Present tense

The present tense is used to describe things that happen now:

eg. I play tennis./ Je joue au tennis.

To form the present tense of a verb:

Take the stem of the verb, and add the appropriate ending:

Je- e

Tu- es

Il/Elle- e

Nous- ons

Vous- ez

Ils/Elles- ent

With regular -er verbs (eg. jouer, danser), knock off the '-er' to get the stem:

parler -- parl

Then add the ending as appropriate:

Je parle

Tu parles

Il parle

Nous parlons

Vous parlez

Ils parlent

Examples:

J'apprends l'anglais.* / I study English.

Il parle avec sa soeur tous les samedis. / He speaks with his sister every Saturday.

Nous aimons la voile. / We like sailing.

Elles mangent des frites. / They eat chips.

* When the verb begins with a vowel or 'h', and the person is 'je', there must be an  apostrophe- 'Je apprends' doesn't come as naturally as 'J'apprends'.

This is also found in English- we say 'an orange' not 'a orange'.