Spelling revision

The circumflex accent disappears on the letters i and u

This is one of the biggest changes in conjugation. The circumflex accent disappears on the letters i and u (e.g., "nous entrainons", "il parait", "bruler" instead of "nous entraînons", "il paraît" and "brûler"). This has an impact on the verbs in -aître and -oître as well as "paraître" (to appear) and "accroître" (to increase). Whenever we have an i in front of a t, we can remove the circumflex accent.

There are, however, two exceptions:

  1. when this circumflex accent indicates the mark of an ending as is the case with the past tense: vous naquîtes ou qu'il partît.
  2. when this accent makes it possible to make the difference with another word as for "il croît" (it grows) from the verb croitre and the past participle dû de devoir.

Verbs in -eler and -eter

The conjugated forms of -eler or -eter verbs are written with a grave accent and a simple consonant in front of a syllable containing a silent e (e.g.: "il détèle" on pattern of "il pèle", "il étiquètera" on pattern of "il achètera").

Several exceptions are made to this rule with the well-known verbs "appeler" (to call) and "rappeler" (to remind) as well as "jeter" (to throw) and its derivatives and "interpeler" (to interpellate): il appelle and je jette.

Verbs in -é(.)er

Verbs that contain an é followed by a consonant are written with a grave accent in the simple future tense and the present conditional. e.g.: céder ==> nous cèderons.

The questioning forms

In forms with interrogative inversion, in the first person singular, the e followed by a pronoun carries a low accent to better stick to the sound. e.g.: aimè-je.

Verbs "assoir" and "sursoir"

The new spelling changes the spelling of some verbs. For example, it is recommended to write "assoir" (to sit down) instead of "asseoir" and to write "sursoir" instead of "surseoir". Except for the deletion of e, the rest of the conjugation is unchanged.

Agreement with past participle

The past participle of "laisser" followed by an infinitive is invariable. (e.g.: "les enfants que nous avons laissé partir" on pattern of "les enfants que nous avons fait partir", "elle s'est laissé mourir" on pattern of "elle s'est fait mourir").

Here is a list of spelling changes in conjugation:

  1. Change in the circumflex accent disappears on the i and u except that it is the mark of a termination or to distinguish it from another word.
  2. Modification in with the acute accent followed by a consonant that becomes a grave accent in the simple future tense and the present conditional.
  3. Verbs in -eler and -eter are on the pattern of "peler" except for "appeler" and other vebs in "jeter".
  4. The interrogative form with pronoun inversion is with serious emphasis on the final e.
  5. Assoir is the new spelling of asseoir.
  6. Laisser followed by an infinitive is invariable.