{"id":118133,"date":"2023-04-21T13:57:21","date_gmt":"2023-04-21T17:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/french-present-tense\/"},"modified":"2025-02-03T00:54:58","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T05:54:58","slug":"french-present-tense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-present-tense\/","title":{"rendered":"The French Present Tense: When to Use and How to Conjugate"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Every French learner starts with the present tense before moving to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/french\/blog\/french-future-tense\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">future<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/french\/blog\/french-past-tense\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">past tense<\/a>.\u00a0The present tense in French is used for actions that are happening in the present (i.e. actions that are currently happening as a speaker speaks).<\/p>\n<p>With this simple guide, you&#8217;ll learn when to use the French present tense, how to conjugate regular and irregular verbs and will also find a list of resources at the end of this post to help you study French tenses.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<h2><strong>When to Use the French Present Tense<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The present tense can be used for <strong>habitual actions<\/strong>. This happens in English also, and we can determine a habitual action by a trigger word that denotes continuous action.<\/p>\n<p>For example, the phrase <em>&#8220;Le mardi, je nage&#8221;\u00a0<\/em>means &#8220;On Tuesdays, I swim.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Further, the present tense can be used to talk about\u00a0<strong>actions that will occur in the immediate future<\/strong>. Like habitual actions, these immediate future actions need trigger words for context, and these trigger words have to do with time:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Demain, je vais \u00e0 la biblioth\u00e8que.<\/em>  (Tomorrow I&#8217;m going to the library.)<\/li>\n<li><em>Il arrive bient\u00f4t.<\/em>  (He&#8217;s arriving soon.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The major difference, however, works in your\u00a0favor! In French, there is no difference between the habitual present (I swim on Tuesdays) and the present progressive tense (I&#8217;m swimming on Tuesday).<\/p>\n<p>This means that it&#8217;s more difficult for French speakers to learn English because there is no distinction between these two tenses in French, but it makes it super easy for English speakers!<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Types of\u00a0French Verbs in the Present Tense<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In French, there are two types of verbs: regular and irregular.<\/p>\n<p>A <strong>regular verb<\/strong> means it&#8217;s part of a group of verbs with the same ending that all follow the same conjugation patterns.<\/p>\n<p>In French, these verbs are easy to find because they end in\u00a0<em>-er<\/em>,\u00a0<em>-ir\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0<em>-re\u00a0<\/em>(though some verbs with these endings are, in fact, irregular). For each ending, there are specific rules of\u00a0conjugation.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/irregular-french-verbs-present-tense\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Irregular verbs<\/strong><\/a>, on the other hand, do not follow regular verb conjugation patterns, and they have their own endings that are not only dissimilar to regular verbs, but also dissimilar to\u00a0other irregular verbs.<\/p>\n<p>These, unfortunately, have to be memorized, but there aren&#8217;t too many of them. Plus, irregular verbs are used fairly commonly so they are easy to learn.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Regular French Verbs<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Like I stated earlier, regular verbs can be broken into three categories depending on their ending, and verbs with the same endings follow the same conjugation pattern.<\/p>\n<p>Check it out!<\/p>\n<h3>Verbs that end in\u00a0<em>-er<\/em><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-regular-er-verbs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Regular verbs that end in\u00a0<strong><em>-er<\/em><\/strong><\/a> are the largest classes of verbs in French, accounting for over 12,000 verbs in the language. What does that mean for you? Well, once you learn how to conjugate one regular\u00a0<em>-er<\/em> verb in the present tense, you can conjugate all 12,000!<\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s look at how to do it using the verb\u00a0<em><strong>parler<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>(to speak).<\/p>\n<p>To start, we want to take the\u00a0<strong><em>-er<\/em><\/strong> ending off of the verb\u00a0<em>parler<\/em> so that we&#8217;re left with the stem\u00a0<strong><em>parl-<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-1114444\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-1114444\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th colspan=\"2\" class=\"column-1\">Verbs that end in\u00a0-er Endings <\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>Je<em> (I)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">-<em>e<em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>Tu<em> (you)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">-<em>es<em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>Il\/Elle<em> (he\/she)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">-<em>e<em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>Nous<em> (we)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">-<em>ons<em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>Vous<em> (you formal)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">-<em>ez<em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-7\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>Ils\/elles<em> (they)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">-<em>ent<em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-1114444 from cache -->\n<p>From there, we add on endings depending on the subject of the sentence (the person doing the speaking, in this case):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Je parl<strong>e<\/strong> fran\u00e7ais<\/em>  (I speak French)<\/li>\n<li><em>Tu parl<strong>es<\/strong> fran\u00e7ais<\/em>  (You speak French)<\/li>\n<li><em>Il\/elle parl<strong>e<\/strong> fran\u00e7ais<\/em>  (He\/she speaks French)<\/li>\n<li><em>Nous parl<strong>ons<\/strong> fran\u00e7ais<\/em>  (We speak French)<\/li>\n<li><em>Vous parl<strong>ez<\/strong> fran\u00e7ais\u00a0<\/em>(You speak French)<\/li>\n<li><em>Ils\/elles parl<strong>ent<\/strong> fran\u00e7ais<\/em>  (They speak French)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The best part? With the endings in bold, you can peel the\u00a0<strong><em>-er<\/em><\/strong> off of verbs like\u00a0<strong><em>chanter<\/em><\/strong> (to sing) and\u00a0<strong><em>donner<\/em><\/strong> (to give), add the proper endings and you&#8217;ll be using the present tense for\u00a0<em>-er<\/em> verbs in no time at all!<\/p>\n<h3>Verbs that end in\u00a0<em>-ir<\/em><\/h3>\n<p>The next biggest group of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/regular-french-ir-verbs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">regular verbs ends in\u00a0<\/a><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/regular-french-ir-verbs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>-ir<\/strong><\/a>.<\/em> Like verbs that end in\u00a0<em>-e<\/em><em>r<\/em>, these verbs have their own endings that can apply to all verbs that end in\u00a0<em>-ir<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-1124444\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-1124444\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th colspan=\"2\" class=\"column-1\">Verbs that end in -ir Endings <\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>Je<em> (I)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">-<em>is<em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>Tu<em> (you)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">-<em>is<em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>Il\/Elle<em> (he\/she)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">-<em>it<em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>Nous<em> (we)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">-<em>issons<em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>Vous<em> (you formal)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">-<em>issez<em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-7\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>Ils\/elles<em> (they)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">-<em>issent<em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-1124444 from cache -->\n<p>To conjugate in the present tense, take off the\u00a0<strong><em>-i<\/em><\/strong><em><strong>r<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>ending\u00a0so you&#8217;re left with the stem, and add the appropriate conjugation endings depending on the subject.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s an example with\u00a0the verb <strong><em>choisir<\/em><\/strong> (to choose):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Je chois<strong>is<\/strong> un livre<\/em>  (I choose a book)<\/li>\n<li><em>Tu chois<strong>is<\/strong> un livre<\/em>  (You choose a book)<\/li>\n<li><em>Il\/elle chois<strong>it<\/strong> un livre<\/em>  (He\/she chooses a book)<\/li>\n<li><em>Nous chois<strong>issons<\/strong> un livre<\/em>\u00a0(We choose a book)<\/li>\n<li><em>Vous chois<strong>issez<\/strong> un livre<\/em>  (You choose a book)<\/li>\n<li><em>Ils\/elles chois<strong>issent<\/strong> un livre<\/em>  (They choose a book)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And like\u00a0<em>-er<\/em> verbs, you can take these endings and use them for other verbs ending in\u00a0<em>-ir,<\/em> like\u00a0<strong><em>finir<\/em><\/strong> (to finish) and\u00a0<strong><em>r\u00e9ussir<\/em><\/strong> (to succeed).<\/p>\n<h3>Verbs that end in\u00a0<em>-re<\/em><\/h3>\n<p>Finally, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-regular-re-verbs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the third group of regular verbs are ones that end in <strong>&#8211;<\/strong><\/a><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-regular-re-verbs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>re<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/em>In order to conjugate these, remove the ending\u00a0<strong><em>-re<\/em><\/strong> and add the appropriate ending depending on the subject of the sentence.<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-1134444\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-1134444\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th colspan=\"2\" class=\"column-1\">Verbs that end in -re endings <\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>Je<em> (I)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">-<em>s<em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>Tu<em> (you)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">-<em>s<em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>Il\/Elle<em> (he\/she)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">-<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>Nous<em> (we)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">-<em>ons<em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>Vous<em> (you formal)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">-<em>ez<em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-7\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><em>Ils\/elles<em> (they)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">-<em>ent<em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-1134444 from cache -->\n<p>Check out the examples with the verb\u00a0<strong><em>vendre<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(to sell):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Je vend<strong>s<\/strong> la table<\/em>  (I&#8217;m selling the table)<\/li>\n<li><em>Tu\u00a0vend<strong>s<\/strong> la table<\/em>\u00a0(You are selling the table)<\/li>\n<li><em>Il\/elle vend la table<\/em>  (He\/she is selling the table)<\/li>\n<li><em>Nous vend<strong>ons<\/strong> le table<\/em>  (We are selling the table)<\/li>\n<li><em>Vous vend<strong>ez<\/strong> la table<\/em>  (You are selling the table)<\/li>\n<li><em>Ils\/elles vend<strong>ent<\/strong> la table<\/em>  (They are selling the table)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Note that the conjugation for the\u00a0<em>il\/elle<\/em> (he\/she) subject for\u00a0<em>-re<\/em> verbs does not have an ending. This means that the conjugation is simply the stem of the verb.<\/p>\n<p>Also, you can use this conjugation pattern for other <i>-re<\/i> verbs, such as\u00a0<strong><em>perdre<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(to lose) and\u00a0<em><strong>descendre<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>(to descend).<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Irregular French Verbs<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In French, there aren&#8217;t a whole lot of irregular verbs (in comparison to 12,000 regular verbs that end in\u00a0<em>-er<\/em>), but there are quite a few.<\/p>\n<p>Here are the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/etre-vs-avoir\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u00a0two most common irregular verbs<\/a>,\u00a0<em><strong>\u00eatre<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>(to be) and\u00a0<em><strong>avoir<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>(to have):<\/p>\n<h3><i>\u00catre\u00a0<\/i>(to be)<\/h3>\n<p>This irregular verb is extremely common and means &#8220;to be.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-884444\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-884444\">\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-0f6df9cd9c33bba9fb6835231a07e5fd-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Je suis         <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">I am<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-c923a2f74b5d6e1597a473565a2c7fbe-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Tu es         <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">you are<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-5555da871439b341783380943bd1ab48-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Il est         <\/a>\n    \/        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-1efc82687a23a399495b9456a4faeb36-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Elle est\u00a0        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">he\/she is<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-766f3e8ba150b3e1a32017681f08c2d7-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Nous sommes\u00a0        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">we are<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-c570c7383cb3afefb63fc81ead04a2d5-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Vous \u00eates         <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">you are <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-ceb96cbd4b132711dec21a866b46141d-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Ils sont         <\/a>\n    \/        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-7f80027d7bd3e26eb7e603361b8dba01-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Elles sont\u00a0        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">they are (masculine\/feminine)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-884444 from cache -->\n<p>This verb is also used as an auxiliary verb to help create compound verb tenses (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-grammar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">such as past tenses<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Here are some examples:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Je <strong>suis<\/strong> avocat(e)<\/em>\u00a0 (I am a lawyer)<\/li>\n<li><em>Tu <strong>es<\/strong> avocat(e)<\/em>\u00a0 (You are a lawyer)<\/li>\n<li><em>Il\/elle <strong>est<\/strong> avocat(e)<\/em>\u00a0 (He\/she is a lawyer)<\/li>\n<li><em>Nous <strong>sommes<\/strong> avocat(e)s<\/em>  (We are lawyers)<\/li>\n<li><em>Vous <strong>\u00eates<\/strong> avocat(e)s<\/em>  (You are lawyers)<\/li>\n<li><em>Ils\/elles <strong>sont<\/strong> avocat(e)s<\/em>  (They are lawyers)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><em>Avoir\u00a0<\/em>(to have)<\/h3>\n<p>In addition to\u00a0the meaning of &#8220;to have,&#8221;\u00a0<em>avoir<\/em> is another auxiliary verb that is used to create compound verb tenses such as past tenses. It is also very irregular.<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-894444\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-894444\">\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-c3702a199011d3d196b1776a3413d0e0-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">J'ai         <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">I have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-07b2559acb5aca54432fed341ecd2f1b-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Tu as         <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">you have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-18373dac215740a879f776b7d72e9962-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Il a         <\/a>\n    \/        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-e276cd5fabc53c8d676339df9cf0a921-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"> Elle a         <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">he\/she has<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-9cc4a5e16da51daafdf325879fc49332-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Nous avons         <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">we have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-c1615f1bb4b26692602be247f5b58093-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Vous avez         <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">you have<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-cf2b75d441f8870701eaf91b12443a30-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Ils ont         <\/a>\n    \/        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-4fe8c822d075ceb2e2e3f366c30acd3d-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\">Elles ont\u00a0        <\/a>\n    <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">they have (masculine\/feminine)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-894444 from cache -->\n<p>Let&#8217;s look at the examples:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>J&#8217;<strong>ai<\/strong> une radio<\/em>  (I have a radio)<\/li>\n<li><em>Tu <strong>as<\/strong> une radio<\/em>  (You have a radio)<\/li>\n<li><em>Il\/elle <strong>a<\/strong> une radio<\/em>  (He\/she has a radio)<\/li>\n<li><em>Nous <strong>avons<\/strong> une radio<\/em>  (We have a radio)<\/li>\n<li><em>Vous <strong>avez<\/strong> une radio<\/em>  (You have a radio)<\/li>\n<li><em>Ils\/elles <strong>ont<\/strong> une radio<\/em>  (They have a radio)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Other Common Irregular Verbs in French<\/h3>\n<p>Check out these other common irregular verbs in the present tense.<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-1064444\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-1064444\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Aller (to go)<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Pouvoir (to be able to)<\/th><th class=\"column-3\">Vouloir (to want)<\/th><th class=\"column-4\">Faire (to do)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">je vais <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">je peux <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">je veux\u00a0 <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">je fais <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">tu vas  <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">tu peux  <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">tu veux  <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">tu fais  <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">il va \/elle va <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">il peut  \/elle peut\u00a0 <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">il vent  \/elle veut <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">il fait  \/elle fait <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">nous allons <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">nous\u00a0pouvons <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">nous\u00a0voulons <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">nous\u00a0faisons <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">vous allez <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">vous\u00a0pouvez <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">vous\u00a0voulez <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">vous\u00a0faites <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-7\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">ils vont <\/td><td class=\"column-2\">ils\u00a0peuvent <\/td><td class=\"column-3\">ils veulent <\/td><td class=\"column-4\">ils\u00a0font <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-1064444 from cache -->\n<p>But wait! There are more! Check out <span style=\"color: #0000ff\"><a href=\"https:\/\/conjuguemos.com\/chart.php?language=french&amp;id=8&amp;etre=no&amp;commands=no&amp;source=public\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">this link<\/a><\/span>\u00a0to see how to conjugate even more\u00a0irregular verbs, such as\u00a0<strong><em>boire<\/em><\/strong> (to drink),\u00a0<strong><em>conduire<\/em><\/strong> (to drive),\u00a0<strong><em>lire<\/em><\/strong> (to read),\u00a0<strong><em>savoir<\/em><\/strong> (to know) and\u00a0<strong><em>voir<\/em><\/strong> (to see).<\/p>\n<h2>Resources to Master the French Present Tense<\/h2>\n<p>These resources can help you practice your skills in using the French present tense:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/french.about.com\/od\/grammar\/a\/present.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">About.com<\/a><\/strong> has a fantastic resource for present tense verbs (and all those all-too-common irregulars). This website has tutorials on all French grammar topics such as verbs, nouns and sentence structure. In particular, its series on the French present tense includes written explanations, examples and videos!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>More of a book nerd? Check out the handy\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/500-French-Verbs-Dummies-Erotopoulos\/dp\/1118516028?tag=fluentu-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;500 French Verbs for Dummies&#8221;<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/French-Verb-Tenses-Conjugated-Practice\/dp\/1438002904?tag=fluentu-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;French Verb Tenses: Fully Conjugated Verbs.&#8221;<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0Both of these books act as guides for French verbs, having a mixture of both regular and irregular verbs. The best part is that each verb is conjugated, and the examples allow you to learn the subtle differences between seemingly synonymous verbs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Last but not least, practice makes perfect, right? Check out quizzes on <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tolearnfrench.com\/exercises\/exercise-french-2\/exercise-french-80068.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ToLearnFrench.com<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.proprofs.com\/quiz-school\/story.php?title=french-presenttense-conjugations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ProProfs.com<\/a><\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So there you have it! With this guide, you can improve your French knowledge and use the French present tense correctly every time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<h2>And one more thing...<\/h2>\r\n<p>\r\nIf you like learning French on your own time and from the comfort of your smart device, then I'd be remiss to not <strong><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> tell you about FluentU<\/a>.<\/strong>\r\n<p>\r\nFluentU has a wide variety of great content, like interviews, documentary excerpts and web series, as you can see here:\r\n<\/p>\r\n<a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2097\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/french-5.png\" alt=\"learn-french-with-videos\" width=\"307\" height=\"546\" \/><\/a>\r\n<p>\r\n<strong>FluentU brings native French videos with reach.<\/strong> With interactive captions, you can tap on any word to see an image, definition and useful examples.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2099\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/3\/French-2.png\" alt=\"learn-french-with-movies\" width=\"307\" height=\"546\" \/><\/a>\r\n<p>\r\nFor example, if you tap on the word <strong><em>\"crois,\"<\/em><\/strong> you'll see this:\r\n<\/p>\r\n<a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2100\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/3\/French-6.png\" alt=\"practice-french-with-subtitled-videos\" width=\"307\" height=\"546\" \/><\/a>\r\n<p>\r\nPractice and reinforce all the vocabulary you've learned in a given video with <strong>learn mode. <\/strong>Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you\u2019re learning, and play the mini-games found in our dynamic flashcards, like \"fill in the blank.\"\r\n<\/p>\r\n<a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2102\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/3\/French-7.png\" alt=\"practice-french-with-adaptive-quizzes\" width=\"307\" height=\"546\" \/><\/a>\r\n<p>\r\nAll throughout, FluentU tracks the vocabulary that you\u2019re learning and uses this information to give you a totally personalized experience. It gives you extra practice with difficult words\u2014and reminds you when it\u2019s time to review what you\u2019ve learned. \r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nStart using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. <a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Every French learner starts with the present tense before moving to the future or past tense.\u00a0The present tense in French is used for actions that are happening in the present&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":236,"featured_media":249737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"The French Present Tense: When to Use and How to Conjugate | FluentU French Blog","description":"Check out this guide to learn everything you need to know about the French present tense! You will be able to conjugate regular and irregular present tense verbs in no time and we will provide a list of resources to help you practice."},"footnotes":""},"categories":[570,577,584],"tags":[],"coauthors":[176],"class_list":["post-118133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-french","category-french-grammar","category-tenses-and-conjugation-french-grammar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/236"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118133"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":239360,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118133\/revisions\/239360"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118133"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=118133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}