Le présent

Level A1

The present tense is the most complicated conjugation in French. And it is the one that we use the most. Why is it so complicated? I don’t know. How does it work? Well, let’s see together!

When you are a francophone, you learn that you have 3 groups of verbs. Unfortunately, to be able to know which verb belongs to which group, you need to know one of its conjugation. Easy when French is your first language, impossible if not. So for French learners, there is another way to do it. We say that verbs have 3 forms. There are the one form verbs, then the two form verbs and finally the 3 form verbs. But what does it mean ?

Most of the verbs in «er» are one form verbs. Let’s see with the verb marcher (to walk), travailler (to work) and étudier (to study).

You can see that the stem of the verb (here in bold) never changes. That why we call it one form verb. So it is really easy to remember!

• J’étudie le français. (I study French)
• Je travaille le soir. (I work in the evening)
• Je marche tous les jours (I walk every day)

When you know the form, you can apply it to je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles :

• Tu joues au tennis? (Do you play tennis)
• Oui, je joue au tennis tous les samedis. (Yes, I play tennis every Saturday)
• Vous écoutez souvent de la musique? (Do you often listen music?)
• Oui, j’écoute de la musique tous les jours. (Yes, I listen music every day)

Now, and it is a big deal, do not let the French writing system fools you. It is way easier than it looks because even if you can see that the end of the verb is different for each person (je, tu, il, elle…) it is very often silent. So for marcher (or any 1 form verb), je-tu-il-elle-on-ils-elles are pronounced the same way (march-). Only nous and vous will sound differently.

Then there is the two form verbs. Those verbs have two forms, one for the singular (je, tu, il, elle, on) and one for the plural (nous, vous, ils, elles). Let’s see how it works with dormir (to sleep), finir (to finish) and écrire (to write).

For those verbs, you need to learn «je» and «vous».

• Je dors bien, mais mes enfants dorment mal. (I sleep well but my kids sleep poorly)
• Elle finit rapidement son travail mais nous finissons lentement. (She finises her job quickly but we finish our job slowly)
• Tu écris bien, mais ils écrivent mal! (You write well but they write poorly).

Here too, the endings are silent but for vous and nous. So when someone asks you a question with «tu», it is easy to answer!

• Tu lis des romans français? (Do you read French novels?)
• Oui, je lis un roman français en ce moment! (Yes, I am reading a French novel)
• Tu nourris le chat du voisin? (Do you feed the neighbor’s cat?)
• Oui, je nourris tous les chat du quartier! (Yes, I feed all the cats in the neighborhood)

When someone is asking you a question with «vous», don’t panic. It is not as easy as with «tu» but it is not super hard. Most of the time, you can use a trick! You have to drop one sound from the plural and you have the singular form.

As for instance:

vous dormez – dorm minius m = dor, je dors;

vous nourrissez , nourriss minus ss = nourri, je nourris etc.

Let’s see that with two examples:

• Vous écrivez souvent à vos parents? (écriv minus v = écri)
• Oui, j’écris à ma famille tous les jours.
• Vous finissez toujours vos légumes? (finiss minus ss = fini)
• Oui, je finis toujours mes légumes!

And last but not least, the 3 form verbs. Those verbs have 3 forms, one for singular (je, tu, il, elle, on), one for «nous» and «vous» and one for «ils» and «elles». Those are really difficult, but there are not so many of them, so it is not that bad. Let’s see that with prendre (to take), vouloir (to want), venir (to come).

For those verbs, you need to learn «je», «vous» and «ils». Since you can’t guess the singular form from the plural form, you’ll have to make an extra effort and learn them. But don’t forget, there are not so many verbs like that!

• Je prends une douche tous les matins. (I take a shower every morning)
• Je veux aller au restaurant. (I want to go to the restaurant)
• Vous venez ce soir? (Do you come this evening?)

The best way to learn a conjugation is using flash cards. Make your own sentences using «je» and «vous» and check with «ils». I’ll make a post on how to make efficient flash cards soon!

And if you like to practice in music :

Claude François comme d’habitude

Jacques Brel, Dans le port d’Amsterdam

Edith Piaf, La foule

Edith Piaf, la vie en rose