Basic actions happening now | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. Qu'est-ce que tu fais ?

   What are you doing?

   Qu'est-ce que

   what

   tu

   you

   fais

   do

   More detail

   Qu'est-ce que is a common French way to introduce a question asking what something is or what someone is doing. In this utterance it introduces the action being asked about. The pattern Qu'est-ce que + subject + verb ? is reusable: Qu'est-ce que vous cherchez ? means “What are you looking for?” tu is the informal singular subject pronoun “you.” It is used for one person in familiar or informal address. The formal or plural counterpart is vous, but that choice also depends on the relationship and situation, not only on the number of people. fais is the present-tense form of faire (“to do” or “to make”) for tu: tu fais. Here it refers to the activity the person is engaged in now, so it means “are doing.” The form fais is pronounced like fait in many varieties of French, but fait is a different written form and is not the form used with tu. Together, Qu'est-ce que asks “what,” tu identifies the person addressed, and fais asks about that person's current activity. The whole utterance therefore means “What are you doing?” The following context gives a compatible answer about the speaker eating now, but the question itself does not specify which activity is taking place.

2. Je mange maintenant.

   I am eating now.

   Je

   I

   mange

   eat / am eating

   maintenant

   now

   More detail

   Je is the first-person singular subject pronoun: it means “I.” It identifies the speaker as the person doing the action. Before a vowel or mute h, je commonly becomes j’, as in j’aime (“I like”); that spelling change does not change the person. mange comes from the verb manger, “to eat.” Here it is the present-tense first-person singular form: je mange. French present tense can describe an action happening at this moment, so with maintenant it corresponds naturally to English “am eating.” The same form can also describe a general or habitual action in a different context. Example: Je mange une pomme. — “I am eating an apple” or “I eat an apple,” depending on context. maintenant means “now” and places the action at the current time. It is an adverb, so it does not change form for the speaker or for the thing being eaten. Together, Je mange maintenant. means “I am eating now.” The pattern Je + present-tense verb + time expression can be reused with other verbs, for example Je bois maintenant. — “I am drinking now.”

3. Je bois de l'eau.

   I am drinking water.

   Je

   I

   bois

   drink; am drinking

   eau

   water

   More detail

   Je means “I”: it is the first-person singular subject pronoun. It does not show the speaker’s gender. For example, Je mange. means “I eat” or “I am eating,” depending on context. bois is the first-person singular present form of boire (“to drink”). French present tense can describe an action happening now, so Je bois corresponds here to “I am drinking.” The same form can also mean “I drink” in a habitual or general statement; the context determines the English rendering. Compare Je bois de l’eau. — “I drink water” or “I am drinking water.” eau means “water.” In the sentence it appears in de l’eau, where de l’ is the partitive expression used before a vowel-initial mass noun: it presents water as an unspecified amount, not as one counted item. The l’ is the elided form of le or la before a vowel; here it belongs to the expression de l’eau, while eau remains the noun. Together, Je + bois + de l’eau gives “I am drinking water.” The subject is the speaker, bois expresses the speaker’s present action, and de l’eau identifies what is being consumed.

4. Je prépare le dîner.

   I am making dinner.

   Je

   I

   prépare

   prepare; am making

   dîner

   dinner

   More detail

   Je means “I” here. It is the first-person singular subject pronoun. French uses je before a verb when the speaker is the subject: Je bois de l'eau. means “I am drinking water.” prépare is the present-tense form of préparer (“to prepare”) for je: je prépare. In this sentence, the present describes the activity as “am making,” so Je prépare... can be reused for “I am making...” or “I prepare...,” depending on context. The final -e belongs to the verb form; it is not part of the noun that follows. Example: Je prépare le repas. — “I am preparing the meal.” dîner is the masculine noun “dinner.” In the fixed sentence it appears with the definite article le: le dîner, “dinner.” The article marks the noun phrase as definite; it does not itself assert a numerical count. The same word can also refer to the act or meal of dining in other contexts, but here the translation identifies the meal meaning. Together, Je prépare means “I am making,” and le dîner means “dinner.” The complete utterance is therefore “I am making dinner.”

5. Je nettoie ma chambre.

   I am cleaning my room.

   nettoie

   am cleaning

   ma

   my

   chambre

   room

   More detail

   nettoie means “am cleaning” here. Its base form is nettoyer (“to clean”); nettoie is the present-tense form used with je, so je nettoie means “I clean” or, in this context, “I am cleaning.” Example: Je nettoie la table. — “I am cleaning the table.” ma means “my” and agrees with the feminine singular noun it accompanies. It is the feminine singular form of the possessive determiner; compare mon with a masculine singular noun and mes with plural nouns. Example: ma voiture — “my car.” The form ma identifies the possessor as “my,” while the form agrees with the possessed noun. chambre means “room”; in this sentence it refers specifically to the speaker’s room because it follows ma. The noun is feminine singular, which is why the feminine singular possessive form ma is used. Example: La chambre est propre. — “The room is clean.” The sentence begins with Je, “I,” the subject of nettoie. Together, Je nettoie gives “I am cleaning,” and ma chambre gives “my room.” Thus Je nettoie ma chambre. means “I am cleaning my room.” French present tense can express an action happening now; French can also use être en train de when it is useful to emphasize that an action is currently in progress.

6. Je prends une douche.

   I am taking a shower.

   prends

   take; am taking

   douche

   shower

   More detail

   prends is the first-person singular present form of prendre (“to take”). With the subject je, je prends means “I take” or, in this sentence, “I am taking.” The final s is part of this form and is not pronounced in standard French. Useful forms include je prends, tu prends, and il/elle prend; the plural forms are different: nous prenons, vous prenez, ils/elles prennent. douche is the noun “shower.” In une douche, douche is feminine, so it is preceded by the feminine indefinite article une. The reusable expression prendre une douche means “to take a shower”; French uses prendre in this expression. Example: Elle prend une douche. — “She is taking a shower.” Together, Je prends une douche. means “I am taking a shower.” The present-tense form can describe an action happening now, as in the fixed translation.