Le présent: the present tense

The present tense in French grammar corresponds to the English simple present or present
continuous.

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:

Subject pronouns -er Verbs -ir Verbs -re Verbs

Je -e -is -s

Tu -es -is -s

Il /Elle/ On -e -it –/-t

Nous -ons -issons -ons

Vous -ez -issez -ez

Ils / Elles -ent -issent -ent

French verbs are traditionally divided into 3 groups:

 GROUP I ends in –er.

Eg. Parler (to speak/ to talk)

Je parle

Tu parles

Il/Elle parle

Nous parlon
s
Vous parlez

Ils/ELLES parlent
Spelling change verbs Rules –er
 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:

Similar Verbs -

1. arranger: to arrange
2. bouger: to move
3. changer: to change
4. corriger: to correct
5. décourager: to discourage
6. déménager: to move
7. déranger: to disturb
8. diriger: to direct
9. encourager: to encourage
10. engager: to bind
11. exiger: to demand
12. juger: to judge
13. loger: to lodge
14. manger: to eat
15. mélanger: to mix
16. nager: to swim
17. obliger: to oblige
18. partager: to share
19. rédiger: to write
20. voyager: to travel

 For verbs ending in -cer,

The c becomes ç before the letter o in the nous form in order to preserve pronunciation.

Example:

Similar verbs:

1. annoncer – to announce
2. avancer – to advance
 3. commencer – to commence
4. dénoncer – to denounce
5. divorcer – to divorce
6. effacer – to erase
7. lancer – to throw
8. menacer – to threaten
9. placer – to put
10. prononcer – to pronounce
11. remplacer – to replace
12. renoncer – to renounce

 For verbs ending in -yer,

The y becomes an i in all forms except ‘nous’ and ‘vous’.

Example-
j' Envoie
Tu Envoies
Il/elle Envoie
nous Envoyon
s
vous envoyez
Ils/Elles envoient

Similar verbs:

1. broyer > to grind

2. employer > to employ
3. renvoyer > to resend
4. nettoyer > to clean
5. aboyer > to bark
6. envoyer > to send
7. ennuyer > to annoy
8. essuyer > to dry/ wipe
9. appuyer > to support

 (For verbs ending in -ayer, we can write either i or y.)

payer - je paye/paie

similar Verbs -

Payer – to pay; Balayer – to sweep; Rayer – to scratch

  For many verbs that end in -eler or -eter,
The final consonant is doubled before a silent e except in ‘nous’ and ‘vous’ forms.

jeter – il jette ; appeler – il appelle

similar verbs-

appeler- to call ; épeler- to spell

rappeler- to call back ; jeter- to throw

rejeter- to reject ; projeter- to project

Exceptions:

Déceler-(to detect) Peler-(to peel)

Geler-(to freeze) Acheter-(to buy)

Harceler-(harass) Haleter-(to pant)

Modeller-(to model)

 If the final syllable of the word stem contains an e or é, we give it a

grave accent in its conjugated forms except ‘nous’ and ‘vous’.

Verbs like-

1. Semer- to sow
 2. Lever- to raise
3. Mener- to lead/ direct
4. Peser- to weigh
5. Protéger- to protect
6. Céder- to collapse
7. acheter – to buy
8. amener – to bring
9. enlever – to take off
10. espérer – to hope
11. geler – to freeze
12. posséder – to own
13. préférer – to prefer
14. se promener – to take a stroll
15. répéter – to repeat
16. suggérer – to suggest

Example:

je pèse

tu pèses

il/elle/on pèse

nous pesons

vous pesez

ils/elles pèsent

Remember: the verb aller(to go) is irregular.

  GROUP II- -ir verbs have two groups- regular and irregular.
List of common regular –ir verbs are;

Applaudir- to appalaud Grandir- to grow Abolir – to abolish

Choisir- to choose Obéir- to obey Accomplir- to accomplish

Divertir- to divert Punir- to punish Agir- to act

Fleurir- to blossom Ralentir- to slow down Avertir- to warn

Grandir- to grow Remplir- to fill Bâtir- to build

Nourrir- to nourish Réjouir- to please Bénir- to bless

Maigrir- to lose weight Saisir- to grab Définir- to define

Haïr- to hate Réunir- to reunite Établir- to establish

Guérir- to cure Réussir- to succeed Finir – to finish

Vieillir- to grow old Rougir- to blush Grossir- to gain weight

Réfléchir- to reflect/think

*Irregular verbs need to remembered.

 Some –ir verbs that are conjugated in the same way as -er verbs. (-e, -es, -e, -ons, -
ez, -ent):

 Offrir, couvrir, cueillir, découvrir, ouvrir, souffrir, accueillir

 And some verbs that are conjugated with -s/-s/-t in the singular forms and ons, -ez, -
ent in the plural forms:

 courir, fuir, mentir, partir, sentir, servir, sortir, dormir

  Note: the verbs venir and tenir are completely irregular.

All French verbs that end in venir are conjugated the same way:

 Advenir: to happen
 Convenir: to suit, be suitable
 Devenir: to become
 Intervenir: to intervene
 Parvenir: to reach, achieve
 Prévenir: to warn
 Provenir: to come from, be due to
 Revenir: to come back
 Se souvenir: to remember
 Survenir: to occur, take place

All French verbs that end in Tenir conjugated the same way:

 Tenir: to hold
 Obtenir: to obtain
 Appartenir: to belong to
 Maintenir: to maintain
 Retenir: to retain
 Soutenir: to support
  GROUP III- -re verbs have two groups- regular and irregular.

Person Ending construire* vivre**

Je -s Construis vis

Tu -s Construis vis

Il/elle -t Construit vit

Nous -ons construisons vivons

Vous -ez construisez vivez

Ils/elles -ent construisent vivent

 Regular -re verbs are conjugated as follows:

* The following verbs are conjugated in the same way as construire:

Conduire, cuire, déduire, détruire, instruire, introduire, nuire, produire, reproduire, réduire, s
éduire, traduire.

** The following verbs are conjugated in the same way as vivre:

suivre, poursuivre, revivre, survivre.

Spelling Rules & Exceptions

 Verbs ending in -aître

such as connaître, paraître, naître, reconnaître, disparaître are conjugated as follows:

Example:

connaître –

je connais nous connaissons

tu connais vous connaissez

il/elle connaît ils/elles connaissent

  Many verbs that end in -ire
(boire, croire, dire, écrire, faire, lire, plaire, rire ...) 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:

boire - je bois, tu bois, il/elle/on boit, nous buvons, vous buvez, ils/elles boivent

croire - je crois, tu crois, il/elle/on croit, nous croyons, vous croyez, ils/elles croient

écrire - j’écris, tu écris, il/elle/on écrit, nous écrivons, vous écrivez, ils/elles écrivent

lire - 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 Metre

Je -s je vends je mets

Tu -s tu vends tu mets

Il/elle – il/elle/on vend il/elle/on met

Nous -ons nous vendons nous mettons

Vous -ez vous vendez vous mettez

Ils/elles -ent ils/elles vendent ils/elles mettent

Verbs like vendre are-

Attendre (to wait for), descendre (to go down), pendre (to hang), perdre (to lose),
defender (to defend), entendre (to hear) , render (to return), répondre (to respond)

Verbs like metre are-

Admettre (to admit), commettre (to commit), permettre (to permit), promettre (to
promise), compromettre (to compromise), transmettre (to transmit) ,soumettre (submit)
Exceptions:

 The verb prendre and its related forms apprendre (to learn), comprendre (to
understand), surprendre (to surprise), reprendre (to have some more)
etc. lose the d in their plural forms.
In addition, the n is doubled in the ils/elles form.

Example:

prendre –
je prends

tu prends

il/elle/ prend

nous prenons

vous prenez

ils/elles prennent.

 Verbs that end in -indre

(atteindre, craindre, éteindre, joindre, peindre, plaindre, teindre ...) lose the d in
the singular and plural forms.
In addition, we transform the n to gn in the plural forms.

Example:

peindre –
je peins

tu peins

il/elle/on peint

nous peignons

vous peignez

ils/elles peignent
  -oir Verbs:

Verbs that end in -oir such as recevoir, apercevoir, concevoir, décevoir, percevoir are
conjugated as follows:

Person Ending Recevoir

Je -s je reçois

Tu -s tu reçois

Il/elle -t il/elle/on reçoit

Nous -ons nous recevons

Vous -ez vous recevez

Ils/elles -ent ils/elles reçoivent

Note: the verbs avoir, devoir, mouvoir, pouvoir, savoir, voir und vouloir are irregular and are
not conjugated in the same way as recevoir.

Link: irregular verbs in French

Important Irregular Verbs: avoir, être, aller and faire

subject Avoir être aller Faire

Je j’ai je suis je vais je fais

Tu tu as tu es tu vas tu fais

Il/elle il/elle a il/elle est il/elle va il/elle fait

Nous nous avons nous sommes nous allons nous faisons

Vous vous avez vous êtes vous allez vous faites

Ils/elles ils/elles ont ils/elles sont ils/elles vont Ils/ells font

AASHI JAIN