je joue - i play, i am playing

john h.A1Kwiziq 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?
Asked 8 years ago
LauraNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

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 !

Surbhi N.Kwiziq community member

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john h. asked:

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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