🇫🇷 Building Sentences: Present Tense Verbs in French

Think of French verbs like recipe ingredients. Each verb type follows its own recipe, and once you know the recipe, you can cook up any sentence!

🌟 The Big Picture

Imagine you have a magic word machine. You put in a verb (like “to speak”), add who’s doing it (like “I” or “we”), and out comes the perfect French sentence!

The secret? Most French verbs follow patterns. Learn the pattern, and you unlock hundreds of verbs!

1. Regular -ER Verbs (The Most Common!)

The Recipe:

1. Take a verb ending in -er (like parler = to speak)
2. Remove the -er ending → parl-
3. Add the magic endings!

je      → -e      (I)
tu      → -es     (you)
il/elle → -e      (he/she)
nous    → -ons    (we)
vous    → -ez     (you all/formal)
ils/elles → -ent  (they)

Example: parler (to speak)

Quick Practice:

• aimer (to love) → j’aime, tu aimes, il aime…
• manger (to eat) → je mange, tu manges…
• danser (to dance) → je danse, tu danses…

💡 Fun Fact: About 90% of French verbs are -er verbs!

2. Regular -IR Verbs

The Recipe:

1. Take a verb ending in -ir (like finir = to finish)
2. Remove the -ir ending → fin-
3. Add the magic endings!

je      → -is
tu      → -is
il/elle → -it
nous    → -issons
vous    → -issez
ils/elles → -issent

Example: finir (to finish)

More -IR Verbs:

• choisir (to choose) → je choisis
• réussir (to succeed) → je réussis
• grandir (to grow) → je grandis

🎯 Notice: For nous, vous, ils/elles, we add -iss- before the ending!

3. Regular -RE Verbs

The Recipe:

1. Take a verb ending in -re (like vendre = to sell)
2. Remove the -re ending → vend-
3. Add the magic endings!

je      → -s
tu      → -s
il/elle → (nothing!)
nous    → -ons
vous    → -ez
ils/elles → -ent

Example: vendre (to sell)

More -RE Verbs:

• attendre (to wait) → j’attends
• entendre (to hear) → j’entends
• répondre (to answer) → je réponds

🌟 Special: He/she/it gets NO ending!

4. Être and Avoir: The Super Important Twins!

These two verbs are irregular (they don’t follow rules) but they’re used EVERYWHERE. You must memorize them!

ÊTRE (to be) 🎭

Think of “être” as the verb that describes WHO you are or HOW you are.

AVOIR (to have) 🎒

Think of “avoir” as the verb for HAVING things (and also for age!).

⚠️ French Twist: In French, you “have” hunger, you “have” years (age), you “have” fear!

5. Common Irregular Verbs

Some verbs are rebels. They don’t follow patterns. But they’re used so often, you’ll learn them fast!

ALLER (to go) 🚶

Example: Je vais à l’école. (I go to school.)

FAIRE (to do/make) 🛠️

Example: Je fais mes devoirs. (I do my homework.)

VENIR (to come) 🏃

Example: Tu viens avec moi? (Are you coming with me?)

PRENDRE (to take) ✋

Example: Je prends le bus. (I take the bus.)

6. Spelling Changes in Verbs

Some -er verbs need small spelling tweaks to keep their sounds right.

Verbs ending in -GER (manger, nager, voyager)

Add an ‘e’ before -ons to keep the soft “j” sound:

• nous mangeons (we eat)
• nous nageons (we swim)

Verbs ending in -CER (commencer, placer)

Change ‘c’ to ‘ç’ before -ons to keep the soft “s” sound:

• nous commençons (we begin)
• nous plaçons (we place)

🎵 Memory Trick: These changes keep the verb sounding the same throughout!

7. Stem-Changing Verbs

These verbs have a change in the stem (the main part) for some forms.

ACHETER (to buy) - e → è

The ‘e’ becomes ‘è’ when the ending is silent!

APPELER (to call) - l → ll

The ‘l’ doubles when the ending is silent!

PRÉFÉRER (to prefer) - é → è

The ‘é’ changes to ‘è’ when the ending is silent!

8. Être en train de: Happening RIGHT NOW!

Want to say something is happening right this moment? Use this magic formula!

Formula: être + en train de + infinitive verb

graph TD
    A[être conjugated] --> B[en train de]
    B --> C[infinitive verb]
    style A fill:#f9d423
    style B fill:#ff6b6b
    style C fill:#4ecdc4

Examples:

• Je suis en train de manger. = I am eating (right now!)
• Elle est en train de lire. = She is reading (at this moment!)
• Nous sommes en train de jouer. = We are playing (currently!)

🎬 Like a movie camera: It shows action happening RIGHT NOW, not usually or later!

🏆 Quick Summary

🎉 You Did It!

You now know how French present tense works! Remember:

• Most verbs follow patterns
• The super verbs (être, avoir) are used everywhere
• Practice a little each day

Next step? Try making sentences about your daily life in French!

Bonne chance! 🌟