Published April 20, 2024 • Updated June 6, 2026 — By French teacher David Issokson with native audio by Marie Assel Cambier
In this lesson, we’ll answer the question: “How do you say “-ING” in French?” Unlike English, French does not have a single equivalent of “-ing”. Instead, there are several ways to express ongoing actions. The native audio examples below demonstrate the most common patterns and how they are used in everyday French.
1. Present tense
In French, the present tense (le présent) corresponds to both simple present tense (e.g., I learn) and present continuous tense (e.g., I am learning). Hence, for this first sentence, j’apprends translates to “I am learning”.
❌ You cannot use être (to be) and say “je suis apprends” to mean “I’m learning”. That is a common mistake made by many beginners.
J’apprends le français en France.
I’m learning French in France.
Qu’est-ce que tu fais demain ?
What are you doing tomorrow?
2. En train de + infinitive
Another commonly used form to express an action that is occurring is the present tense of être (to be) + en train de + infinitive. This form is used to express “in the middle of” or “happening now”.
Je suis en train de manger la pizza.
I am eating the pizza.
3. Gerund
You can also use the gerund to express -ing. The gerund is formed by taking the nous form of the verb in the present tense, omitting the -ons and replacing it with -ant, then preceding it by the preposition en. Hence, en apprenant means “while learning”.
En apprenant la liste de verbes, j’ai compris que le français est très compliqué.
While learning the list of verbs, I understood that French is very complicated.
👉 Gerund »
4. Imperfect
Another way to express -ing is to use the imperfect tense to mean “was verb + -ing”. Hence, je travaillais in this example means “I was working”.
Je n’y suis pas allé hier parce que je travaillais.
I didn’t go yesterday because I was working.
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