Present Tense

* The Present Tense of Regular Verbs in French *
-er     -re     -ir

Tick and cross cartoon

What’s happening NOW

Present Tense

When to use the present Tense in French
To talk about what is happening right now, at the moment
Talk about daily routine, what happens usually or normally.

How do you form the Present Tense?
Some French verbs are regular
Some are irregular
Most of the every day verbs happen to be irregular so learn both!

Regular French verbs are can end in one of 3 endings regular
-er
-re
-ir

Most regular French verbs are -er verbs.
The infinitive ends in -er. e.g.

jouer = to play

regarder =to watch/look at

écouter =to listen to 

arriver = to arrive

aimer = to like  CLICK HERE to learn more about ▬► aimer = to like

What does it mean when we say that a verb is regular
When a verb is regular, it means that depending on the ending of the verb<
the verb  follows a pattern when it is conjugated.
Rather than explain the meaning of conjugation here,
Observe the verb box below as it is an example of a conjugated verb
One that indicated WHO is doing the ACTION and WHEN
in the PRESENT TENSE, the when is NOW
The who is covered by SUBJECT PRONOUNS
In English, these include
I, you, he, she, it, one, we , you all, they

to watch
I watch
you watch
she watches
one watches
 we watch
you watch
they watch

Let’s observe the whole verb in French and English

 

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regarder = to watch
 je regarde = I watch
tu regardes = you watch
il regarde = he watches
elle regarde = she watches
on regarde = one watches
 nous regardons = we watch
vous regardez = you watch
ils regardent = they watch
elles regardent = they watch

 

Let’s observe another -er verb …

tennis

jouer au tennis = to play tennis
 je joue au tennis = I play tennis
tu joues au tennis = you watch
il joue au tennis = he watches
elle joue au tennis = she watches
on joue au tennis = one watches
 nous jouons au tennis = we watch
vous jouez au tennis = you watch
ils jouent au tennis = they watch
elles jouent au tennis = they watch


Now let’s observe some
-re verbs

vendre la voiture = to sell the car
je vends la voiture = I’m selling the car
tu vends la voiture = You’re selling the car
il vend la voiture = He’s selling the car
elle vend la voiture = She’s selling the car
on vend la voiture = One sells the car
nous vendons la voiture = we’re selling
vous vendez la voiture = you’re selling
ils vendent la voiture = they’re selling
elles vendent la voiture = they’re selling


perdre = to lose
je perds = I lose
tu perds = you lose
il perd = he loses
elle perd = she loses
on perd = one loses		 nous perdons = we lose
vous perdez = you lose
ils perdent = they lose
elles perdent = they lose

Now let’s observe an
-ir verb

-ir verbs
finir = to finish
je finis = I finish
tu finis = you finish
il finit = he finishes
elle finit = she finishes
on finit = one finishes
 nous finissons = we finish
vous finissez = you finish
ils finissent = they finish
elles finissent = they finish

In addition to the regular verbs, there also exist irregular verbs
which have to be learned off by heart.

They are irregular in the present tense verbs 
which means they do NOT follow a predictable pattern.
It is best to set aside some time to learn the irregular verbs off by heart
We’ll share those another lesson but for now here’s a video on the present tense with more examples