👉 See my complete acheter conjugation charts »
Level: A1 (Beginner)
🎧 Audio by Marie Assel Cambier, a native speaker & professional voice artist from France
The French Word of the Day is acheter (to buy, to purchase). I chose this verb because many learners — even at the intermediate level — struggle with its present tense pronunciation. Keep reading — I’ll break it all down below.
✅ Meaning
✅ Pronunciation
✅ Example sentences
✅ Related Words & Expressions
✅ Related lessons
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📘 Acheter meaning
Acheter is a common French regular -er verb meaning “to buy” or “to purchase.”
🎧 Acheter pronunciation
Acheter is pronounced /a.ʃə.te/, roughly “ah-shuh-tay.”
📝 French and English examples
Acheter – to buy
J’achète des fleurs pour ma mère.
I’m buying flowers for my mother.
Vous achetez souvent vos vêtements en ligne.
Do you often buy your clothes online?
Ils achètent une nouvelle paire de skis pour leur fils.
They’re buying a new pair of skis for their son.
Elle va acheter un nouveau téléphone demain.
She’s going to buy a new phone tomorrow.
Ils ont acheté un appartement en ville.
They bought an apartment in the city.
👉 Curious about è (e with the grave accent)? This lesson explains how it works! »
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📊 Acheter conjugation
Here’s the basic acheter conjugation in the present tense. See my pronunciation notes below.
- J’achète — I buy, I am buying
- Tu achètes — You buy, you are buying (informal)
- Il / Elle / On achète — He / She / One buys, is buying
- Nous achetons — We buy, we are buying
- Vous achetez — You buy, you are buying (formal/plural)
- Ils / Elles achètent — They buy, they are buying
👉 The past participle of acheter is acheté. Hence, j’ai acheté translates to I bought or I purchased.
🔍 Acheter — Present Tense Pronunciation Notes
Many of my students have struggled with this verb over the years. The most common mistake is pronouncing j’achète (I buy) as “j’asht” — which is incorrect. There are the key points to remember:
👉 The infinitive acheter is pronounced “ah-shuh-tay” — some French speakers shorten it to “ash-tay.”
👉 The je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles forms all sound like “ah-sheht” — that’s achète.
👉 The nous and vous forms return to the infinitive sound and do not use the grave accent (è).
→ achetons = “ah-shuh-ton” (three syllables)
→ achetez = “ah-shuh-tay”
👉 Like all regular -er verbs, the past participle (acheté) is pronounced exactly the same as the infinitive.
🔗 Related words and expressions
- un achat — a purchase
- acheter en ligne — to buy online
- acheter d’occasion — to buy second-hand
- acheter à crédit — to buy on credit
- acheter pour une bouchée de pain — to buy dirt cheap
- acheter les yeux fermés — to buy without hesitation
🚀 Expand your French vocabulary!
Now that you’ve gone through these examples of acheter, check out my verb conjugations reference page.
👉 Acheter conjugation charts »
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