The present tense
Regular -er verbs and the -ir and -re families (choisir, partir, venir, prendre) in the present: what you do and what you are doing now.
Learn
The present tense, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Form the present of regular -er verbs
Take -er off the infinitive to find the stem, then add -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent: je joue, tu joues, il joue, nous jouons, vous jouez, ils jouent. Most French verbs follow this pattern, so it is the one to learn first.
Know which endings you cannot hear
Four of the six forms sound exactly alike: je parle, tu parles, elle parle and elles parlent, because -e, -es and the verb ending -ent are silent. Only nous parlons and vous parlez sound different. When you write, the subject decides the spelling.
Choose tu or vous, and use on for we
Tu is for one friend, family member or person your age. Vous is the polite form for one adult, and the only form for two or more people: vous habitez ici ? On takes the same ending as il and very often means we: on joue au foot le samedi.
Learn the -ir verbs that follow choisir, partir, venir and ouvrir
Each of the four is the model for a group. Choisir adds -iss- in the plural (je choisis, nous choisissons), like finir. Partir loses the last letter of its stem in the singular (je pars, nous partons), like sortir and dormir. Venir gives je viens, nous venons, ils viennent, while ouvrir takes the -er endings: j'ouvre, tu ouvres.
Learn the -re verbs that follow entendre, prendre and traduire
Entendre adds nothing to its stem for he or she: j'entends, il entend, nous entendons, and attendre, vendre and répondre do the same. Prendre drops its d in the plural (nous prenons, ils prennent), as do apprendre and comprendre. Traduire gives je traduis, nous traduisons, like conduire.
Use one present tense for now, for habits and for plans
The French present covers both English presents: je regarde means I watch or I am watching. With a time phrase it gives a habit (le samedi, je travaille), and with a word like demain it can give a plan, as English does: je pars demain.
Watch the small spelling changes in some -er verbs
A few verbs change their spelling to keep a sound. Nous mangeons keeps an e so the g stays soft, and nous commençons takes a ç. Acheter and préférer change their accent when the ending is silent (j'achète, je préfère), and appeler doubles its l: j'appelle.
Use connaître and écrire in every personHigher only
At Foundation you meet these two in the singular; at Higher you need all six persons, and the verbs that follow them. Connaître: je connais, tu connais, il connaît, nous connaissons, vous connaissez, ils connaissent, like reconnaître. Écrire: j'écris, tu écris, il écrit, nous écrivons, vous écrivez, ils écrivent, like décrire.
The present tense key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Infinitive
- The form of a verb in the dictionary, ending in -er, -ir or -re: jouer to play, finir to finish, prendre to take.
- Stem
- What is left when you take the ending off the infinitive, such as jou- from jouer. The endings are added to it.
- Ending
- The letters added to the stem to show who is doing the action: the -ons in nous jouons means we.
- Subject pronoun
- The words for I, you, he and so on: je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles. French always uses them, because many endings sound the same.
- on
- One, people in general, or very often we, always with the il form of the verb: on mange à midi can mean we eat at noon.
- ils and elles
- They: elles for a group that is all female, and ils for any other group, as in ils jouent.
- Anchor verb
- A model verb that a whole group follows: choisir, partir, venir and ouvrir for -ir verbs, and entendre, prendre and traduire for -re verbs.
- Regular verb
- A verb that follows the pattern of its group in every person, like regarder, finir and vendre.
Common mistakes in The present tense
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Leaving the verb in the infinitive, as in je jouer au tennis.
Every verb needs the ending for its person. Take off -er and add it: je joue au tennis, nous jouons au tennis.
Translating I am playing word for word, as in je suis joue.
The plain present already means I am playing: je joue. French has no extra word for am in this tense.
Writing je aime or je habite.
Before a vowel or a silent h, je becomes j': j'aime, j'habite. Write the apostrophe straight after the j.
Sounding the -ent at the end of ils parlent.
On a verb, -ent is silent, so il parle and ils parlent sound the same. Say it like parle, but write the -ent whenever the subject is plural.
Writing nous mangons or nous commencons.
These spellings keep the soft sound before -ons: nous mangeons, nous commençons. Without the e or the ç, the g and the c would sound hard.
Practice
Try a The present tense question
A GCSE-style original question from this topic. Have a go before you open the working - deciding on an answer first is what makes the working stick.
Which form of manger completes the sentence? Le dimanche, nous ___ chez mes grands-parents.
- mangons
- mangez
- mangeons
- mangent
Show the answer and the working
Answer: mangeons
Before the ending -ons, manger keeps an e after the g, so the g stays soft: nous mangeons means we eat.
- The subject is nous: ending -ons.
- Mang- plus -ons would make the g hard.
- So the e stays: mangeons.