flamdaari

[median gale]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

Pro tip: you can rename the thread title with `.tr <thread name>`

Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[zinc merlin]

Either just present or "être en train de + infinitif"

For example, "I'm talking"

"Je parle"
"Je suis en train de parler"

[rose ice]

You're right about that, but -ing also does a few more things than describing the present continuous in English

• he looked at me while smiling -> il m'a regardé en souriant

For this, we use le gérondif, which is constructed with en + the present participle

• loading in progress -> chargement en cours

Here you can actually think of loading as a noun for the act of loading, so you want to use the nominal form of the verb

• I was preparing dinner when... -> je préparais le souper quand...

And here we use l'imparfait (for the past continuous? My knowledge of English grammar is lacking)

[indigo garnet]

or even the infinitive "it's difficult to speak german" = "il est difficile de parler allemand"

anyways, the point is that a verbal form like the present gerund may have an equivalent in french, but you won't be able to translate each instance directly

[green oriole]

Oh ok thx a lot guys

[copper tendon]

I think you were going for "speaking german is difficult"? Otherwise there's no -ing

But yeah it can be the infinitive

[indigo garnet]

oh yeah lol

forgot what i was even writing

laughing to myself

[copper tendon]

Past continuous yes (and other continuous tenses have their own thing as well ofc)

[copper tendon]

Ik the feeling lol

Like "I am eating" is just "je mange"

Present tense

And then as an adjective it can vary

English likes to slap -ing on all sorts of shit

[mint sphinx]

Also, English uses the gerund form of a verb after prepositions save for 'to' in which case the infinitive comes.
'If you want to talk to that Belter, you put him in the tank!'
'I'm preparing the explosives for getting us out of here.'
'Come on, Mark, we both know you're not above murdering people.'
'Was he insisting on meeting me?'
'So you still believe in fighting the good fight?'
'I know you don't approve of me dating her, but I love her.'

As you can see, any verb when placed after a preposition is automatically in the gerund form. In French, this does not happen; the infinitive is king.
« Est-ce que tu cherchais à me tuer, Bernard ? »
« Ah oui, il faudrait que je me contente de jouer le con. Quelle surprise. »
« Anna est venue pour te parler, Jean. Elle m'a dit qu'elle regrettait ses mots. »
« Tu t'attends à ce que je commence par te dire la vérité ? »

[spiral hamlet]

Also certain relative clauses can express "-ing" meanings in English. These are predicate relative clauses, and are used in connection with avoir, etre, rester, or verbs of perception:

e.g. Magali restait là qui regardait les affiches -> Magali stayed there looking at the posters

But the above type of construction is rare in contemporary French

Predicate relative clauses can also serve as object attributes:

e.g. J'ai le cœur qui bat -> My heart is beating (with fear, excitement, etc.)

"le cœur" = object
"qui bat" = object attribute

Compare with: Mon cœur bat -> My heart beats (i.e. I'm alive)