The present tense and depuisThe present tense

When to use the present tense

The present tense describes what's happening now, ie something you are doing, or something you do regularly.

For example:

• je joue au foot – I’m playing football or I play football
• on va en ville - we're going into town or we go into town

It is sometimes used with time phrases such as:

• maintenant - now
• en ce moment - at the moment
• aujourd'hui - today
• normalement – normally
• en général, généralement - usually

For example:

• généralement, je fais mes devoirs le soir - normally I do my homework in the evening
• en ce moment, je regarde la télé - I’m watching TV at the moment