Present tense: recap before past tenses
🎉 Congratulations — You’ve Mastered the French Present Tense!
You’ve reached the end of all the three present tense conjugation groups.
Take a moment to celebrate — mastering the present tense is a huge step in learning French!
This lesson is here to review and consolidate everything you’ve learned so far.
1️⃣ The Big Idea: Stem + Ending
Every French verb in the present tense follows the same basic principle:
stem + ending
What changes is usually the stem itself, especially for irregular verbs.
2️⃣ Must-Know Irregulars
Some of the most frequent irregular verbs you should have mastered:
- être → suis, es, est / sommes, êtes, sont
- avoir → ai, as, a / avons, avez, ont
- aller → vais, vas, va / allons, allez, vont
- faire → fais, fais, fait / faisons, faites, font
- venir → viens, viens, vient / venons, venez, viennent
- dire → dis, dis, dit / disons, dites, disent
- lire → lis, lis, lit / lisons, lisez, lisent
- écrire → écris, écris, écrit / écrivons, écrivez, écrivent
- vivre → vis, vis, vit / vivons, vivez, vivent
- suivre → suis, suis, suit / suivons, suivez, suivent
- connaître → connais, connais, connaît / connaissons, connaissez, connaissent
- conduire → conduis, conduis, conduit / conduisons, conduisez, conduisent
3️⃣ Tips for Consolidation
- Focus on patterns: Most irregular verbs are logical once you understand the stem changes.
- Singular vs. plural stems: Many third-group verbs have a short stem in singular and a longer stem in plural.
- Watch special forms: FAIRE, DIRE, VOIR, and some -aître verbs are unique — memorize them individually.
- Practice in context: Write sentences, speak out loud, and notice how these verbs appear naturally.
🎯 Next Step
Once you feel confident, you can move on to past tenses (passé composé, imparfait) — your solid understanding of the present tense will make learning them much easier.
Important Note 1
In the French present tense, the ending for vous is almost always -ez. However, three common verbs break this rule and end in -tes instead:
- Dire (to say/tell): vous dites
- Faire (to do/make): vous faites
- Être (to be): vous êtes
Important Note 2
Watch out for verbs derived from dire! While they look similar, they usually follow the regular -ez pattern, unlike the root verb:
- Vous dites BUT vous contredisez (you contradict)
- Vous dites BUT vous interdisez (you forbid)
Key Takeaways
- You now know all the present tense conjugations for regular and irregular verbs.
- French verbs follow the stem + ending principle, with most irregularity in the stem itself.
- The patterns you’ve learned allow you to predict conjugations for many verbs.
- Regular practice and usage will make the present tense automatic and natural in conversation.
In the app, you will find interactive exercises and quizzes tailored for this intermediate level.
Practice French conjugation for free in the Croissant Verbs app
Quizzes and spaced repetition for every tense, for free on your phone—plus short grammar guides on our Learn hub.
