The Present in French

Quick Answer

The French présent(present) is a temps(tense) used to talk about ongoing or habitual actions or states of being that occur in the present, facts and general statements, as well as actions about to occur in the near future.

examples
Les enfants jouent à cache-cache dans le jardin. The children are playing hide-and-seek in the backyard.
Ma mère habite en Californie. My mother lives in California.
Je travaille tôt demain matin. I work early tomorrow morning.

examples

Les enfants jouent à cache-cache dans le jardin.

The children are playing hide-and-seek in the backyard.

Ma mère habite en Californie.

My mother lives in California.

Je travaille tôt demain matin.

I work early tomorrow morning.

In this article, you'll learn how and when to use the present in French. Allons-y !(Let's go!)

Questions This Article Answers

What is the present tense in French?

When do you use the present tense in French?

How do you conjugate regular verbs in the present tense in French?

How do you conjugate irregular verbs in the present tense in French?

How do you conjugate -er, -ir, and -re verbs in the present tense in French?

The Present in French

The French présent(present) is a temps(tense) used to talk about the following:

actions or states of being taking place in the present moment,
habitual actions or states of being,
facts and general statements,
actions that are about to occur.

A sentence in the present in French can commonly be translated into English in three ways. For example, the French sentence Je joue aux échecs.could mean any of the sentences below in English.

I play chess. (in the simple present)
I am playing chess. (in the present progressive)
I do play chess. (in the present emphatic)

In the contexts we'll explore below, you'll mostly see translations in the simple present and present progressive.

1. Actions or States of Being Taking Place in the Present Moment

French uses the present for actions or states of being that are currently taking place in the present moment. The present progressive is commonly used in English in this context.

examples
Qu'est-ce que tu fais ? - Je fais mes devoirs de chimie. What are you doing? - I'm doing my chemistry homework.
Nous regardons le coucher de soleil. We're watching the sunset.
Tu es déçue que ta meilleure amie n'ait pas pu venir à ta fête d'anniversaire ? Are you disappointed that your best friend couldn't come to your birthday party?

The Present Progressive in English

When translating from English to French, you may feel the need to express an ongoing action with an equivalent to the present progressive in French (with the verb to be followed by the present participle). This is not grammatically correct in French! In most cases, you simply use the present in French.

English	Correct	Incorrect
I'm reading.	Je lis.	Je suis lisant.
Tasha is cooking.	Tasha cuisine.	Tasha est cuisinant.

2. Habitual Actions or States of Being

The present is used in French for habitual actions or states of being that continue into the present.

examples
Les enfants vont chez leurs grands-parents tous les dimanches. The children go to their grandparents' every Sunday.
Tu es toujours content après avoir vu ton frère. You're always happy after you see your brother.
En été, je fais du volley à la plage quand il fait beau. In the summer, I play volleyball on the beach when it's nice out.

The Present in French Used with Depuis

French uses the present for habitual actions or states of being that continue into the present even when the length of time of the action or state of being is used with depuis(for, since). In this case, English uses the present perfect progressive. Notice the difference in tenses in English in the following examples:

examples
Je fais du piano tous les jours. I play the piano every day.
Je fais du piano depuis 3 ans. I've been playing the piano for three years.

examples

Je fais du piano tous les jours.

I play the piano every day.

Je fais du piano depuis 3 ans.

I've been playing the piano for three years.

examples
J'étudie pour l'examen tous les soirs. I study for the exam every evening.
J'étudie pour l'examen depuis mars. I've been studying for the exam since March.

examples

J'étudie pour l'examen tous les soirs.

I study for the exam every evening.

J'étudie pour l'examen depuis mars.

I've been studying for the exam since March.

3. Facts and General Statements

The present is used for facts or statements that are believed to hold true over a span of time, including the present.

examples
Les abeilles produisent du miel. Bees produce honey.
Le solstice d'été est le jour le plus long de l'année. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year.
Selma parle italien et portugais. Selma can speak Italian and Portuguese.

4. Actions That Are about to Occur

The present can be used in French for actions that are about to occur in the near future. This can often be translated using the present progressive in English.

examples
Je pars en vacances demain. I'm going on vacation tomorrow.
Tu sors avec tes amis ce week-end? Are you going out with your friends this weekend?
On dîne au centre-ville ce soir. We're eating dinner downtown this evening.

Conjugating Verbs in the Present in French

The present tense may be one of the most challenging conjugations in French, but luckily there are patterns based on whether the infinitive ends in -er, -ir, or -re. We'll take a look at each of these three verb classes as well as irregular conjugations.

Regular -ER Verbs in the Present

The vast majority of verbs in French are -er verbs! With the exception of the verb aller(to go), all -er verbs have the following endings in the present tense:

Regular Endings for -ER Verbs in the Present

Subject	Ending
je	-e
tu	-es
il, elle, on	-e
nous	-ons
vous	-ez
ils, elles	-ent

To conjugate an -er verb in the present tense, you remove the infinitive ending (in this case, the -er) and replace it with the endings in the table above. Here's what the verb arrêter(to stop) looks like:

Arrêter in the Present

Subject	French Example	English
je	j'arrête	I stop
tu	tu arrêtes	you stop
il, elle, on	elle arrête	she stops
nous	nous arrêtons	we stop
vous	vous arrêtez	you (all) stop
ils, elles	ils arrêtent	they stop

-ER Verbs with Spelling Changes in the Stem

Although all -er verbs (except for aller) have the endings in the table above, the stems of these verbs have certain spelling changes when conjugated in the present.

Verbs with E or É in the Second-to-Last Syllable

For verbs that have an unaccented e or an é with an accent aigu(acute accent) in the second-to-last syllable of the infinitive, the e or é changes to an è with an accent grave(grave accent) for all persons except nous and vous.

This applies to a verb like acheter(to buy), which has an unaccented e in the second-to-last syllable, as well as espérer(to hope), which has an é with an accent aigu in the second-to-last syllable.

Acheter and Espérer in the Present

Subject	Acheter	Espérer
je	j'achète I buy	j'espère I hope
tu	tu achètes you buy	tu espères you hope
il, elle, on	il achète he buys	il espère he hopes
nous	nous achetons we buy	nous espérons we hope
vous	vous achetez you (all) buy	vous espérez you (all) hope
ils, elles	elles achètent they buy	elles espèrent they hope

Notice how the endings are what is expected for -er verbs. You have to pay attention to spelling changes in the stem!

Pronunciation

The è with an accent grave makes sure that this vowel is pronounced like the è in ère(era) and not like the unaccented e in te(you, to you) or the é with an accent aigu in thé(tea).

Verbs Ending in -ELER and -ETER

For verbs that end in -eler and -eter, the t or l is doubled for all persons except nous and vous. Here's what the verbs appeler(to call) and jeter(to throw) look like in the present:

Appeler and Jeter in the Present

Subject	Appeler	Jeter
je	j'appelle I call	je jette I throw
tu	tu appelles you call	tu jettes you throw
il, elle, on	elle appelle she calls	elle jette she throws
nous	nous appelons we call	nous jetons we throw
vous	vous appelez you (all) call	vous jetez you (all) throw
ils, elles	elles appellent they call	elles jettent they throw

Pronunciation

Once again, the double consonant reflects the pronunciation! Doubling the consonant makes sure that the preceding e is pronounced like the è in èreand not like the unaccented e in te.

Verbs That End in -GER and -CER

For verbs that end in -ger and -cer, a spelling change applies only in the nous form.

For verbs ending -ger, an e is added to the end of the stem, just before the usual -ons ending.
For verbs ending in -cer , the ç takes a cédille(cedilla), just before the usual -ons ending.

The verbs manger(to eat) and commencer(to start) would have the following conjugations for the nous form:

Correct	Incorrect	English
nous mangeons	nous mangons	we eat
nous commençons	nous commencons	we start

Pronunciation

This spelling change for the nous form makes sure that the g and c maintain their "soft" pronunciation, like in gel(frost) and ça(this, that). This way, these consonants are pronounced consistently across all forms, including the infinitive!

Verbs Ending in -OYER and -UYER

For verbs that end in -oyer and -uyer, the y must change to an i for all persons except nous and vous.

This rule applies to verbs like envoyer(to send) and s'ennuyer(to get bored):

Envoyer and S'ennuyer in the Present

Subject	Envoyer	S'ennuyer
je	j'envoie I send	je m'ennuie I get bored
tu	tu envoies you send	tu t'ennuies you get bored
il, elle, on	il envoie he sends	il s'ennuie he gets bored
nous	nous envoyons we send	nous nous ennuyons we get bored
vous	vous envoyez you (all) send	vous vous ennuyez you (all) get bored
ils, elles	elles envoient they send	elles s'ennuient they get bored

Verbs That End in -AYER

For verbs that end in -ayer, the y can optionally change to an i for all persons except nous and vous. Take a look at both possible conjugations for the verb essayer(to try) in the table below.

Essayer in the Present

Subject	French Example	English
je	j'essaye, j'essaie	I try
tu	tu essayes, tu essaies	you try
il, elle, on	elle essaye, elle essaie	she tries
nous	nous essayons	we try
vous	vous essayez	you (all) try
ils, elles	elles essayent, elles essaient	they try

Pronunciation

Here’s another trick! Depending on whether the stem uses y or i, the pronunciation slightly changes. Listen in the table above to hear the difference between the two forms for the verb essayer! You'll notice that the y is pronounced like the y in the English word yellow.

Regular -IR Verbs in the Present

There are two patterns for regular -ir verbs in the present. There's a pattern that contains a larger set of verbs, like choisir(to choose), and an alternate pattern for a smaller set of verbs, like dormir(to sleep). Unfortunately, there’s no clear rule for predicting which pattern an -ir verb will follow, so it’s best to learn as you go!

Regular -IR Verbs like Choisir in the Present

To conjugate an -ir verb like choisir in the present tense in French, you'll remove the -ir of the infinitive and replace it with the following endings:

Regular Endings for -IR Verbs like Choisir in the Present

Subject	Ending
je	-is
tu	-is
il, elle, on	-it
nous	-issons
vous	-issez
ils, elles	-issent

Choisir would have the following conjugations:

Choisir in the Present

Subject	French Example	English
je	je choisis	I choose
tu	tu choisis	you choose
il, elle, on	il choisit	he chooses
nous	nous choisissons	we choose
vous	vous choisissez	you (all) choose
ils, elles	elles choisissent	they choose

Regular -IR Verbs like Dormir in the Present

There are a handful of -ir verbs that follow a different pattern from the one above. These include verbs like the following:

dormir(to sleep)
mentir(to lie)
partir(to leave)
servir(to serve)
sortir(to go out)

Here's how to conjugate these -ir verbs in the present tense:

The plural persons are conjugated exactly like regular -er verbs: you remove the infinitive ending and replace it with -ons, -ez, and -ent.
For the singular persons, you remove the infinitive ending as well as the directly preceding consonant! You then add the following endings: -s, -s, -t.

Here’s what dormir looks like in the present tense:

Dormir in the Present

Pronoun	French Example	English
je	je dors	I sleep
tu	tu dors	you sleep
il, elle, on	elle dort	she sleeps
nous	nous dormons	we sleep
vous	vous dormez	you (all) sleep
ils, elles	ils dorment	they sleep

Notice how the m of the infinitive only appears in the plural persons!

Let's take a look at one more of these verbs. For the verb servir, the v will be retained in the plural persons but removed for the singular persons.

Servir in the Present

Pronoun	French Example	English
je	je sers	I serve
tu	tu sers	you serve
il, elle, on	elle sert	she serves
nous	nous servons	we serve
vous	vous servez	you (all) serve
ils, elles	ils servent	they serve

Regular -RE Verbs in the Present

Just like for -er and -ir verbs, to conjugate an -re verb in the present tense, you must first remove the infinitive ending. You’ll then add the following present tense endings:

Regular Endings for -RE Verbs in the Present

Subject	Ending
je	-s
tu	-s
il, elle, on	(none)
nous	-ons
vous	-ez
ils, elles	-ent

Following this pattern, the verb vendre(to sell) has the following conjugations:

Vendre in the Present

Subject	French Example	English
je	je vends	I sell
tu	tu vends	you sell
il, elle, on	il vend	he sells
nous	nous vendons	we sell
vous	vous vendez	you (all) sell
ils, elles	elles vendent	they sell

Irregular Verbs

Of course, there are irregular verbs that don't follow the rules given above. There's really no trick other than to memorize their irregular forms. Some verb conjugations look nothing like their infinitive!

Être and Avoir

In particular, you'll need to memorize the very common yet highly irregular verbs être(to be) and avoir(to have) in the present tense.

Être in the Present

Subject	French Example	English
je	je suis	I am
tu	tu es	you are
il, elle, on	elle est	she is
nous	nous sommes	we are
vous	vous êtes	you (all) are
ils, elles	elles sont	they are

Avoir in the Present

Subject	French Example	English
je	j'ai	I have
tu	tu as	you have
il, elle, on	il a	he has
nous	nous avons	we have
vous	vous avez	you (all) have
ils, elles	elles ont	they have

The Irregular -ER Verb Aller

As explained above, the only -er verb whose endings don't follow the regular pattern is the verb aller. Its conjugations are very irregular!

Aller in the Present

Subject	French Example	English
je	je vais	I go
tu	tu vas	you go
il, elle, on	elle va	she goes
nous	nous allons	we go
vous	vous allez	you (all) go
ils, elles	ils vont	they go

Other Common Irregular Verbs

There are many more irregular conjugations in the present tense. Luckily, you can always use our cool online French Verb Conjugation Tool to check out the tricky forms of verbs with ease!

Here’s a list of some of the most common irregular verbs in the present tense:

Need Some Practice?

Try conjugating verbs in the présent with our Conjugation Drill! With a little practice, the présent will become a natural part of your conversations in French.