Le présent: the present tense in French grammar
- When to use le présent
- How to conjugate the present tense in French
- -er Verbs
- Type 1 -ir Verbs
- Type 2 -ir Verbs
- -re Verbs
- -oir Verbs
- Important Irregular Verbs: avoir, être, aller and faire
- Online exercises to improve your French
- Lingolia Plus French
What is 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. To conjugate a verb in the French present tense, we add specific endings to the infinitive of the verb depending on whether it ends in -er, -ir or -re.
Learn all about le présent in French grammar with Lingolia’s quick and easy examples, then put your knowledge to the test in the exercises.
Example

Le garçon s’appelle Félix. Tous les mardis, il va à l’entraînement de football. Il joue au football depuis cinq ans.
Mardi prochain à 14 heures, son équipe a un match important.
When to use le présent
We use the French present tense to express:
- facts and ongoing situations in the present
- Example:
- Le garçon s’appelle Félix.The boy is called Félix.
- actions that happen once, multiple times or never in the present
- Example:
- Tous les mardis, il va à l’entraînement de football.He goes to football training every Tuesday..
- a future action that is already planned or agreed upon (requires a specific future time indicator)
- Example:
- Mardi prochain à 14 heures, son équipe a un match important.His team has an important match next Tuesday at 2 o’clock.
- the duration of actions that started in the past and are ongoing in the present.
Note: French uses the present tense to express this idea, but English talks about duration using the present perfect simple or continuous tenses.
- Example:
- Il joue au football depuis cinq ans.He’s been playing football for five years..
- here il joue = he’s been playing or he’s played
How to conjugate the present tense in French
To conjugate French verbs in the present tense, we remove the infinitive ending (-er, -ir or -re) and add the following endings:
Person | -er Verbs | Type 1 -ir Verbs |
Type 2 -ir Verbs |
-re Verbs |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st person singular (I) | -e | -is | -s | -s |
2nd person singular (you) | -es | -is | -s | -s |
3rd person singular (he/she/it) | -e | -it | -t | -t / – |
1st person plural (we) | -ons | -issons | -ons | -ons |
2nd person plural (you) | -ez | -issez | -ez | -ez |
3rd person plural (they) | -ent | -issent | -ent | -ent |
-er Verbs
The table below shows the present tense conjugation of -er verbs:
Person | Ending | aimer | chanter |
---|---|---|---|
1st person singular (I) | -e | j’aime | je chante |
2nd person singular (you) | -es | tu aimes | tu chantes |
3rd person singular (he/she/it) | -e | il/elle/on aime | il/elle/on chante |
1st person plural (we) | -ons | nous aimons | nous chantons |
2nd person plural (you) | -ez | vous aimez | vous chantez |
3rd person plural (they) | -ent | ils/elles aiment | ils/elles chantent |
Spelling Rules and Exceptions
- 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.
- Example:
- mangereat - je mange, tu manges, il/elle/on mange, nous mangeons, vous mangez, ils/elles mangent
- For verbs ending in -cer, the c becomes ç before the letter o in the nous form in order to preserve pronunciation.
- Example:
- lancerthrow - je lance, tu lances, il/elle/on lance, nous lançons, vous lancez, ils/elles lancent
- 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.)
- Examples:
- envoyersend - j'envoie, tu envoies, il envoie, nous envoyons, vous envoyez, ils/elles envoient
- payerpay - je paye/paie
- For many verbs that end in -eler or -eter, the final consonant is doubled before a silent e.
(Exceptions: acheterbuy, décelerdiscover, gelerfreeze, haleterpant, harcelerharass, modelermodel, pelerpeel)
- Examples:
- jeterthrow away – il jette
- appelercall – il appelle
- (but: acheter - j'achète)
- If the final syllable of the word stem contains an e or é, we give it a grave accent (accent grave) in its conjugated forms (apart from the 1st and 2nd person plural).
- Example:
- peserweigh - je pèse, tu pèses, il/elle/on pèse, nous pesons, vous pesez, ils/elles pèsent
- acheterbuy - j'achète, tu achètes, il/elle/on achète, nous achetons, vous achetez, ils/elles achètent
- cédergive in - je cède, tu cèdes, il/elle/on cède, nous cédons, vous cédez, ils/elles cèdent
- Remember: the verb aller is irregular.
- Example:
- allergo - je vais, tu vas, il/elle/on va, nous allons, vous allez, ils/elles vont
Type 1 -ir Verbs
The majority of -ir verbs belong to type 1, which means that the plural forms add -iss- before the present tense endings:
Person | Ending | finir | agir |
---|---|---|---|
1st person singular (I) | -is | je finis | j’agis |
2nd person singular (you) | -is | tu finis | tu agis |
3rd person singular (he/she/it) | -it | il/elle/on finit | il/elle/on agit |
1st person plural (we) | -issons | nous finissons | nous agissons |
2nd person plural (you) | -issez | vous finissez | vous agissez |
3rd person plural (they) | -issent | ils/elles finissent | ils/elles agissent |
Many common verbs are conjugated in this way: applaudirapplaud, choisirchoose, divertiramuse, fleurirbloom, grandirgrow, grossirput on weight, guérircure, haïrhate, maigrirlose weight, nourrirnourish/feed, obéirobey, pâlirgo pale, punirpunish, ralentirslow down, remplir(re)fill, réjouircelebrate, réunirmeet, réussirsucceed, rougirblush, saisirgrasp, vieillirto age, etc.
Type 2 -ir Verbs
Type 2 -ir verbs can be divided into two kinds: verbs that are conjugated in the same way as -er verbs, and verbs that are conjugated with -s/-s/-t in the singular forms
Person | Ending | offrir* | Ending | dormir** |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st person singular (I) | -e | j’offre | -s | je dors |
2nd person singular (you) | -es | tu offres | -s | tu dors |
3rd person singular (he/she/it) | -e | il/elle/on offre | -t | il/elle/on dort |
1st person plural (we) | -ons | nous offrons | -ons | nous dormons |
2nd person plural (you) | -ez | vous offrez | -ez | vous dormez |
3rd person plural (they) | -ent | ils/elles offrent | -ent | ils/elles dorment |
*Other verbs that follow the same conjugation include: accueillirwelcome, couvrircover, cueillirgather, découvrirdiscover, ouvriropen, souffrirsuffer, etc.
**Other verbs that follow the same conjugation include: courirrun, fuirrun away, mentirlie, partirleave, sentirfeel, servirserve, sortirgo out, etc.
Note: the verbs venir and tenir are completely irregular.
- Examples:
- venircome - je viens, tu viens, il/elle/on vient, nous venons, vous venez, ils/elles viennent
- tenirhold - je tiens, tu tiens, il/elle/on tient, nous tenons, vous tenez, ils/elles tiennent
-re Verbs
Regular -re verbs are conjugated as follows:
Person | Ending | construire* | vivre** |
---|---|---|---|
1st person singular (I) | -s | je construis | je vis |
2nd person singular (you) | -s | tu construis | tu vis |
3rd person singular (he/she/it) | -t | il/elle/on construit | il/elle/on vit |
1st person plural (we) | -ons | nous construisons | nous vivons |
2nd person plural (you) | -ez | vous construisez | vous vivez |
3rd person plural (they) | -ent | ils/elles construisent | ils/elles vivent |
* The following verbs are conjugated in the same way as construire: conduiredrive, cuirecook, déduirededuce, détruiredestroy, instruireinstruct, introduireintroduce, nuireharm, produireproduce, reproduirereproduce, réduirereduce, séduireseduce, traduiretranslate.
** The following verbs are conjugated in the same way as vivre: suivrefollow, poursuivrechase, revivrerelive, survivresurvive.
Spelling Rules & Exceptions
- Verbs ending in -aître (traditional spelling) or -aitre (official spelling since 1990) such as connaître/connaitreknow, paraître/paraitreappear, naître/naitrebe born and their variations such as reconnaître/reconnaitrerecognise, disparaître/disparaitredisappear, renaître/renaitrebe reborn are conjugated as follows:
- Example:
- connaîtreknow – je connais, tu connais, il/elle/on connaît, nous connaissons, vous connaissez, ils/elles connaissent
-
Many verbs that end in -ire (boiredrink, croirebelieve, diresay, écrirewrite, fairedo/make, lireread, plaireplease, rirelaugh ...) are irregular and change their stem in the plural forms. There is no general rule to learn the conjugations of these verbs, it’s best to learn them by heart.
- Examples:
- boiredrink - je bois, tu bois, il/elle/on boit, nous buvons, vous buvez, ils/elles boivent
- croirebelieve - je crois, tu crois, il/elle/on croit, nous croyons, vous croyez, ils/elles croient
- écrirewrite - j’écris, tu écris, il/elle/on écrit, nous écrivons, vous écrivez, ils/elles écrivent
- lireread - je lis, tu lis, il/elle/on lit, nous lisons, vous lisez, ils/elles lisent
Verbs that end in -dre and -tre
Person | Ending | vendre | mettre |
---|---|---|---|
1st person singular (I) | -s | je vends | je mets |
2nd person singular (you) | -s | tu vends | tu mets |
3rd person singular (he/she/it) | – | il/elle/on vend | il/elle/on met |
1st person plural (we) | -ons | nous vendons | nous mettons |
2nd person plural (you) | -ez | vous vendez | vous mettez |
3rd person plural (they) | -ent | ils/elles vendent | ils/elles mettent |
Exceptions
-
The verb prendretake and its related forms apprendrelearn, comprendreunderstand, surprendresurprise, etc. lose the d in their plural forms.
In addition, the n is doubled in the ils/elles form.- Example:
- prendretake – je prends, tu prends, il/elle/on prend, nous prenons, vous prenez, ils/elles prennent.
-
Verbs that end in -indre (atteindrewait, craindrefear, éteindreturn off, joindrecombine, peindrepaint, plaindrepity, teindredye ...) lose the d in the singular and plural forms.
In addition, we transform the n to gn in the plural forms.- Example:
- peindrepaint – je peins, tu peins, il/elle/on peint, nous peignons, vous peignez, ils/elles peignent
-oir Verbs
Verbs that end in -oir such as recevoirreceive, apercevoirglimpse, concevoirdesign, décevoirdisappoint, percevoirperceive are conjugated as follows:
Person | Ending | recevoir |
---|---|---|
1st person singular (I) | -s | je reçois |
2nd person singular (you) | -s | tu reçois |
3rd person singular (he/she/it) | -t | il/elle/on reçoit |
1st person plural (we) | -ons | nous recevons |
2nd person plural (you) | -ez | vous recevez |
3rd person plural (they) | -ent | ils/elles reçoivent |
Note: the verbs avoirhave, devoirmust, mouvoirmove, pouvoirbe able to, savoirknow, voirsee und vouloirwant are irregular and are not conjugated in the same way as recevoir. Check out their conjugations on our page on irregular verbs in French and practise in the exercises.
Important Irregular Verbs: avoir, être, aller and faire
Person | avoir | être | aller | faire |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st person singular (I) | j’ai | je suis | je vais | je fais |
2nd person singular (you) | tu as | tu es | tu vas | tu fais |
3rd person singular (he/she/it) | il/elle/on a | il/elle/on est | il/elle/on va | il/elle/on fait |
1st person plural (we) | nous avons | nous sommes | nous allons | nous faisons |
2nd person plural (you) | vous avez | vous êtes | vous allez | vous faites |
3rd person plural (they) | ils/elles ont | ils/elles sont | ils/elles vont | ils/elles font |
Le présent continu: the present progressive in French
The présent continu, also known as the présent progressif or the présent duratif, is the French equivalent of the present progressive in English (I am doing, he is going, etc.). Like its English counterpart, it demonstrates that an action or event is in progress at the moment of speaking.
The présent continu is formed as follows:
present tense conjugation of être + en train de + infinitive
- Examples:
- Nous sommes en train de dîner.We’re having dinner.
- Les joueurs sont en train de perdre le match.The players are losing the match.
- Je suis en train de repeindre ma chambre.I’m repainting my room.