The PRESENT TENSE

The present tense may be expressed in three ways in English:

I work

I am working

I do work

It is expressed in only one way in French, in this case "je travaille".

The present tense is expressed by using the person, followed by the verb with the correct ending. You should NOT attempt to put in a word for "am", "is", "are" or "do" when using the present in French.

FORMING THE PRESENT TENSE (REGULAR VERBS)

Take the infinitive form of the verb, remove the infinitive ending ("er", "re" or "ir") and add an ending to go with the person you are using.

                                        ER VERBS            RE VERBS             IR VERBS

JE (I)                               e                             s                        is

TU (YOU)                         es                            s                        is

IL (HE)                             e                             -                         it

ELLE (SHE)                        e                             -                         it

NOUS (WE)                       ons                          ons                     issons

VOUS (you)                      ez                            ez                       issez

ILS (THEY)                        ent                          ent                     issent

ELLES (THEY)                    ent                          ent                     issent

examples: (for regular verbs only – irregular verbs must be learned separately)

                                    je travaille            je vends            je finis

                                    nous travaillons    nous vendons    nous finissons

                                    elles travaillent    elles vendent    elles finissent

Grammar links