Language
French
Level
A0
Unit
Repères temporels de base
Practice types
0

What this grammar point covers

At A0, tense work in French starts as time awareness: now, before now, and after now. French uses verb endings and helper words for tense.

When to use it

Use this overview to classify sentence meaning by time before deeper grammar study.

Key forms

  • présent (maintenant / habituel)
  • passé (avant maintenant)
  • futur (après maintenant)
  • indices : ai/es/est, étais/était, serai/sera

Examples

Je travaille maintenant. (présent)

English: I work now. (present)

J'ai travaillé hier. (passé)

English: I worked yesterday. (past)

Je travaillerai demain. (futur)

English: I will work tomorrow. (future)

Elle est à la maison maintenant. (présent être)

English: She is at home now. (present be)

Tips

  • Identify time words first, then choose the verb pattern.
  • Do not memorize every tense rule at A0; build recognition first.
  • Use simple timeline thinking: past-left, now-center, future-right.

Exceptions and edge cases

  • Some sentences have no explicit time word, so context decides tense.

Keep exploring

Previous Réponses courtes avec auxiliaires A0 · Négation et questions simples Next Mots repères du présent A0 · Repères temporels de base