Home › French Grammar › French Present Tense
A1 · Verb Tenses · Published
French Present Tense
The French present tense covers three English ideas at once: "I eat", "I am eating", and "I do eat". For regular verbs, remove the infinitive ending -er, -ir, or -re, then add the present-tense endings.
That means there is no separate French form for ordinary English "-ing" in the present. You normally use the plain present tense, and only reach for être en train de when you need to stress that something is happening right now.
This page teaches the regular present-tense patterns, the spelling changes worth knowing, the endings that are silent, and the two useful extensions learners meet early: near future meaning and depuis with the present. Irregular families are covered separately in irregular present verbs, and the high-frequency verbs être and avoir have their own être and avoir guide.
In short
- One French present = three English presents:
je parlecan mean "I speak", "I am speaking", or "I do speak". - Regular verbs use a stem plus endings:
parler→je parle,finir→elle finit,vendre→nous vendons. - Use the present with
depuisfor actions that started in the past and still continue:j’habite ici depuis deux ans.
present tense formregular endinguse or signal· hover a highlighted word for its label
One French present, three English presents
English splits the present into several shapes. French usually does not. If the action is current, habitual, or simply true now, the same French form does the job.
Je travaille ici. Je travaille maintenant. Je travaille le samedi.
If you specifically want to emphasize "right now", French has être en train de, but that is a separate construction. The ordinary present tense is the default.
I am speaking with Camille.
— The same present tense form also means "I speak" or "I do speak".
We eat at noon.
— English uses a simple present for habits; French still uses the same present tense form.
Regular -er verbs
Most French verbs end in -er, and their present tense is the first pattern to learn. Remove -er, then add the six endings. Several endings are written but silent, so the je, tu, il-elle, and ils-elles forms often sound identical.
| Person | Ending | Form |
|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | -e | je parle |
| tu | -es | tu parles |
| il / elle / on | -e | elle parle |
| nous | -ons | nous parlons |
| vous | -ez | vous parlez |
| ils / elles | -ent | ils parlent |
You are looking for the station.
— Chercher loses -er and takes the silent -es ending with tu.
They are listening to the news.
— The -ent ending is written but normally silent.
Regular -ir and -re verbs
All regular -ir verbs (the finir type) add -iss- in the plural forms; verbs like partir and dormir that skip -iss- are irregular and are covered on the irregular present verbs page. Regular -re verbs are smaller in number, but common verbs like vendre, attendre, and répondre follow the pattern.
| Person | finir | vendre |
|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | je finis | je vends |
| tu | tu finis | tu vends |
| il / elle / on | elle finit | elle vend |
| nous | nous finissons | nous vendons |
| vous | vous finissez | vous vendez |
| ils / elles | ils finissent | ils vendent |
She finishes work at six.
— Finir is regular: stem fin- plus the -it ending.
We wait for the bus in front of the school.
— Attendre follows the same pattern as vendre.
Pronunciation: endings can disappear
The written endings matter, but the sound often gives you less information than English learners expect. For regular -er verbs, je parle, tu parles, il parle, and ils parlent all sound the same. The subject pronoun is therefore not optional in French.
With -ir and -re verbs, the singular forms are also quiet at the end: je finis, tu finis, il finit; je vends, tu vends, il vend.
They sell flowers at the market.
— Vendre keeps the written -ent ending, but the final letters are silent.
Spelling-change verbs
Some verbs change spelling to preserve their sound or spelling pattern. The big A1 cases are -ger, -cer, and verbs like appeler.
For -ger, the nous form keeps an e: nous mangeons.
For -cer, the nous form uses ç: nous commençons.
For appeler, the je, tu, il-elle, and ils-elles forms double the l: j’appelle, tu appelles, elle appelle, ils appellent.
Two more patterns appear in the same forms (je, tu, il-elle, ils-elles). -yer verbs change y to i, and verbs with e or é in the stem change it to è:
payer → je paie, nous payons
acheter → j’achète · préférer → je préfère
I am calling the doctor.
— Appeler doubles the l in the je form: j’appelle.
We start tomorrow morning.
— Commencer becomes commençons in the nous form to keep the soft c sound.
Present tense for planned events and with depuis
French often uses the present for scheduled or immediate future events, especially with a time phrase. English does this too: "the train leaves in ten minutes".
demain, ce soir, dans dix minutes, la semaine prochaine
French also uses the present with depuis for an action that began earlier and is still true now. English usually says "have been doing", but French stays in the present.
The shop closes in ten minutes.
— A future time phrase can make the present point forward.
I have lived in Lyon for two years.
— With depuis, French uses the present for an action still continuing now.
Common mistakes
✗Je suis mange maintenant.
✓Je mange maintenant.
French does not build the ordinary present progressive with être. The regular present already means "I am eating".
✗Elle finise son travail à cinq heures.
✓Elle finit son travail à cinq heures.
Regular -ir verbs use the il-elle ending -it in the singular, not an English-looking -ise ending.
✗Nous voyagons en août.
✓Nous voyageons en août.
-ger verbs keep an extra e in the nous form to preserve the soft g sound.
✗J’ai habité ici depuis deux ans.
✓J’habite ici depuis deux ans.
With depuis and an action still continuing now, French uses the present tense, not a past tense.
Check yourself
1 / 4Je ___ français avec ma voisine. (parler)
2 / 4Nous ___ le dîner à sept heures. (finir)
3 / 4Tu ___ le journal le matin. (vendre)
4 / 4J’___ ici depuis janvier. (habiter)
Frequently asked questions
What does the French present tense mean in English?
One French present-tense form can translate three English forms: je parle can mean "I speak", "I am speaking", or "I do speak". Context tells you which English wording sounds natural.
What are the regular -er present tense endings in French?
The regular -er endings are -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent. Several are silent, so always keep the subject pronoun.
Is the French present tense the same as être en train de?
No. The plain present is the default for actions happening now, habits, and general truths. Être en train de adds emphasis like "in the middle of doing" and is covered separately on the être en train de guide.
Why does French use the present with depuis?
When an action started in the past and still continues, French uses present + depuis: j’habite ici depuis deux ans. English usually translates this with "have been".
Memory tip
Start from the infinitive, remove the family ending, then check the subject. The stem gives the meaning; the ending gives the person.
See this grammar in today's news
Verbalane turns current news into short French stories at your level — so the patterns you study here show up in sentences you actually want to read.
Start reading today's story