[📑 FINAL] Present Tense: how to write it
Present tense talks about facts, current situations, repeated actions in the present, and scheduled future actions. To conjugate a verb in the French present tense, we add specific endings to the infinitive of regular verbs depending on whether it ends in -er, -ir, or -re.
How to conjugate regular verbs
The stems -er, -ir and -re must be removed before adding the conjugation, like the following:
Danser = Dans
Then, you add the conjugation depending on the pronoun
I dance = Je danse
We dance = Nous dansons
Person -er regular verbs -ir regular verbs -re regular verbs | |||
1st person singular (I) | -e | -is | -s |
2nd person singular (you) | -es | -is | -s |
3rd person singular (he/she/it) | -e | -it | Leave it blank |
1st person plural (we) | -ons | -issons | -ons |
2nd person plural (you) | -ez | -issez | -ez |
3rd person plural (they) | -ent | -issent | -ent |
-Er Verbs
Person Ending aimer Jouer | |||
1st person singular (I) | -e | j’aime | je joue |
2nd person singular (you) | -es | tu aimes | tu joues |
3rd person singular (he/she/it) | -e | il/elle/on aime | il/elle/on joue |
1st person plural (we) | -ons | nous aimons | nous jouons |
2nd person plural (you) | -ez | vous aimez | vous jouez |
3rd person plural (they) | -ent | ils/elles aiment | ils/elles jouent |
For verbs ending in -ger, we add an e before the letter o in the nous (-ons) form to preserve the pronunciation of the g.
Nous mangeons
Nous nageons
Nous voyageons
-Ir Verbs
Person Ending Finir Maigrir | |||
1st person singular (I) | -is | je finis | je maigris |
2nd person singular (you) | -is | tu finis | tu maigris |
3rd person singular (he/she/it) | -it | il/elle/on finit | il/elle/on maigrit |
1st person plural (we) | -issons | nous finissons | nous maigrissons |
2nd person plural (you) | -issez | vous finissez | vous maigrissez |
3rd person plural (they) | -issent | ils/elles finissent | ils/elles maigrissent |
-Re Verbs
Person Ending Rendre Vendre | |||
1st person singular (I) | -s | je rends | je vends |
2nd person singular (you) | -s | tu rends | tu vends |
3rd person singular (he/she/it) | Leave blank | il/elle/on rend | il/elle/on vend |
1st person plural (we) | -ons | nous rendons | nous vendons |
2nd person plural (you) | -ez | vous rendez | vous vendez |
3rd person plural (they) | -ent | ils/elles rendent | ils/elles vendent |