Video transcript

The present tense in French is very similar to the present tense in English. We use it to talk about actions that are happening in the present. This includes both actions:

• Happening currently as the speaker is speaking ('Je mange un oeuf' – I’m eating an egg)
• Habitual actions ('Le lundi, je mange un oeuf' – On Mondays, I eat an egg)

The verb form in the present tense is the same in both situations (unlike in English, where, as you can see, two different tenses are used depending on whether the action is happening as the speaker is speaking or if it’s a habitual action that happens regularly). So, the French present tense is slightly more straightforward than in English.