1. A current action or state of being
Je travaille. I’m working.
Il est en retard. He’s late.
2. A habitual action o
r state of being
Oui, je travaille le dimanche. Yes, I do work on Sundays.
Il est toujours en retard. He’s always late.
3. An action which is about to occur
Je travaille demain. I’m working tomorrow.
Il arrive sur-le-champ. He’ll be right here.
4. An absolute or general truth
Le soleil se lève à l’est. The sun rises in the east.
L’eau est essentielle à la vie. Water is essential to life.
5. Conditions in likely situations (si clauses)
Si tu veux, tu peux dîner avec moi. If you want, you can have dinner with me.
Je vais le renvoyer s’il est en retard demain. I’m going to fire him if he’s late tomorrow.
6. In historical accounts
French vs English
Much of the above applies to the English present tense, but as you can see in some of the translations, there’s just one French present tense with three possible English equivalents. Depending on the context, je parle might be translated by any of these:-
1. I speak simple present
3. I do speak present emphatic