Présent - French Present Tense
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Présent - French Present Tense The French present tense, called le présent or le présent de l'indicatif, is quite similar in usage to the English present tense. Le présent is used to express: I. Current actions and situations Je suis fatigué. Nous allons au marché. I am tired. We are going to the market. II. Habitual actions Il va à l'école tous les jours. He goes to school every day. Je visite des musées le samedi. I visit museums on Saturdays. III. Absolute and general truths La terre est ronde. L'éducation est importante. The earth is round. Education is important. IV. Actions which will occur immediately J'arrive ! Il part tout de suite. I'll be right there! He is leaving right away. V. Conditions in si clauses Si je peux, j'irai avec toi. If I can, I will go with you. Le présent has three different English equivalents. The English helping verbs to be and to do are not translated into the French present tense. I eat. I am eating. } Je mange. I do eat. If you want to emphasize the fact that something is happening right now, you can use the conjugated verb être + en train de + infinitive: I am eating right now. I'm in the process of eating. } Je suis en train de manger. French Regular -ER Verbs There are 5 main kinds of verbs in French: -er, -ir, -re, stem-changing, and irregular. Once you've learned the rules of conjugation for each of the first three kinds of verbs, you should have no problem conjugating regular verbs in each of those categories. The biggest category of verbs is those that end in -er. The verb form that ends in -er is called the infinitive (in English, the infinitive is the verb preceded by the word "to"). -er is the infinitive ending. The verb without the -er is called the stem or radical. To conjugate an -er verb, remove the infinitive ending and then add the appropriate endings, as follows: Singular Plural 1st person je -e nous -ons 2nd person tu -es vous -ez 3rd person il -e ils -ent Thus to conjugate parler, you would remove the infinitive ending to find the radical parland then add the appropriate endings: PARLER Singular Plural 1st person je parle nous parlons 2nd person tu parles vous parlez 3rd person il parle parlent ils *All regular -er verbs are conjugated according to this pattern, except for one small irregularity in verbs that end in -ger and -cer, which are known as spelling-change verbs. French Regular -IR Verbs There are 5 main kinds of French verbs: -er, -ir, -re, stem-changing, and irregular. Once you've learned the rules of conjugation for each of the first three kinds of verbs, you should have no problem conjugating regular verbs in each of those categories. This lesson is on -ir verbs, which are the second most common category. Here are some of the many -ir verbs that you will soon be able to conjugate: abolir to abolish agir to act avertir to warn bâtir to build bénir to bless choisir to choose établir to establish étourdir to stun, deafen, make dizzy finir to finish grossir to get fat guérir to cure, heal, recover maigrir to lose weight, get thin nourrir to feed, nourish obéir to obey punir to punish réfléchir to reflect, think remplir to fill réussir to succeed rougir to blush, turn red vieillir to grow old The verb form that ends in -ir is called the infinitive (in English, the infinitive is the verb preceded by the word "to"). -ir is the infinitive ending. The verb without the -ir is called the stem or radical. To conjugate an -ir verb, remove the infinitive ending and then add the appropriate endings, as follows: Singular Plural 1st person je -is nous -issons 2nd person tu -is vous -issez 3rd person il -it ils -issent Thus to conjugate choisir, you would remove the infinitive ending to find the radical chois- and then add the appropriate endings: CHOISIR Singular Plural 1st person je choisis nous choisissons 2nd person tu choisis vous choisissez 3rd person il choisit ils choisissent All regular -ir verbs are conjugated according to this pattern. However, there are a fair number of irregular -ir verbs. French Regular -RE Verbs There are 5 main kinds of French verbs: -er, -ir, -re, stem-changing, and irregular. Once you've learned the rules of conjugation for each of the first three kinds of verbs, you should have no problem conjugating regular verbs in each of those categories. This lesson is on -re verbs, the smallest category of regular verbs. Here are some of the -re verbs that this lesson will teach you to conjugate: attendre to wait (for) défendre to defend descendre to descend entendre to hear perdre to lose prétendre to claim rendre to give back, to return something répondre to answer vendre to sell The verb form that ends in -re is called the infinitive (in English, the infinitive is the verb preceded by the word "to"). -re is the infinitive ending. The verb without the -re is called the stem or radical. To conjugate an -re verb, remove the infinitive ending and then add the appropriate endings, as follows: Singular Plural 1st person je -s nous -ons 2nd person tu -s vous 3rd person il (nothing) ils -ez -ent Thus to conjugate descendre, you would remove the infinitive ending to find the radical descend- and then add the appropriate endings: descendre 1st person Singular Plural je descends nous descendons 2nd person tu descends vous descendez 3rd person il descend ils descendent All regular -re verbs are conjugated according to this pattern. However, there are also a fair number of irregular -RE verbs. French Stem-Changing Verbs Verbes qui changent d'orthographe There are many -ER verbs in French that take regular endings but have two different radicals or stems. These are called stem-changing verbs. There are six categories of stem-changing verbs. This lesson explains the present tense conjugations. For a chart of each verb's simple tense conjugations, click the "sample verb in all tenses" link under each list of verbs. Stem-changing verbs are also known as boot or shoe verbs, because the irregular stems occur in all the singular forms as well as the third person plural, and if you circle the irregular forms with one continuous line, it looks like a boot. The first table is highlighted to show you what I mean. -YER a) Verbs that end in -ayer Present tense: -ayer verbs have an optional stem change, in which y changes to an i in all forms but nous and vous: Stem change singular plural payer je paie nous payons tu paies vous payez il ils paie paient elle elles Regular singular plural payer je paye nous payons tu payes vous payez il ils paye payent elle elles Verbs: balayer - to sweep effrayer - to frighten essayer - to try payer - to pay b) Verbs that end in -oyer or -uyer Present tense: Required stem change - y to i in all forms but nous and vous: nettoyer je nettoie nous nettoyons tu nettoies vous nettoyez il nettoie ils nettoient Verbs: broyer - to grind employer - to employ ennuyer - to bore envoyer - to send* essuyer - to wipe nettoyer - to clean se noyer - to drown renvoyer - to fire* tutoyer - to use "tu" vouvoyer - to use "vous" (learn about tu vs vous) II. Verbs that end in -eler Present tense: l becomes ll in all forms but nous and vous: appeler j' appelle nous appelons tu appelles vous appelez il appelle ils appellent Verbs: appeler - to call épeler - to spell rappeler - to call back, recall renouveler - to renew Exceptions: geler and peler (conjugated like IV) III. Verbs that end in -eter Present tense: t becomes tt in all forms but nous and vous: jeter je jette nous jetons tu jettes vous jetez il jette ils jettent Verbs: feuilleter - to leaf through hoqueter - to hiccup jeter - to throw projeter - to project rejeter - to reject Exception: acheter (conjugated like IV) IV. Verbs with e in the penultimate syllable (except for the -eler and -eter verbs, above) Present tense: e in the penultimate syllable changes to è in all but nous and vous: lever je lève nous levons tu lèves vous levez il lève ils lèvent Verbs: acheter - to buy amener - to take emmener - to take enlever - to remove geler - to freeze lever - to lift, raise mener - to take peler - to peel peser - to weigh promener - to walk V. Verbs with é in the penultimate syllable Present tense: é in the penultimate syllable changes to è in all but nous and vous: considérer je considère nous considérons tu considères vous considérez il considère ils considèrent Verbs: céder - to give up, dispose of compléter - to complete différer - to differ exagérer - to exaggerate célébrer - to celebrate considérer - to consider espérer - to hope gérer - to manage inquiéter - to worry pénétrer - to enter préférer - to prefer refléter - to reflect révéler - to reveal modérer - to moderate posséder - to possess protéger - to protect répéter - to repeat suggérer - to suggest Note: Don't let the verbs with two és (like préférer) confuse you - only the second é (the one in the penultimate syllable) changes. Le Présent de l’Indicatif
