Lesson 8: -ger Verbs

-ger verbs are regular -er verbs that are also stem changing. The most common -ger verb is manger. For manger and all other regular -ger verbs, the stem change is adding an e after the g. This only applies in the nous form. In this case, the change is made to preserve the soft g pronunciation rather than the hard g that would be present if the e were not included.

Formation

French Verb • Food and drink manger to eat
past participle – mangé
	Singular			Plural
first person	je mange	jeuh mahnge	I eat	nous mangeons	noo vmahnge ohn	we eat
second person	tu manges	too mahnge	you eat	vous mangez	voo mahngay	we eat
third person	il mange	eel mahnge	he eats	ils mangent	eel mahnge	they eat (masc. or mized)
	elle mange	ell mahnge	she eats
	on mange	ohn mahnge	one eats	elles mangent	ell mahnge	they eat (fem.)

Other -ger Verbs

• changer – to change
• exiger – to require
• nager – to swim
• soulager – to relieve
• voyager – to travel

Food

French Vocabulary • Food and drink Food La nourriture
les fruits – fruits		les légumes – vegetables
la banane	banana	la carotte	carrot
la cerise	cherry	les épinards (m pl)	spinach
le citron	lemon	l’oignon (m)	onion
la fraise	strawberry	les petits pois (m pl)	peas
l’orange (f)	orange	la pomme de terre	potato
la pomme	apple	la tomate	tomato
le raisin	grape	les asperges (f pl)	asparagus
le pamplemousse	grapefruit	les haricots (m pl)	beans
la viande – meat		les fruits de mer (m pl) – shellfish, seafood
l’agneau (m)	lamb	La coquille Saint-Jacques (f)	scallop
la dinde	turkey	le crabe	crab
le jambon	ham
le porc	pork	le poisson – fish
le poulet	chicken	les anchois (m pl)	anchovies
le boeuf	beef	le saumon	salmon
la saucisse	sausage	l’anguille (f)	eel
les produits laitiers – dairy products		Other Foods
le beurre	butter	le croissant	crescent roll
le fromage	cheese	les frites (f pl)	“French fries”
le lait	milk	la crêpe	crepe
le yaourt/le yoghurt	yogurt	la mayonnaise	mayonnaise
le dessert – dessert		la moutarde	mustard
le bonbon	candy	le pain	bread
le chocolat	chocolate	le beurre	butter
le gâteau	cake	la tartine de pain beurré	slice of buttered bread
la glace	ice cream	le poivre	pepper
la mousse	mousse	le riz	rice
la tarte (aux pommes)	(apple) pie	le sel	salt
la glace (au chocolat)	(chocolate) ice cream	le sucre	sugar
la glace (à la vanille)	(vanilla) ice cream	la confiture	jam

Boire

The verb boire is translated to to drink. It is irregularly conjugated (it does not count as a regular -re verb) as follows:

French Verb • Food and drink boire to drink
past participle – bu
	Singular			Plural
first person	je bois	jeuh bwah	I drink	nous buvons	noo boovohn	we drink
second person	tu bois	too bwah	you drink	vous buvez	voo boovay	you drink
third person	il boit	eel bwah	he drinks	ils boivent	eel bwahve	they drink (masc. or mized)
	elle boit	ell bwah	she drinks
	on boit	ohn bwah	one drinks	elles boivent	ell bwahve	they drink (fem.)

Drinks

Partitive Article

The partitive article de indicates, among other things, the word some. As learned earlier, de and le contract (combine) into du, as de and les contract into des. Also, instead of du or de la, de l’ is used in front of vowels.
When speaking about food, the partitive article is used at some times while the definite article (le, la, les) is used at other times, and the indefinite article (un, une) in yet another set of situations. In general “de” refers to a part of food (a piece of pie) whereas the definite article (le) refers to a food in general (I like pie (in general)). The indefinite article refers to an entire unit of a food (I would like a (whole) pie).
When speaking about preferences, use the definite article:

When speaking about eating or drinking an item, there are specific situations for the use of each article.

In the negative construction, certain rules apply. As one has learned in a previous lesson, un or une changes to de (meaning, in this context, any) in a negative construction. Similarly, du, de la, or des change to de in negative constructions.

Note : Now you should understand better how that “Quoi de neuf?”(what’s new?) encountered in the very first lesson was constructed… “Quoi de plus beau?!” (what is there prettier?)

En

To say ‘some of it’ without specifying the exact object, the pronoun ‘en’ can be used. Additionally, ‘en’ can mean ‘of it’ when ‘it’ is not specified. For instance, instead of saying J’ai besoin d’argent, if the idea of money has already been raised, it can be stated as ‘J’en ai besoin’. This is because en replaces du, de la or des when there the noun is not specifically mentioned in that sentence.
Like with ‘me’, ‘te’ and other pronouns, en (meaning ‘some’) comes before the verb.

Mettre

Formation

French Verb • Food and drink mettre to put
past participle – mis
	Singular			Plural
first person	je mets	jeuh may	I put	nous mettons	noo mettohn	we put
second person	tu mets	too may	you put	vous mettez	voo mettay	you put
third person	il met	eel may	he puts	ils mettent	eel met	they put (masc. or mized)
	elle met	ell may	she puts
	on met	ohn may	one puts	elles mettent	ell met	they put (fem.)

Related Words

• mettre – to put on, to turn on, to place
• permettre – to allow
• remettre – to put back
• remettre en place – to set back into place
• soumettre – to submit
• se remettre – to recover from an illness
• se remettre en route – to get back on the road

Idioms and Related Expressions

• mettre au jour – to bring to light
• mettre de l’argent de coté – to put money aside
• mettre fin à – to put an end to
• mettre la main à la pâte – to pitch in
• mettre le contact – to start the car
• mettre le couvert – to set the table
• se mettre à table – to sit down to eat
• se mettre d’accord – to agree
• se mettre en forme – to get in shape