Conjugations differ

Looking at the verb Ensorceler

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/conjugation/french/ensorceler

The latter doesn’t use a double L in any tense. Which resource should I trust?

Is it one of those verbs where an accent grave replaces a following double-L to preserve the pronunciation?

And, more to the point, is this you preparing a chat-up line?

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Cast a lot of spells, do we? :rofl:

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No spells in the making!
I’m using this very useful tool

You choose your tense and it fires random verbs.

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That looks great. Thanks for the recommendation.

I’ve been using Linguno recently: Linguno - Log in

Yes I like it too. It can be fired up instantly. I’m hoping some of those pesky conjugations will sink in a little better.

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I realise that you are trying to perfect your French rather than look for ways around it, and I do do the same most of the time, but you can often get away with je vais + infinitive to create understanding if not praise. :wink: :blush:

ensorceler looks as if it goes like appeler - je m’appelle, etc. There is probably a rule for verbs with -ller.

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FrançaisFacile will most likely have the definitive answer …https://www.francaisfacile.com/

It linked to Reverso!

Where are our experts?

It’s as I thought: they’re alternatives.

ensorceler | Dictionnaire de l’Académie française | 9e édition.

Will check there in future. I see the give the double L version.

Ensorceler works like épeler and étinceler and ficeler, among others. I wouldn’t put a double L in it anywhere, myself, BUT the spelling changed after a reform in 1990 which means that when I write j’épèle or j’ensorcèle or je ficèle I’m old-fashioned and it’s ‘an alternative spelling’. Or maybe I’m a super modern precursor who knows.
Pffffff
This also explains why you see various spellings of déchèterie and so on.

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Why did they decide to reform the language Vero? Was it a large scale excercise?

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Oh it was the usual halfhearted attempt to rationalise the spelling of various words, either pronunciation eg do we need to write oignon when we say ognon, or etymology eg a water lily is spelt nénuphar because some 17thC twit thought it is of Greek origin and didn’t check so as it is in fact of Persian origin the ph is a barbarism and the spelling changed to nénufar (it’s nilufar in Farsi) and there are all sorts of other examples.

Anyway this has led to huge amounts of screeching about Our Traditions and what is the world coming to it’s all going down the drain etc etc so in spite of these reforms being very tiny and minor they are simultaneously a terrific scandal and ignored.

What we needed was a good big reform at the end of the 19thC like the Germans and Spaniards but we didn’t get one and now the very thought stirs up unimaginable hooha generally on the part of knuckle-dragging populist politicians who can’t spell or conjugate properly but for whom it’s a good opportunity to pretend they know or care about language while pandering to those who see spelling reform as a direct attack on our national identity, not that they can spell either, probably.

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Thank you Vero

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