A-level French/Verbs/Present

The present tense is used to say something that is going on right now Examples: I walk, You talk, he eats In French, the present is also used to say "I am ____ing" and "I do _____"

-Er verbs
This is how you write the present for -er verbs. You take off the -er and add certain endings:

Note that if the verb starts with a vowel sound, je is changed to j' (Example: I arrive=J'arrive). Also, tu and vous both mean you. Vous is used with multiple people, or as a formality. Tu is used informally, like with your friends.

-Er verbs that change a little
In order to keep the same sound throughout all tenses and subjects, some -er verbs change a little. For example, verbs that end in -ger (like manger, to eat and voyager to travel), add an "e" in the nous form". Verbs that end in -cer (like commencer, to begin and lancer to launch) are almost the same, except they add a cedilla on the c instead of an extra e.

Verbs that end in -yer, such as payer (to pay) and employer (to employ), change the -y to -i in some conjugations

Some verbs that have an e or é in the middle have special rules. Verbs like acheter (to buy) or espérer (to hope), change the e or é to an è in some conjugations.

Other verbs, like appeler (to call) and jeter (to throw), double a letter.

-Ir and -Re verbs
Here are the tables for -ir and -re verbs.

Note that some of the -ir verb forms have an "-iss" in them, and one of the -re verb forms has no ending.

Irregular verbs
Most verbs are regular. Some commonly-used ones are not and have to be learned by heart. Here are some commonly-used irregular verbs in the present tense.

Present Participle
The present participle is the form of the verb that ends in -ing. In English, it usually is used with a form of "to be", such as "I am sneezing" and "They were going". In French, they don't use the present participle that way. Instead, they use the present or the imperfect. The only time they use the present is when somebody is doing something while doing something else.


 * Example: I watch TV while eating
 * Becomes: Je regarde la télé en mangeant

The present participle is formed with the "nous" form of the present tense with the -ons replaced with a -ant

Most irregular verbs follow this form


 * faire: faisant
 * boire: buvant
 * écrire: écrivant

But there are three exceptions:


 * avoir: ayant
 * être: étant
 * savoir: sachant