The le présent (present indicative^[1]) in French grammar is similar to the English simple present. It is used to describe facts, ongoing situations, habitual actions, and planned future events. To conjugate a verb in the French present tense, specific endings are added to the verb's infinitive based on whether it ends in -er, -ir, or -re.^[2][3]

French does not have a present progressive form (to be + present participle); for instance, "je suis parlant" is not used. Instead, it is completely acceptable to say "je parle maintenant" to convey "I’m speaking right now," and this is the most common expression for that. If you want to emphasize that you are doing something at this exact moment, you can use the phrase "être en train de," which translates to "to be in the process of." For example, "je suis en train de parler." However, this construction is much less frequent than the English present progressive; in most situations, the standard present tense is perfectly adequate in French.^[4]

These examples illustrate how the present tense is used in various contexts in French:

• Je parle (I speak)
• Tu parles (You speak)
• Il/Elle/On parle (He/She/One speaks)
• Nous parlons (We speak)
• Vous parlez (You speak - formal/plural)
• Ils/Elles parlent (They speak)

• Je finis (I finish)
• Tu finis (You finish)
• Il/Elle/On finit (He/She/One finishes)
• Nous finissons (We finish)
• Vous finissez (You finish - formal/plural)
• Ils/Elles finissent (They finish)

• Je vends (I sell)
• Tu vends (You sell)
• Il/Elle/On vend (He/She/One sells)
• Nous vendons (We sell)
• Vous vendez (You sell - formal/plural)
• Ils/Elles vendent (They sell)

• Facts:
  • Il fait beau. (It is nice out.)
• Current Situations:
  • Je suis étudiant. (I am a student.)
• Repeated Actions:
  • Nous allons au cinéma chaque samedi. (We go to the cinema every Saturday.)
• Scheduled Future Actions:
  • Le train part à 18h. (The train leaves at 6 PM.)