Le Présent
The present tense in French grammar (le présent) corresponds to the English simple
present. It talks about facts, current situations, and repeated actions in the present,
as well as scheduled future actions. Before a verb is conjugated, it is called an
infinitive.
Regular -ER verbs :
By removing the last two letters of the infinitive, you are left with a stem (aimer →
aim) to which the following endings are added to get the conjugations (e, es, e, ons,
ez, ent).
Danser (to dance):
Je danse, Tu danses, Il/Elle/On danse, Nous dansons, Vous dansez, Ils/Elles dansent
For verbs ending in -ger, we add an e before the letter o in the nous form in order to
preserve the pronunciation of the g. (nous mangeons.)
For verbs ending in -cer, the c becomes ç before the letter o in the nous form in order
to preserve pronunciation. (nous lançons.)
For verbs ending in -yer, the y becomes an i in the singular forms as well as in the
3rd person plural. (For verbs ending in -ayer, we can write either i or y.)
Envoyer: j’envoie, tu envoies, il/elle/on envoie, nous envoyons, vous envoyez, ils/elles
envoient.
Regular -IR verbs:
The majority of -ir verbs belong to type 1, which means that the plural forms add -
iss- before the present tense endings. To conjugate regular -IR verbs, remove the last
‘r’ from the infinitive and add the following endings (is, is, it, issons, issez, issent).
Choisir (to choose):
Je choisis, Tu choisis, Il/Elle/On choisit, Nous choisissons, Vous choisissez, Ils/Elles
choisissent
Type 2 -ir verbs can be divided into two kinds:
Verbs that are conjugated in the same way as -er verbs: Offrir – to offer (offre, offres,
offre, offrons, offrez, offrent).
Verbs that are conjugated with -s/-s/-t in the singular forms: Dormir – to sleep (dors,
dors, dort, dormons, dormez, dorment)
Some verbs with similar conjugations like Offrir: accueillir, couvrir, cueillir, devouvrir,
ouvrir, souffrir.
Some verbs with similar conjugations like Dormir: courir, fuir, mentir, partir, sentir,
servir, sortir.
-RE verbs:
-DRE verbs: Verbs ending with -dre like ‘attendre’ are conjugated with the following
endings: -s, -s, -, -ons, -ez, -ent .
J’attends, tu attends, il/elle/on attend, nous attendons, vous attendez, ils/elles
attendent.
Pay attention, however, to prendre, comprendre and apprendre (conjugated in a
similar way):
J’apprends, tu apprends, il/elle/on apprend, nous apprenons, vous apprenez, ils/elles
apprennent.
-TRE verbs like ‘mettre’ use the stem ‘met’ in the singular form and ‘mett’ in the
plural form. They are conjugated with the following endings: -s, -s, -, -ons, -ez, -ent.
Je mets, tu mets, il/elle/on met, nous mettons, vous mettez, ils/elles mettent.
For -AÎTRE/OÎTRE verbs such as ‘connaître’, remove the ‘tre’ from the infinitive to get
the stem ‘connai’ in the singular form and ‘connaiss’ in the plural form. The following
endings are used to conjugate: -s, -s, -t, -ons, -ez, -ent.
NOTE: In the Il/Elle/On forms, the ‘i’ will take the accent circumflex ‘î’.
Je connais, tu connais, il/elle/on connaît, nous connaissons, vous connaissez, ils/elles
connaissent.
For -VRE verbs like ‘suivre’, remove the ‘vre’ from the infinitive to get the stem ‘sui’ in
the singular form and ‘suiv’ in the plural form. Use the following endings to
conjugate: -s, -s, -t, -ons, -ez, -ent.
Je suis, tu suis, il/elle/on suit, nous suivons, vous suivez, ils/elles suivent
In -UIRE ending verbs like ‘conduire’ remove the ‘re’ from the infinitive to get the
stem ‘condui’ in the singular form and ‘conduis’ in the plural form. Use the following
endings to conjugate: -s, -s, -t, -ons, -ez, -ent.
Je conduis, tu conduis, il/elle/on conduit, nous conduisons, vous conduisez, ils/elles
conduisent
To conjugate -IRE, -OIRE and -AIRE verbs, remove the ‘re’ from the infinitive and refer
to the table below for the conjugations:
Most common irregular verbs:
Aller: je vais, tu vas, il/elle/on va, nous allons, vous allez, ils/elles vont
Avoir : j’ai, tu as, il/elle/on a, nous avons, vous avez, ils/elles ont
Être : je suis, tu es, il/elle/on est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils/elles/sont
Faire : je fais, tu fais, il/elle fait, nous faisons, vous faites, ils/elles font
Pouvoir : je peux, tu peux, il/elle/on peut, nous pouvons, vous pouvez, ils/elles
peuvent
Vouloir : je veux, tu veux, il/elle/on veut, nous voulons, vous voulez, ils/elles veulent