How to say 'I', 'I am ...ing' in French

In English, a person uses I with a verb to indicate an action that they are carrying out. To describe an action they're carrying out at the time of speaking or at a particular time (as opposed to something they do in general), they'll often use a form of the verb ending in -ing:

I work hard
I'm working
I eat lots of pasta
I'm eating
I play football at the weekend
I'm playing football this Sunday
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Words that can fill the gap in I am ...ing are verbs.

In French, the equivalent of I am ...ing is to use the word je followed by an appropriate form of the verb. Many verbs in French end in -er:

travailler to work
jouer to play
manger to eat
regarder to watch, look at
demander to ask
parler to speak, talk
donner to give
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This form ending in -er is called the infinitive. It is the most 'neutral' form of the verb, and doesn't describe who is doing the action or when they did it.

To find the right form to use in a sentence with je, you need to remove the -r:

travailler > je travaille I'm working
jouer > je joue I'm playing
regarder > je regarde I'm watching
parler > je parle I'm speaking
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