Posted by / Friday, 10 February 2017 / No comments

The present tense of commencer and lancer



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?


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