Introduction
In English, a simple present tense action is one that occurs over a long period of time or one that occurs at only one specific moment. For example, "I talk every day" implies that I use my vocal cords to articulate some thought on a daily basis. It is an ongoing action. But, "You talk first, then he talks" indicates a specific moment in time. To be precise in English, we use a compound construction--i.e. "I am talking" to clarify if the action is currently ongoing. In French, there is no such construction in the present tense. A verb conjugated in the present indicative can have either meaning depending on the context of the sentence.
Ex. Je chante bien. = I sing well. OR I am singing well.
Nous descendons les éscaliers tous les jours = We go down the steps every day.
Nous descendons les éscaliers à ce moment = We are going down the steps at this moment.
In French, we sometimes have to use the present tense when we would use some other tense in English. One such case is with the preposition depuis = "since" or "for".
For example, in English, we would say:
We have been going to school for fifteen years.
In this sentence, the compound verb "have been" indicates the ongoing nature of this action. Its directly equivalent in French is the passé composé. However, this would be incorrect. In French, we must use le présent de l'indicatif:
Nous allons à l'école depuis quinze ans.
Regular -er verbs
Most verbs in French are regular -er verbs. That means that the infinitive of the verb ends with -er and it is conjugated in the same way throughout the tenses. One example of a regular -er verb is "parler" = to speak. To conjugate a verb, we must take off the ending, in this case the -er to give us the stem or root. Thus, we have "parl" as the stem for our verb. To conjugate the verb in the present indicative, we add the following endings:
Present indicative endings for -er verbs
je (I) = e nous (we) = ons
tu (you) = es vous (you) = ez
il (he) = e ils (they) = ent
When we put it all together, we wind up with a functional phrase:
Present indicative of parler = to speak
je parle = I speak *nous parlons = we speak
tu parles = you speak vous parlez = you speak
il parle = he speaks ils parlent = they speak
*When the stem of a verb ends with a "g", add an "e" before the "ons" ending in order to preserve the soft g sound. When the stem of a verb ends with "c", change the "c" to "ç" before adding the "ons" ending. This accent mark, called a cedilla changes what would otherwise be a hard c--[k]--into a soft c-- [s]. Ex:
* manger = to eat
Stem = mang
Ending for nous = ons
NOT: nous mangons
YES: nous mangeons = we eat
* commencer = to start
Stem = commenc
Ending for nous = ons
NOT: nous commencons
YES: nous commençons = we start
Regular -re verbs
Just like regular -er verbs, regular -re verbs follow a consistent pattern throughout their conjugation. We form them in the same way--that is, obtaining the root, or radical, by removing the -re from the infinitive and adding the correct endings. NOTE: Not all verbs ending in -re are regular. You must learn which verbs are actually regular -re verbs and which follow an irregular conjugation pattern.
The endings for regular -re verbs are very similar to -er verbs, but not exactly:
Present indicative endings of regular -re verbs
je (I) = s nous (we) = ons
tu (you) = s vous (you) = ez
il (he) = no ending ils (they) = ent
An example of an -re verb is descendre. To obtain the root, we take off the "re" to get descend. So, when we put the root with the endings, we get the following:
Present indicative of descendre = to descend
je descends = I descend nous descendons = we descend
tu descends = you descend vous descendez = you descend
il descend = he descends ils descendent = they descend
You will notice that most REGULAR -re verbs end their STEMS with "d" or "p." Ex.
* descenDre
* renDre
* romPre
This does not mean that all such verbs are regular -re verbs. Ex.
* "prendre" = irregular pattern
* "coudre" = irregular pattern
Regular -ir verbs
There is another class of verbs in French which follows a consistent pattern throughout the tenses; these are the -ir verbs. Again, these are called -ir verbs because their infinitives end with the letters "-ir". We form the root by removing the -ir. Then, we add the endings. Remember: not all verbs ending in -ir are regular. You must learn which ones are regular and which are not.
The endings for regular -ir verbs are as follows:
Present indicative endings of regular -ir verbs
je (I) = is nous (we) = issons
tu (you) = is vous (you) = issez
il (he) = it ils (they) = issent
Now, let's take an example of an -ir verb: finir = to finish.
Present indicative of finir = to finish
je finis = I finish nous finissons = we finish
tu finis = you finish vous finissez = you finish
il finit = he finishes ils finissent= they finish
Most verbs ending in the letters -ir are NOT regular. It is interesting to note, however, that almost all verbs involving a change in color are regular -ir verbs. For example:
jaunir = to (turn) yellow
rougir = to turn red; to redden; to blush
noircir = to turn black; to blacken
verdir = to turn green
regular verbs in french 
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