Conjugating Avancer in French

Looking at the French verb  avancer, one can quickly guess that it means to advance. It needs to be conjugated to take on the meanings of advanced or advancing and this is relatively easy. Yet, there is a slight change in the spelling that youll need to know about and this lesson will explain why and how to do it. The Spelling Changes of Avancer  Conjugations Avancer  is a  spelling change verb  and it is conjugated in the same manner as other verbs that end with -cer. This includes words like  annoncer  (to announce) and  agacer  (to annoy). The change in spelling is not significant, though it does serve an important function.   Typically, when we take a verb into, for instance, the  nous  present tense, we would replace -er with -ons. When the letter C appears before an O or an A, it is pronounced with a hard C sound, as in cant. This doesnt work for -cer  verbs because we want a soft C sound, which is why the  cedilla à §Ã‚   is used. While the C sound remains the same in all conjugations of  avancer, the spelling does not. This can catch some French students by surprise, so you need to watch your -cer  endings. How to Conjugate Avancer Now that you know about that little issue, conjugating  avancer  is relatively easy because it is similar to regular -er verb  endings. All you need to do is match the subject pronoun  with the present, future, or past (imperfect)  tense, and youre good to go. As an example, I advance is javance and we will advance is nous avancerons.   Subject Present Future Imperfect j avance avancerai avanais tu avances avanceras avanais il avance avancera avanait nous avanons avancerons avancions vous avancez avancerez avanciez ils avancent avanceront avanaient Avancers Present Participle The  present participle  of avancer  is avanà §ant. Again, notice how the cedilla is placed before the -ant  ending to ensure the soft C pronunciation. The Passà © Composà © of  Avancer To form a common past tense of  avancer  known as  passà © composà ©, we need a couple of elements. First, you must conjugate  avoir, the  auxiliary verb  associated with  avancer. Then, you will add the  past participle  of avancà ©. As an example, I advanced is  jai avancà © and we advanced is nous avons avancà ©. Notice how the  ai  and  avons  are conjugates of  avoir, though the past participle remains the same with either (and all) subjects. More Conjugations for  Avancer In the beginning of your French studies, concentrate on the present, future, and past tenses of  avancer. As you begin to read and speak more fluently, youll likely come across and use these other conjugations. The subjunctive and conditional are relatively common and each implies a certain amount of ambiguity to the action of the verb. In contrast, the passà © simple and imperfect subjunctive are found primarily in formal writing and are, therefore, rather rare. Subject Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive j avance avancerais avanai avanasse tu avances avancerais avanas avanasses il avance avancerait avana avant nous avancions avancerions avanmes avanassions vous avanciez avanceriez avantes avanassiez ils avancent avanceraient avancrent avanassent There is one last simple conjugation that you should know about. This is the imperative verb form and its used in short and often direct commands and requests. When using it, there is no need to include the subject pronoun. Simplify tu avance to avance and you have the correct imperative. Imperative (tu) avance (nous) avanons (vous) avancez