The Verbs Acheter and Préférer

Acheter and Préférer

While learning about shopping for clothes, you need to understand how to use the verbs acheter and préférer. You know how to conjugate an –er verb, so you have already learned all the endings associated with two new verbs. However, acheter and préférer have an additional change to learn. With the verb acheter you will need to add an accent grave to the first e for the je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles forms. With the verb préférer, you will need to reverse the accent on the second e to an accent grave for the je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles forms. This accent results in a change in pronunciation. The nous and vous forms remain the same as the infinitive.

The phrases in the tables below are used in the conjugation of the verbs acheter and préférer. Familiarize yourself with these phrases and practice your pronunciation by repeating each phrase aloud after the speaker. Click each phrase to hear the pronunciation. Some phrases include both the masculine (m) and feminine (f) gender.

Acheter (To Buy)
Singular (s)		Plural (p)
French	English	French	English
J’achète	I buy	Nous achetons	We buy
Tu achètes	You buy	Vous achetez	You buy
Il achète (m)	He buys	Ils achètent (m)	They buy
Elle achète (f)	She buys	Elles achètent (f)	They buy
On achète	We buy

Préférer (To Prefer)
Singular (s)		Plural (p)
French	English	French	English
Je préfère	I prefer	Nous préférons	We prefer
Tu préfères	You prefer	Vous préférez	You prefer
Il préfère (m)	He prefers	Ils préfèrent (m)	They prefer
Elle préfère (f)	She prefers	Elles préfèrent (f)	They prefer
On préfère	We prefer

Haute Couture

For a company in France to be considered Haute Couture (high fashion), it must meet some strict guidelines. For example, it must have its own production workshops and employ twenty or more people. In addition, each year the company must present a spring/summer and a fall/winter collection to the press, and each time they need to have a minimum of seventy-five outfits. The company must also have several fashion shows a year that are open to the public and have at least three live models show the clothes. The biggest problem the industry faces is counterfeiting. Knock-off products can tarnish a company's reputation when people believe a product is actually coming from the Haute Couture company. Similarly, there is a financial cost as the companies lose money to the knock-offs, and the cost of legal protection against those producing the counterfeit products.

 

The Verbs Acheter and Préférer Review

Review your knowledge of the verbs acheter and préférer, and Haute Couture, in this non-graded activity. Click the player to get started.