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Être en train de
Être en train de + infinitive means "to be in the middle of doing something": je suis en train de manger stresses that the eating is under way right now. French has no -ing tense — the plain present tense already means both "I eat" and "I am eating" — so this phrase exists purely for emphasis:
Je mange.
Je suis en train de manger.
The first covers both English presents; the second insists on the ongoing process.
In short
- Être en train de + infinitive = "to be (right in the middle of) doing": je suis en train de manger.
- The plain present already translates "I am eating" (je mange) — add en train de only to stress that the action is in progress.
- Only être changes form: elle était en train de dormir = "she was (busy) sleeping".
être en train deplain present tense· hover a highlighted word for its label
Emphasis only — don’t translate every "-ing"
Because je mange already means "I am eating", en train de is never required. French speakers reserve it for moments when the ongoing process itself matters: you can’t come to the phone, something is visibly happening before your eyes, someone is about to interrupt. Stapling it onto every English "-ing" isn’t ungrammatical — it just sounds heavy, like saying "I am in the midst of drinking tea" in English.
One near miss to keep separate: en + -ant (en lisant, "while reading") is the gérondif — a different construction with different jobs.
She’s reading in the living room.
— The plain present already translates "is reading" — no extra words needed.
She’s in the middle of reading — don’t disturb her.
— en train de zooms in on the activity in progress.
Form: être + en train de + infinitive
subject + être (conjugated) + en train de + infinitive
- Only être conjugates: je suis, tu es, nous sommes en train de…
- De elides before a vowel or mute h: en train d’écrire, en train d’habiller les enfants.
- The spelling is frozen: no hyphens, and train never takes an -s — even after elles sont.
- The verb after de stays in the infinitive, whoever the subject is.
I’m in the middle of writing an email — I’ll call you back after.
— Before a vowel, de elides: en train d’écrire.
Watch out, you’re spilling your coffee!
— Real-time emphasis — it is happening as you speak.
Past and future: move être, keep the rest
In the past, être simply goes into the imparfait: était en train de + infinitive. This is the classic interrupted-action frame — and since the plain imparfait already carries that ongoing meaning, en train de once again just sharpens the "caught mid-action" focus.
The future exists too, though it is rare: futur simple of être + en train de, for what you will be busy doing at a given moment.
He was in the middle of showering when someone rang the doorbell.
— Past version: était in the imparfait, the rest unchanged.
Don’t call me at nine — I’ll be working.
— Rare but possible: serai in the futur simple.
Common mistakes
✗Je suis mangeant une pomme.
✓Je suis en train de manger une pomme.
French never builds "I am eating" with être + -ant. Use en train de + infinitive — or simply je mange.
✗Ils sont en train de regardent un film.
✓Ils sont en train de regarder un film.
Only être conjugates; the verb after en train de always stays in the infinitive.
✗Elles sont en trains de partir.
✓Elles sont en train de partir.
The phrase is frozen: train never agrees with the subject and the whole thing takes no hyphens.
Check yourself
1 / 3Chut, le bébé est en train ___. (dormir)
2 / 3Elle est en train ___ un roman. (écrire)
3 / 3Which sentence means "I am reading" in correct French?
Frequently asked questions
What does être en train de mean?
Literally "to be in the process of", it means "to be in the middle of doing something": je suis en train de cuisiner = "I’m cooking (right now)". It is always followed by an infinitive.
How do you say "I am eating" in French?
Usually just je mange — the French present tense covers both "I eat" and "I am eating". Say je suis en train de manger only to insist that the meal is under way, for example to explain why you can’t talk.
Can être en train de be used in the past or future?
Yes — only être changes. J’étais en train de lire means "I was in the middle of reading", typically when something interrupted it, and the future je serai en train de travailler ("I’ll be working") exists but is rare.
Memory tip
Test with "right in the middle of": if the English sentence still works with it added, en train de earns its place. If not, the plain present already says everything.
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