Present indicative

Summary

The présent de l'indicatif states facts and current or habitual actions, and is formed by adding personal endings to the verb stem.

Explanation

The present indicative is the everyday tense for stating facts, describing current situations, and reporting habits. Unlike English, French has no separate progressive form, so a single present covers what English splits into the simple present and the present continuous: je mange means both 'I eat' and 'I am eating'. Context, not a special verb form, tells you which reading is meant.

To form it, you drop the infinitive ending and add personal endings to the stem. Regular -er verbs (the largest group) take -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent: je parle, tu parles, il parle, nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent. Regular -ir verbs of the finir type add the infix -iss- in the plural and take -is, -is, -it, -issons, -issez, -issent: je finis, nous finissons, ils finissent.

A defining feature of the -er group is that the three singular forms and the third-person plural are pronounced identically, even though they are spelled differently (parle, parles, parle, parlent all sound the same). The endings are heard only in nous and vous. This makes spelling the silent endings correctly one of the first hurdles for learners.

The most frequent verbs belong to the irregular third group and must be memorised: être (je suis, tu es, il est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont), avoir (j'ai, tu as, il a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont), aller (je vais, tu vas, il va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont) and faire (je fais, tu fais, il fait, nous faisons, vous faites, ils font). These four power most basic sentences and underpin many compound tenses.

The main pitfall is treating French like English: never add the auxiliary 'do' for questions or negatives, and never add a stray -t to an -er verb in the third person (il mange, not *il mange-t). To stress that an action is in progress you can use être en train de + infinitive (je suis en train de manger), but this is optional emphasis, not a required tense.

Rule of thumb: identify the verb group, take the stem, and attach the matching endings; for the four irregular workhorses (être, avoir, aller, faire), learn the full set by heart, since they appear in almost every conversation.

Examples

Je mange une pomme maintenant. — I am eating an apple now. (The same form also means 'I eat'.)

Elle habite à Lyon depuis deux ans. — She has been living in Lyon for two years. (French uses the present with depuis where English uses a perfect.)

Nous finissons toujours nos devoirs avant le dîner. — We always finish our homework before dinner. (finir keeps -iss- in the plural: finissons.)

Tu es étudiant et tu as un petit boulot. — You are a student and you have a part-time job. (être and avoir are irregular and very frequent.)

Ils vont à l'école tous les matins. — They go to school every morning. (aller is irregular: ils vont.)

Common mistakes

Prerequisites

• The three verb groups

Related rules

• Group 1: regular -er verbs
• Group 2: regular -ir verbs (-iss-, finir)
• Group 3: irregular verbs overview
• être vs avoir