bread. (Two devices side by side: appeler doubles the l (appelle), acheter takes è (achète).)

Tu jettes les vieux papiers et je rappelle le client. — You throw away the old papers and I call the client back. (Jeter and rappeler both double the consonant (jettes, rappelle).)

J'achèterai une voiture l'an prochain. — I will buy a car next year. (The è carries through the whole future: achèterai, not *acheterai.)

Nous pesons les fruits au marché chaque samedi. — We weigh the fruit at the market every Saturday. (In the nous form peser keeps the plain mute e (pesons), so no è.)

Common mistakes

Prerequisites

• Group 1: regular -er verbs

Related rules

• Group 1: regular -er verbs
• Group 1 stem change: é → è (préférer)
• Present indicative
• Futur simple