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Definition 2024


altérer

altérer

See also: alterer and älterer

French

Verb

altérer

  1. to alter; change; fiddle with
  2. to cause thirst

Conjugation

This verb is conjugated like céder. It is a regular -er verb, except that its last stem vowel alternates between /e/ (written ‘é’) and /ɛ/ (written ‘è’), with the latter being used before mute ‘e’. One special case is the future stem, used in the future and the conditional. Before 1990, the future stem of such verbs was written altérer-, reflecting the historic pronunciation /e/. In 1990, the French Academy recommended that it be written altèrer-, reflecting the now common pronunciation /ɛ/, thereby making this distinction consistent throughout the conjugation (and also matching in this regard the conjugations of verbs like lever and jeter). Both spellings are in use today, and both are therefore given here.