The three French verbs déménager, amenager and emménager can cause a lot of confusion. In this post we’ll take a look at all three verbs and given examples of when to use each one. In short, démenager means to move out, aménager means to adjust or convert and emménager means to move in.
These there verbs are all similar, with the difference being the prefix letters: -dé, -a and -em. Before getting started let’s look at the three verbs in the present tense:
| DÉMÉNAGER | AMÉNAGER | EMMÉNAGER |
| je déménage tu déménages il,elle,on déménage nous déménageons vous déménagez ils, elles déménagent | j'aménage tu aménages il, elle, on aménage nous aménageons vous aménagez ils, elles aménagent | j'emménage tu emménages il, elle, on emménage nous emménageons vous emménagez ils, elle emménagent |
déménager – to move out
Déménager means to move and specifically, to move out. In English we’d say, ‘I’m moving on December 3’. But, in French, ‘Je déménage le 3 décembre‘ implies the date of moving out. Another usage is ‘to move to’. Examples:
- Je n’aime plus cet appartement. Je déménage le 15 avril. I don’t like this apartment anymore. I’m moving (out) on April 15.
- L’entreprise va déménager son siège social à Londres. The company will move its headquarters to London.
emménager – to move in
The next verb we’ll look at is emménager. This verb also means to move but the underlying meaning is to move in. Here are some examples:
- Je vais emménager dans un nouvel appartement la semaine prochaine. I’m going to move into a new apartment next week.
- Martin a emménagé avec sa nouvelle petite amie. Martin moved in with his new girl friend.
aménager – to convert, adjust, develop
The verb aménager looks similar to the previous two verbs but has nothing to do with moving. Aménager has multiple usages including to convert, adjust and develop. Here are some example sentences:
- Nous allons aménager cette pièce en chambre d’amis. We’re going to convert this room into a guest room.
- Le gérant va aménager les horaires de travail de son employé. The manager is going to adjust his employees’ working hours.
- Le gouvernement va aménager un quartier opprimé. The government is going to develop a downtrodden neighborhood.
Discover more:
Related lessons:
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- ordonner vs. commander
- prêter vs. emprunter
- temps vs. fois
- déménager conjugation table
- décrocher vs raccrocher
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About David Issokson
Bonjour! My name is David Issokson. I'm based in Victor, Idaho (near Jackson, Wyoming) and have helped hundreds of students to learn French online since 2013.
