Learn more about French Indicative Present

FRENCH VERBS

French Indicative Present:

Present Indicative is the present tense.

It is used for saying what you are doing right now (i.e. I am listening to the radio, I listen to the radio).

The three forms of regular verbs in French are divided into 3 groups:

Those that end in –er:

verbs of the 1st group:e.g. chanter (which means to sing in French), or parler (which means to speak in French)

Those that end in –ir whose participle present ending in –issant:

verbs of the 2nd group: e.g. finir (which means to end, to finish or to complete in French),

agir (which means to act in French),

or grandir (which means to grow or to increase in French).

Those that end in –re and the other verbs that end in –ir:

verbs of the 3rd group.

Regular verbs all conjugate the same way, so once you learn the conjugations for one regular –er verb, all others will work exactly the same way.

Conjugation of regular verbs in the present tense is as follows:

French Indicative Present Verbs of the first group:

-ER Verbs:

E.g. porter (which means to wear in French):

je porte
tu portes
il/elle porte
nous portons
vous portez
ils/elles portent

Je porte une chemise rouge.
I wear a red shirt/I am wearing a red shirt.

Son téléphone portable sonne tout le temps
. Her mobile phone is always ringing./Her mobile phone always rings.

Les designers créent des nouvelles voitures chaque année.
The designers create new cars every year.

French Indicative Present Verbs of the second group:

-IR verbs with present participle ending in –issant

E.g. finir (to finish)

je finis
tu finis
il/elle finit
nous finissons
vous finissez
ils/elles finissent

Elles finissent leurs devoirs.
They finish their homework/They are finishing their homework.

Ils jouissent d’un soleil éclatant
They enjoy a blazing sun.

Ces deux nations se haïssent depuis des siècles
. These two nations have been hating each other for ages.

French Indicative Present Verbs of the third group

-RE Verbs and other -IR verbs

E.g. courir (to run)

je cours
tu cours
il/elle court
nous courons
vous courez
ils/elles courent

Vous courez tres vite.
You run very fast/You are running very fast.

Les lionceaux suivent leur mère jusqu’à leur adolescence.
The lion cubs follow their mother until their adolescence.

Est-ce que tu viens avec nous ce soir?
Are you coming with us tonight?

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