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📚 This is the overview. « appeler » is taught level by level — pick your CEFR level below for a full lesson (explanation, pronunciation, exercises & games).
Five phrases with « appeler » — guess before the reveal. Practise with the free games → Open this short as a page — transcript included →
Appeler — to call — solves the stressed-syllable problem with doubled letters where acheter used an accent: j’appelle, tu appelles, il appelle, ils appellent (double l, open vowel) versus nous appelons, vous appelez (single l). The doubling walks into the whole future and conditional — j’appellerai, j’appellerais — and the passé composé is plain: j’ai appelé. Jeter doubles its t on the same schedule (je jette, nous jetons); rappeler (call back / remind) copies appeler exactly: « je te rappelle » is both “I’ll call you back” and, with de, a reminder — « je te rappelle de venir ».
But the form every learner meets first is reflexive: s’appeler — to be called — « je m’appelle… », the second sentence of every French course ever taught (and, from our introductions lesson, less used by natives than textbooks suggest: « moi c’est Léa » wins casual settings). Phone French completes the verb: « je t’appelle ce soir » (I’ll call you tonight — present as near-future), « appelle-moi ! », un appel (a call), and in emergencies « appelez les secours ». The doubling rule in one mnemonic: double the letter when the next syllable is silent — the letters lean on each other where the voice does. Drill the trio je m’appelle / nous nous appelons / je t’appellerai, and both the rule and your introductions are set.
The double letter marks the stressed open vowel where the ending is silent — same logic as acheter’s è, spelled differently. Future keeps it: j’appellerai.
Appeler calls someone (j’appelle ma mère); s’appeler names oneself (je m’appelle Marc). Same table, one reflexive pronoun apart.
« Rappelle-moi » (tu) / « rappelez-moi » (vous). And « je te rappelle » is the standard promise to return a call.
Ils ___ leurs amis. (double l)
appellent
nous ___ (appeler) (single l!)
appelons
« jeter » same family : il ___ (doubling)
jette
tu ___ (Appeler — passé composé)
as appelé
il ___ (Appeler — imperfect)
appelait
nous ___ (Appeler — future)
appellerons
vous ___ (Appeler — conditional)
appelleriez
Go further: this chart is one small piece — get the full picture in our guide Master the present tense — the full beginner guide.
j’appelle, tu appelles, il / elle appelle, nous appelons, vous appelez, ils / elles appellent. Full charts for every tense are above, each form with audio.
appelé — the passé composé is « j’ai appelé ». Appeler uses avoir as its auxiliary verb.
« j’appellerai » — the future stem never changes across persons, only the endings do.
to call. It is one of the essential French verbs — drill the present first, then the passé composé; those two tenses carry most conversations.
Games built from this exact page — turn what you just read into play:
« appeler » at every CEFR level — the tense, its forms and the mechanic that makes it stick. Practise it with the free games →