A1 · Verbs
The French present tense
The present is the tense you live in. In French it covers I work, I am working, and I do work. You do not need a separate “am -ing” form. Learn the -er pattern first — it is most of the verbs you will actually say — then the handful of irregulars that carry a conversation.
One present, three English habits
Je travaille.
I work. / I am working. / I do work. Elle parle au téléphone.
She is on the phone. — no extra “is speaking” verb On mange à 13 heures.
We eat at 1 p.m. — on is the everyday “we”
Regular -er verbs — the workhorse
Take parler (to speak). Drop -er, add the present endings. This pattern is parler, habiter, travailler, demander, écouter, regarder, and hundreds more.
parler — to speak
| Person | Form | You say |
|---|---|---|
| je | parle | zhuh parl |
| tu | parles | too parl |
| il / elle / on | parle | eel / ell / on parl |
| nous | parlons | noo par-lon |
| vous | parlez | voo par-lay |
| ils / elles | parlent | eel parl |
je, tu, il, ils often sound the same: parle, parles, parlent. The spelling is for the page. Your ear should not panic.
-ir and -re, briefly
finir — to finish
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | finis |
| tu | finis |
| il / elle / on | finit |
| nous | finissons |
| vous | finissez |
| ils / elles | finissent |
You hear the extra -iss- in nous / vous / ils: finissons, finissez, finissent.
attendre — to wait
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | attends |
| tu | attends |
| il / elle / on | attend |
| nous | attendons |
| vous | attendez |
| ils / elles | attendent |
Do not collect every regular verb. Collect the ones in your life: envoyer un mail, réserver, habiter, décider. Then add the four irregulars on the next page — être, avoir, aller, faire — because they hold the rest of French up.
Try this out loud
Say what you do in a normal week. Present only.
J’habite à…
I live in…
Je travaille le matin.
I work in the morning.
On parle français ici.
We speak French here.
Questions this page usually raises
Keep going
Next grammar pages — same English, next rule.
A1 · Verbs
Être, avoir, aller, faire
The four French verbs you cannot skip: to be, to have, to go, and to do — with full present forms and when to use each.
Read this resourceA1 · Sentences
French negation: ne…pas and what people actually say
How to make French sentences negative with ne…pas, never, nothing — and why spoken French often drops the ne.
Read this resourceA1–A2 · Future
The near future: je vais + infinitive
How to talk about the future in French with aller + infinitive — the form you actually hear — and when the futur simple can wait.
Read this resource
If you want a lesson around this
On the call
A page is a map. Speaking is the walk.
Use this in a real sentence on the free intro. We will correct it once, then you say it again.
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