Verbs: Present Tense — French Grammar

The present tense describes actions occurring at the moment of speaking, habitual actions, or general truths. Unlike English, which distinguishes between "I speak" (simple) and "I am speaking" (progressive), French uses the simple present for both meanings.

Regular Verbs Ending in -er

This is the largest group of verbs. To conjugate them, remove the from the infinitive to find the stem, then add the following endings: -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent.

Je parle anglais.
I speak English.
Nous habitons à Paris.
We live in Paris.
Elles regardent la télé.
They are watching TV.

Note regarding pronunciation: The endings -e, -es, and -ent are silent. Therefore, the singular forms (, , ) and the third person plural () often sound exactly the same, even though they are spelled differently.

Regular Verbs Ending in -ir

Regular verbs ending in follow a specific pattern characterized by the insertion of -iss- in the plural forms. The endings are: -is, -is, -it, -issons, -issez, -issent.

Tu finis tes devoirs.
You are finishing your homework.
Elle choisit une robe.
She chooses a dress.
Nous réussissons l'examen.
We are passing the exam.

Be aware that not all verbs ending in follow this pattern. Verbs like (to sleep) or (to leave) are irregular and do not use the -iss- syllable.

Regular Verbs Ending in -re

To conjugate regular verbs, remove the ending and add: -s, -s, (nothing), -ons, -ez, -ent. Note that the third person singular () simply consists of the stem with no added ending.

Je vends mon vélo.
I am selling my bike.
Il attend le bus.
He is waiting for the bus.
Vous entendez le bruit ?
Do you hear the noise?

Subject Pronoun Nuances

The choice of subject pronoun dictates the conjugation, but there are social nuances to consider:

Tu vs. Vous

Use for informal situations (friends, family, children, pets). Use for formal situations (strangers, superiors, elders) or when addressing a group of people (plural "you").

Tu parles bien.
You speak well. (Informal singular)
Vous parlez bien.
You speak well. (Formal singular OR Plural)

On vs. Nous

While is the standard pronoun for "we", in modern spoken French, it is very frequently replaced by . Grammatically, takes the same verb conjugation as or (3rd person singular), even though the meaning is plural.

Nous aimons le film.
We like the movie. (Formal/Standard)
On aime le film.
We like the movie. (Casual/Spoken)

Irregular Verbs

Many of the most frequently used verbs do not follow the three regular patterns above and have unique conjugations that must be memorized. Common examples include (to be), (to have), (to go), and (to do/make).

Je suis fatigué.
I am tired.
Ils ont un chat.
They have a cat.
Je vais au cinéma.
I am going to the cinema.

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s French course

419 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 1. A few of them, with the words “Verbs: Present Tense” is about in bold:

C'est mon amie, Anna. Elle est étudiante.
This is my friend, Anna. She is a student.
Lesson 2
Il dort aussi. Elle non.
He is also sleeping. She isn't.
Lesson 16
Je les aime et ils m'aiment.
I love them and they love me.
Lesson 32

Comments

Loading comments…