Conjugating the French Verb "Manger" "to Eat"

Manger is a regular French -er verb, but it is also a spelling-change verb. This means that it takes all the regular -er endings, but a small spelling change is made to the stem for consistency of pronunciation. The stem: the infinitive manger minus the -er ending, which leaves the stem mang-. All endings are added to this stem.

Spelling-Change Verb

Here's how the spelling change works: Verbs like manger that end in -ger change spelling slightly before endings that begin with the hard vowels a or o. Because g followed by a or o makes a hard g sound (as in gold), an e has to be added after g to keep a soft g (like the j in je). In short, wherever the g is not followed by an e, an e must be inserted so that the g remains soft throughout the conjugations.

For example, in the present tense and the imperative, this g-to-ge spelling change is found only in the nous conjugation: mangeons. It is needed for the present participle, mangeant, but not for the past participle, mangé.

It occurs in the following tenses/moods:

• Imperfect: singular conjugations plus the third person plural
• Passé simple: all conjugations except the third person plural
• Imperfect subjunctive: all conjugations

There is no spelling change in the conditional, future or subjunctive. The table below summarizes the spelling change conjugations. You might want to take a look at manger conjugated in all tenses to get the full picture of how often an e is needed after each g.

Use and Expressions of Manger

The food-conscious French have plenty of expressions using manger. Note that in familiar, everyday language, people frequently use the synonym bouffer, another regular -er verb that means "to eat," as in On a bien bouffé. ("The food was great." / "We ate well.") Here are a few expressions with manger:

• Elle mange de tout: She eats everything
• On en mangerait: It looks good enough to eat (Notice how much meaning was conveyed here by the simple use of the conditional)
• manger de la vache enragée: to have a hard time of it
• Il a mangé du lion aujourd'hui: He's full of beans today
• Il ne mange pas de ce pain-là: That's not his cup of tea
• Elle est mignonne. On le mangerait! She's so cute; I could eat her up!
• On peut toujours essayer; ça ne mange pas de pain: We can always try; it won't cost us anything
• manger à sa faim: to eat one's fill
• Je veux à manger: I want something to eat
• As-tu eu assez à manger? Did you get enough to eat?
• Que veux-tu que je fasse à manger ce soir? What would you like me to cook / make for dinner tonight?

Conjugations of Manger

	Present	Future	Imperfect	Present participle
je	mange	mangerai	mangeais	mangeant
tu	manges	mangeras	mangeais
il	mange	mangera	mangeait
nous	mangeons	mangerons	mangions
vous	mangez	mangerez	mangiez
ils	mangent	mangeront	mangeaient

Passé composé
Auxiliary verb	avoir
Past participle	mangé

	Subjunctive	Conditional	Passé simple	Imperfect subjunctive
je	mange	mangerais	mangeai	mangeasse
tu	manges	mangerais	mangeas	mangeasses
il	mange	mangerait	mangea	mangeât
nous	mangions	mangerions	mangeâmes	mangeassions
vous	mangiez	mangeriez	mangeâtes	mangeassiez
ils	mangent	mangeraient	mangèrent	mangeassent

Imperative
(tu)	mange
(nous)	mangeons
(vous)	mangez

Other Verbs Ending in '-ger'

All verbs that end in -ger undergo this spelling change, including:

•    arranger: to arrange
•    bouger: to move
•    changer: to change
•    corriger: to correct
•    décourager: to discourage
•    déménager: to move
•    déranger: to disturb
•    diriger: to direct
•    encourager: to encourage
•    engager: to bind
•    exiger: to demand
•    juger: to judge
•    loger: to lodge
•    manger: to eat
•    mélanger: to mix
•    nager: to swim
•    obliger: to oblige
•    partager: to share
•    rédiger: to write
•    voyager: to travel