French Present Tense Conjugation: Complete Guide for TCF and TEF Canada

Three things in that table deserve specific attention. Vous faites does not follow the standard -ez pattern; it ends in -tes, which catches candidates off guard in writing tasks. Ils viennent and ils prennent both double their consonant in the third-person plural, a pattern shared by other verbs built on the same stems (tenir, apprendre, comprendre). And the entire present tense of aller comes from a different Latin root than its infinitive, which is why je vais looks nothing like aller.

Stem-Changing Verbs: A Middle Category

Between the fully regular and the fully irregular verbs sit the stem-changing verbs. These look regular but the stem shifts in certain forms. They follow a predictable pattern called the "boot" or "shoe" shape: the change happens in all singular forms and in the third-person plural, but the nous and vous forms keep the original stem.

The exam mostly tests two sub-groups. The third is worth knowing but less likely to cost you points.

-cer and -ger verbs change spelling in the nous form to preserve pronunciation. Commencer (to begin) becomes nous commençons with a cedilla, not nous commenceons. Manger (to eat) becomes nous mangeons with an added -e. Without these spelling adjustments, the c and g would make a hard sound, which is not the intended pronunciation.

Verbs with a silent e in the stem, like acheter (to buy) and lever (to lift), add a grave accent in the boot forms: j'achète, tu achètes, il achète, but nous achetons. This also applies to appeler and jeter, which double the consonant instead: j'appelle, il appelle, but nous appelons.

Verbs with é in the stem, like préférer (to prefer) and espérer (to hope), change é to è in the boot forms: je préfère, tu préfères, il préfère, ils préfèrent, but nous préférons.

None of this is random. The pattern exists to keep pronunciation consistent. Once you see that logic, the forms become easier to remember and reproduce in writing tasks.

When to Use the French Present Tense

The French present tense does more work than its English equivalent. Four situations come up on TCF and TEF Canada, and you need to recognize all of them.

Actions happening right now: Il parle au téléphone. (He is speaking on the phone.) This covers what English expresses with the present progressive. There is no "il est parlant" in standard French.

Habitual or repeated actions: Elle prend le métro chaque matin. (She takes the metro every morning.) Time markers like chaque jour, souvent, tous les ans signal this use.

General truths or facts: La Terre tourne autour du Soleil. (The Earth orbits the Sun.) This applies to any statement that is permanently true.

Near future with aller + infinitive: Nous allons soumettre la demande la semaine prochaine. (We are going to submit the application next week.) This construction is the standard way to express planned near-future events in everyday French. It appears frequently in TCF writing Task 1, where candidates write short messages describing upcoming plans.

There is also the extended present: French uses the present tense for situations that started in the past and are still ongoing, often with depuis: Il habite à Montréal depuis trois ans. (He has been living in Montreal for three years.) English uses the present perfect for this; French uses the present. Getting this wrong in a writing task is a common anglicism.

Four Errors That Specifically Cost Points on TCF and TEF Canada

After reviewing hundreds of candidate writing samples, these are the errors I see repeatedly. None of them is subtle. All of them are avoidable.

Writing je alle instead of je vais. Candidates under time pressure sometimes apply the regular pattern to aller. The verb aller has no regular forms at all in the present tense. The only correct forms are vais, vas, va, allons, allez, vont.

Forgetting the -ent in third-person plural. Ils mangent, not ils mange. The error is almost always silent in speech, which means candidates who have mostly practiced speaking do not notice the problem until they are writing. In expression écrite, agreement is checked and marked.

Using vous faites as vous faisez. The irregular vous faites ending is one of the most commonly written incorrectly. If you write vous faisez, the examiner will mark it wrong. There is no workaround except memorizing the correct form.

Translating "I am doing" as two words. English speakers sometimes try to write je suis faisant because they are thinking in English. This does not exist in standard written French. The simple present je fais covers both "I do" and "I am doing." If you need to emphasize the in-progress nature of an action, use je suis en train de faire.

For a deeper look at how tense choice affects your writing score, including when to switch from present to passé composé or imparfait, see the linked guide. Tense selection in narratives is a separate decision from conjugation accuracy, and both are graded independently.

How the Present Tense Appears on TCF and TEF Canada Exams

The present tense runs through the entire exam, not just one section.

In the compréhension de l'oral (listening), speakers use the present constantly to describe ongoing situations, give instructions, and state facts. Following the thread of an argument depends on catching verb forms. A candidate who mishears ils peuvent as a different verb will lose comprehension of what the speakers can or cannot do in a scenario.

In the compréhension des écrits (reading), present tense verbs carry the factual claims in texts. Multiple-choice questions often hinge on whether a statement in the text is current or completed. Distinguishing il travaille (he works, he is working) from il a travaillé (he has worked) determines the correct answer.

In the expression écrite (writing), present tense control is graded directly. For the TCF Canada writing section, Task 1 (a short message of 60 to 120 words) and Task 2 (a personal account or structured letter of 120 to 150 words) both require correct present tense usage when describing current situations, habits, or plans. Verb conjugation errors reduce your grammar score regardless of how well-structured your argument is.

TEF Canada writing works similarly. Task 1 is a descriptive text of 80 to 120 words and Task 2 is an argumentative text of 150 to 200 words. Both require switching smoothly between present tense and past tenses depending on what you are describing. Candidates who default to using only the present tense throughout fail to demonstrate the tense variety graders expect at B2 level and above.

For the specific structures and templates needed for written expression, the TCF Canada expression écrite guide covers Tasks 1 through 3 with annotated sample answers. If you are building a structured study schedule, the 30-day TCF/TEF Canada study plan integrates grammar work with timed practice in the right proportions.

TCF Canada and TEF Canada both assess writing at specific CLB (Canadian Language Benchmarks) or NCLC levels, and the conjugation accuracy expected at CLB 7 is not the same as what is expected at CLB 9. Check your target NCLC score first, then calibrate your grammar practice to that level.

A Note on Learning Order

Textbooks typically introduce -ER verbs in chapter one and spend considerable time there before moving to -IR verbs, then -RE verbs, then irregulars many chapters later. For a general French learner, that sequence is defensible. For a TCF or TEF Canada candidate on a four to eight week prep timeline, it is the wrong order.

My recommendation: spend one session confirming you know the three regular verb patterns cold. Then spend the next three or four sessions on the ten irregular verbs in the table above, drilling them until the forms come back immediately without effort. After that, go back and handle stem-changing verbs. This order reflects how frequently each category appears in actual exam texts, not the historical sequence of French pedagogy.

The goal is not to recite rules about -ER verbs. The goal is to write nous faisons, ils peuvent, and vous devez correctly in a timed task without stopping to think about them.

What are the endings for regular -ER verbs in the present tense?

The six endings are -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent. Remove -er from the infinitive to get the stem and add the appropriate ending. For example, parler becomes je parle, tu parles, il parle, nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent. The three singular forms and the third-person plural are all pronounced the same, with a silent final consonant.

What is the difference between a regular and irregular -IR verb?

Regular -IR verbs add -issons, -issez, -issent in the plural forms, creating a distinctive -iss- sound. Irregular -IR verbs do not follow this pattern. Finir is regular: nous finissons. But partir is irregular: nous partons, with no -iss-. The test is simple: if the nous form has -issons, it is regular. If it does not, treat it as irregular and check a reference.

Why does French use the present tense with "depuis"?

When an action or state began in the past and continues into the present, French uses the present tense with depuis, not the past tense. J'habite à Québec depuis cinq ans means "I have been living in Quebec for five years." This is one of the most consistent anglicisms in TCF and TEF candidate writing because English uses the present perfect for this situation. The French construction with the simple present is the correct and expected form.

How do I express "I am doing" in French?

The plain present tense covers it: je fais means both "I do" and "I am doing." If you specifically want to stress that the action is in progress at this exact moment, add être en train de before the infinitive: je suis en train de faire (I am in the middle of doing). In practice, être en train de is used in speech more than in formal writing. For exam writing tasks, the simple present is appropriate in nearly all contexts.