Language/French/Grammar/Present-Tense

In this article, we will dive into the fascinating world of the French language and explain how to master the use of the present tense in French. 🇫🇷

The French present tense is the most useful and essential French tense you will learn, making it the perfect starting point for your language journey. 🌟

After mastering the present tense, you can further enhance your French grammar skills by exploring related topics such as fractions, subject pronouns, and plurals. These additional resources will help you become a true French language expert! 📚🥐

When to use?

When use the present in French?

The French present tense is used to talk about:

• Current situations
• What’s about to happen
• Habits
• Absolute truths

Examples

Current situations

• Qu’est-ce que tu fais ? Je mange = What are you doing? I’m eating

What’s about to happen

• Mardi prochain à 14 heures, il a un rendez-vous important = This Tuesday at 2PM, he has an important meeting

Habits

• Je suis malade chaque hiver = I’m sick every winter

Absolute truths

• Les français sont des râleurs = French like to complain

There are two kinds of French verbs: regular verbs and irregular verbs.

Regular verbs follow the same pattern. Once you know how to conjugate the 3 kinds of regular verbs, you will be able to conjugate the majority of French verbs.

Irregular verbs don’t follow any pattern. This means you need to learn their ending. We're lucky because most verbs are regular!

Regular verbs

There are 3 kinds of regular verbs:

• Verbs in -ER
• Verbs in -IR
• Verbs in -RE

They follow the patterns below:

Verbs in -ER

The great majority of French verbs end in "-ER". So you will improve a lot by just knowing how to use ER verbs.

Pronoun	Verb	Example
Je	mange	Je mange des fraises I eat strawberries
Tu	manges	Tu ne manges jamais la matin You never eat in the morning
Il/elle/on	mange	Il mange souvent des fruits He often eats fruit
Nous	mangeons	Demain, nous mangeons à la maison Tomorrow, we eat at home
Vous	mangez	Ce soir, vous mangez ensemble Tonight you eat together
Ils/elles	mangent	Quand mangent-il en général ? When do they eat in general?

Verbs in -IR

IR verbs are estimated to represent only a small percentage of French verbs. Here are the patterns that regular IR verbs follow:

Pronoun	Verb	Example
Je	finis	Ce soir, je finis à 6h Tonight I finish at 6
Tu	finis	Demain, tu finis tôt Tomorrow you finish early
Il/elle/on	finit	En général, il finit toujours ce qu'il a commencé In general, he always finishes what he started
Nous	finissons	Nous finissons ensemble aujourd'hui We finish together today
Vous	finissez	Vous finissez ce dessin avant de partir ? You finish this drawing before you go?
Ils/elles	finissent	ils finissent et ils partent They finish and they go

Verbs in -RE

Regular RE verbs follow this pattern:

Pronoun	Verb	Example
Je	vends	Je vends des livres I sell books
Tu	vends	Tu vends souvent ? You come often?
Il/elle/on	vend	En ce moment, il vend son appartement Right now, he sells his apartment
Nous	vendons	Nous vendons ce que nous pouvons We sell what we can
Vous	vendez	Combien vendez-vous cela en général ? How much do you sell this in general?
Ils/elles	vendent	Ils vendent trop cher ici They sell overpriced here

Irregular verbs

Irregular French verbs don’t follow the regular verbs patterns and you will have to learn the conjugation of each irregular verb.

You do not need to learn a list of irregular verbs. Instead, you should learn the most common ones you'll find in most conversations.

For example, "avoir" (to have) and "être" (to be) are found in many French sentences.

Avoir

Conjugation	Translation	Example
J’ai	I have	J'ai 18 ans I'm 18 years old
Tu as	You have	De quoi as-tu envie ? What do you want?
Il/elle/on a	He/she has	Elle a regardé la télévision She watched television
Nous avons	We have	Nous avons une grande maison We have a big house
Vous avez	You have	Combien de livres avez-vous ? How many books do you have?
Ils/elles ont	They have	Ils ont une voiture They have a car

Être

Conjugation	Translation	Example
Je suis	I am	Je suis ici I am here
Tu es	You are	Tu es grand You are tall
Il/elle/on est	He/she is	Elle est gentille She's nice
Nous sommes	We are	Nous sommes cinq We are five
Vous êtes	You are	Vous êtes Monsieur Dupond ? You are Mr. Dupond?
Ils/elles sont	They are	Ils sont nombreux They are numerous

Aller

Conjugation	Translation	Example
Je vais	I go	Je vais au travail I'm going to work
Tu vas	You go	Tu y vas combien de fois par jour ? How many times a day do you go there?
Il/elle/on va	He/she goes	Elle va réussir son examen, c'est sur She will pass the test, that's for sure
Nous allons	We go	Nous allons nous retrouver bientôt We will meet soon
Vous allez	You go	Vous allez à Paris You go to Paris
Ils/elles vont	They go	Elles vont me le dire They will tell me

Other Lessons

• Categories of Nouns in French
• Adverb—adjective compounds
• Adverbs ending in —ment derived from the masculine form of an adjective
• Indirect and Direct Transitive Verbs
• Directly transitive verbs take the auxiliary “avoir”
• Adverbs ending in —ément derived from adjectives ending in —e
• Verbs which take noun + adjective or noun + noun complements
• Nouns which have the same spoken form but two different written forms
• Plural of Nouns
• Regular plurals in French