je joue - i play, i am playing
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JohnKwiziq community member
je joue - i play, i am playing
but then the example for en train is je suis en train de jouer - why does the form of play change?
This question relates to:French lesson "Conjugate être (je suis, tu es, vous êtes) in Le Présent (present tense)"
Asked 5 years ago

LauraKwiziq team member
Bonjour John,
You're right that in French, je joue is equivalent to both "I play" and "I am playing."
But when you want to emphasize the fact that you're playing right now, you can use the expression être en train de jouer.
Jouer is in the infinitive because that's how French works: when you have two verbs (in this case, être and jouer), the first is conjugated and the second remains in the infinitive.
You can also use être en train de with other verbs: être en train de manger (to be eating), être en train d'étudier (to be studying), etc.
I hope this helps, bonne continuation !
John asked:View original
je joue - i play, i am playing
but then the example for en train is je suis en train de jouer - why does the form of play change?
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