Salut chers amis ! How are you doing today?
I trust you enjoyed being with us last month as much as we enjoyed having you around. If you're joining us for the first time, this is French Grammar for Beginners on Ma Petite France. Kindly check our previous lessons to be up to date. We welcome you all to another episode of learning French grammar in a simplified manner.
In our previous lessons, we've dealt with the conjugation of "er" verbs in present tense and we've seen the major ones with peculiarities. Today, we are opening this session with learning the use of french present tense which is known as "present de l'indicatif". Do well to grab a cup of coffee, sit back, relax and read through carefully not forgetting to take notes of important points.
The French present tense has three equivalent forms in English language. For example : Je parle = I speak (normal form), I am speaking (continuous form) and I do speak (emphatic form).
In French, there is only one way to express an action in the present tense and this one way conveys all the three equivalent forms that exist in English language.
The major form that often seems to be a huge challenge for beginners is the use of the continuous form. Beginners often make the error of translating the "am" in the continuous form separately from the verb.
Let me explain that better. You know already that "Je suis" means "I am". Right ? Cool.
Imagine you want to say this in French "I am eating". It is possible for beginners to still include "suis" in the translation by saying "Je suis mange". This is wrong in French. You should know that when you conjugate your verb in present tense in French, it already carries the little variables that show continuity in English.
To say "I am eating", all you have to say is "Je mange". Same way as "Il danse" for "He is dancing". Don't make the mistake of saying "Il est danse". It is totally wrong in French. You must always remember that in French language, the present tense conjugation already carries all the three equivalent forms that exist in English language as earlier explained above. So, if you are to say anything in present tense in French, regardless of the form it takes in English, just stick to the conjugation of french verbs in present tense which we've seen in one of our previous classes.
I hope this is lucid enough and helpful. Should you have any question for clarity sake, kindly drop it in the comment box. Do well to share this with other friends as well. Thanks for being with us. See you again in the next class as we talk more on the use of French present tense.
Bonne journée (Have a nice day)!
