Conjugating reverse slang

Question

With pécho (stemming from choper), How would one conjugate it? Or do you not conjugate it at all. For example, nous chopons, becomes nous péchons or just nous pécho?

Cécile Janty-Davies · Accepted Answer

Bonjour Jamie,
Excellent question, which I had to research as I don't use 'verlan' and really dislike it if I'm honest, probably because of my age!
This is what I found, and they actually use the verb you quote!
" In verlan, verbs are typically conjugated normally once they've been 'verlanized' - that is, you apply standard French conjugation rules to the verlan form of the verb.
For example:
"parler" (to speak) becomes "léppar" in verlan. Then you conjugate "léppar" like a regular -er verb: "je lèppe," "tu lèppes," "il lèppe," etc.
However, there are some nuances:
Popular verlan verbs often get shortened or modified forms that become standardized in speech. For instance, "laisse tomber" (let it go/forget it) becomes "laisser béton" in verlan, but this is more of a fixed expression. Some verlan verbs develop their own patterns through frequent use. The verb "pécho" (from "choper" - to catch/get) is commonly used and conjugated normally: "je pèche," "tu pèches," etc. Practicality matters - if the verlan form becomes too unwieldy when conjugated, speakers might avoid certain tenses or revert to the original verb form.
The key thing is that verlan operates more at the lexical level (word formation) than the grammatical level, so French grammar rules still apply to the transformed words. It's the vocabulary that gets flipped, not the underlying grammatical structure."
Hope this helps!