French guides · Verb tables + audio
Acheter: the accent that appears when you can hear it.
Acheter means “to buy”, and it looks like an ordinary -er verb right up until you write it. The endings are completely regular; what moves is a single accent. In four of the six présent forms the middle e becomes è, and the rule behind it is not arbitrary: the accent marks the vowel you actually pronounce. In the forms where French swallows that vowel, the accent goes.
Présent — the boot, drawn by an accent
The stem is achèt- in the singular and for ils, and achet- for nous and vous. Same boot shape as the irregular verbs, but here nothing about the sound of the ending changes — only the middle vowel.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’achète | I buy | |
| tu achètes | you buy | |
| il / elle achète | he / she buys | |
| nous achetons | we buy | |
| vous achetez | you buy | |
| ils / elles achètent | they buy |
If you can hear the vowel, it takes the accent. J’achète is “a-SHET” — the e is pronounced, so it is è. Nous achetons is “ash-TOHN” — the vowel is swallowed entirely, so there is no accent. The spelling is following the pronunciation, not the other way round.
A developer who graded 50,000 conjugation answers found ils lèvent — the same pattern, on lever — was the single most-missed form in the entire dataset, wrong about half the time. These verbs look regular, which is exactly why they catch people: nobody expects to have to think.
The verbs that do this
A small, high-frequency group. Two of them are among the first verbs anyone learns.
| Verb | Means | je form |
|---|---|---|
| acheter | to buy | j’achète |
| lever / se lever | to lift / to get up | je me lève |
| emmener | to take (a person) along | j’emmène |
| préférer | to prefer | je préfère |
| espérer | to hope | j’espère |
| répéter | to repeat | je répète |
Acheter and lever have a plain e that becomes è. Préférer, espérer and répéter already have an é, which flips to è. Same idea, same four places — but the second group does not keep the change in the futur, where it stays je préférerai.
Passé composé — no accent needed
The participle is acheté — regular, and with no è, because the stress has moved onto the final é.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’ai acheté | I bought / have bought | |
| tu as acheté | you bought / have bought | |
| il / elle a acheté | he / she bought / have bought | |
| nous avons acheté | we bought / have bought | |
| vous avez acheté | you bought / have bought | |
| ils / elles ont acheté | they bought / have bought |
Imparfait — no accent at all
Built from achetons, so the accent is absent from the whole tense: j’achetais.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’achetais | I used to buy / was buying | |
| tu achetais | you used to buy / was buying | |
| il / elle achetait | he / she used to buy / was buying | |
| nous achetions | we used to buy / was buying | |
| vous achetiez | you used to buy / was buying | |
| ils / elles achetaient | they used to buy / was buying |
Futur and conditionnel — where the accent survives
Here is the detail most tables get wrong by omission. For acheter the è carries into the futur in every form: j’achèterai, tu achèteras, nous achèterons. The same reason applies — that vowel is pronounced throughout.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’achèterai | I will buy | |
| tu achèteras | you will buy | |
| il / elle achètera | he / she will buy | |
| nous achèterons | we will buy | |
| vous achèterez | you will buy | |
| ils / elles achèteront | they will buy |
Je préférerai keeps its é in the futur, while j’achèterai takes è. It is the one place the two groups part company, and it is worth a second look if you are writing rather than speaking.
Conditionnel — would buy
J’achèterais, accent intact. Very common in the shop-window sense: je l’achèterais bien, “I’m tempted”.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’achèterais | I would buy | |
| tu achèterais | you would buy | |
| il / elle achèterait | he / she would buy | |
| nous achèterions | we would buy | |
| vous achèteriez | you would buy | |
| ils / elles achèteraient | they would buy |
Subjonctif — the boot returns
Exactly the présent’s shape: accent in the boot, none for nous and vous.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’achète | (that) I buy | |
| tu achètes | (that) you buy | |
| il / elle achète | (that) he / she buy | |
| nous achetions | (that) we buy | |
| vous achetiez | (that) you buy | |
| ils / elles achètent | (that) they buy |
Impératif — no s
Achète ! — an -er verb, so no s, and the accent stays because the vowel is still heard.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| achète ! | buy! (to one person you know) | |
| achetons ! | let’s buy! | |
| achetez ! | buy! (formal, or to a group) |
Plus-que-parfait — had bought
J’avais acheté.
| French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| j’avais acheté | I had bought | |
| tu avais acheté | you had bought | |
| il / elle avait acheté | he / she had bought | |
| nous avions acheté | we had bought | |
| vous aviez acheté | you had bought | |
| ils / elles avaient acheté | they had bought |
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Quick answers
Acheter, answered.
The questions that come up while you are learning the table.