how to spell presentation in french

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le Mot du jour .

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10 Common French phrases: How to structure a speech or talk

Whether you’re giving a presentation or simply introducing yourself to a group of people, knowing how to structure a speech or talk in French can be a valuable skill.

In this lesson, we’ll go over 10 common French phrases for structuring a speech or talk.

Bonjour à tous. (Hello, everyone.)

This phrase is used to begin a speech or talk, and to greet the audience.

Je vais parler de ___. (I’m going to talk about ___.)

This phrase is used to introduce the topic or theme of the speech or talk.

Tout d’abord, je vais ___ . (First, I’m going to ___ .)

This phrase is used to introduce the first point or topic of the speech or talk.

Ensuite, je vais ___ . (Next, I’m going to ___ .)

This phrase is used to introduce the second point or topic of the speech or talk.

Après cela, je vais ___ . (After that, I’m going to ___ .)

This phrase is used to introduce the third point or topic of the speech or talk.

Pour résumer, j’ai parlé de ___. (To summarize, I talked about ___.)

This phrase is used to summarize the main points or topics covered in the speech or talk.

En conclusion, ___. (In conclusion, ___ .)

This phrase is used to wrap up the speech or talk, and to give a final statement or message.

Merci de votre attention. (Thank you for your attention.)

This phrase is used to express gratitude to the audience for listening.

Avez-vous des questions ? (Do you have any questions?)

This phrase is used to invite the audience to ask questions or seek clarification.

Je suis à votre disposition pour répondre à vos questions. (I’m available to answer your questions.)

This phrase is used to indicate that the speaker is willing and available to answer any questions or concerns the audience may have.

Learning these common French phrases for structuring a speech or talk will help you to communicate more effectively in formal settings.

Additionally, it is helpful to learn basic French vocabulary and grammar rules to build your language skills. With practice and persistence, you’ll soon be able to deliver speeches and talks with ease in French.

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Le présent: the present tense in French grammar

When to use le présent, how to conjugate the present tense in french, type 1 -ir verbs, type 2 -ir verbs, important irregular verbs: avoir, être, aller and faire.

• Lingolia Plus French

What is le présent ?

The present tense in French grammar (le présent) corresponds to the English simple present . It talks about facts, current situations and repeated actions in the present, as well as scheduled future actions. To conjugate a verb in the French present tense, we add specific endings to the infinitive of the verb depending on whether it ends in -er, -ir or -re.

Learn all about le présent in French grammar with Lingolia’s quick and easy examples, then put your knowledge to the test in the exercises.

Je m’appelle Félix. Tous les mardis, je m’entraîne à jouer aux échecs.

Le cours a lieu de 17h à 19h. Les autres joueurs et joueuses sont très sympathiques.

Je joue aux échecs depuis cinq ans.

Vendredi prochain à 14 heures, je participe à un concours de jeu d’échecs. J’ espère gagner !

We use the French present tense to express:

• facts and ongoing situations in the present
• actions that happen once, multiple times or never in the present
• a future action that is already planned or agreed upon (requires a specific future time indicator)
• the duration of actions that started in the past and are ongoing in the present. Note: French uses the present tense to express this idea, but English talks about duration using the present perfect simple or continuous tenses.

To conjugate French verbs in the present tense, we remove the infinitive ending (-er, -ir or -re) and add the following endings:

The table below shows the present tense conjugation of -er verbs:

Spelling Rules and Exceptions

• For verbs ending in -ger , we add an e before the letter o in the nous form in order to preserve the pronunciation of the g .
• For verbs ending in - cer , the c becomes ç before the letter o in the nous form in order to preserve pronunciation.
• For verbs ending in -yer , the y becomes an i in the singular forms as well as in the 3 rd person plural. (For verbs ending in - ayer , we can write either i or y .)
• For many verbs that end in - eler or - eter, the final consonant is doubled before a silent e . (Exceptions: acheter buy , déceler discover , geler freeze , haleter pant , harceler harass , modeler model , peler peel )
• If the final syllable of the word stem contains an e or é, we give it a grave accent ( accent grave ) in its conjugated forms (apart from the 1 st and 2 nd person plural).
• Remember: the verb aller is irregular .

The majority of -ir verbs belong to type 1, which means that the plural forms add -iss- before the present tense endings:

Many common verbs are conjugated in this way: applaudir applaud , choisir choose , divertir amuse , fleurir bloom , grandir grow , grossir put on weight , guérir cure , haïr hate , maigrir lose weight , nourrir nourish/feed , obéir obey , pâlir go pale , punir punish , ralentir slow down , remplir (re)fill , réjouir celebrate , réunir meet , réussir succeed , rougir blush , saisir grasp , vieillir to age , etc.

Type 2 -ir verbs can be divided into two kinds: verbs that are conjugated in the same way as -er verbs, and verbs that are conjugated with -s/-s/-t in the singular forms

*Other verbs that follow the same conjugation include: accueillir welcome , couvrir cover , cueillir gather , découvrir discover , ouvrir open , souffrir suffer , etc.

**Other verbs that follow the same conjugation include: courir run , fuir run away , mentir lie , partir leave , sentir feel , servir serve , sortir go out , etc.

Note: the verbs venir and tenir are completely irregular .

Regular -re verbs are conjugated as follows:

* The following verbs are conjugated in the same way as construire : conduire drive , cuire cook , déduire deduce , détruire destroy , instruire instruct , introduire introduce , nuire harm , produire produce , reproduire reproduce , réduire reduce , séduire seduce , traduire translate .

** The following verbs are conjugated in the same way as vivre: suivre follow , poursuivre chase , revivre relive , survivre survive .

Spelling Rules & Exceptions

• Verbs ending in -aître (traditional spelling) or -aitre (official spelling since 1990) such as connaître/connaitre know , paraître/paraitre appear , naître/naitre be born and their variations such as reconnaître/reconnaitre recognise , disparaître/disparaitre disappear , renaître/renaitre be reborn are conjugated as follows: Example: connaître know – je connais, tu connais, il/elle/on connaît, nous connai ss ons, vous connai ss ez, ils/elles connai ss ent

Many verbs that end in -ire (boire drink , croire believe , dire say , écrire write , faire do/make , lire read , plaire please , rire laugh ...) are irregular and change their stem in the plural forms. There is no general rule to learn the conjugations of these verbs, it’s best to learn them by heart.

Verbs that end in -dre and -tre

The verb prendre take and its related forms apprendre learn , comprendre understand , surprendre surprise , etc. lose the d in their plural forms. In addition, the n is doubled in the ils/elles form.

Verbs that end in -indre (atteindre wait , craindre fear , éteindre turn off , joindre combine , peindre paint , plaindre pity , teindre dye ...) lose the d in the singular and plural forms. In addition, we transform the n to gn in the plural forms.

Verbs that end in - oir such as recevoir receive , apercevoir glimpse , concevoir design , décevoir disappoint , percevoir perceive are conjugated as follows:

Note: the verbs avoir have , devoir must , mouvoir move , pouvoir be able to , savoir know , voir see und vouloir want are irregular and are not conjugated in the same way as recevoir . Check out their conjugations on our page on irregular verbs in French and practise in the exercises.

Le présent continu: the present progressive in French

The présent continu , also known as the présent progressif or the présent duratif , is the French equivalent of the present progressive in English (I am doing, he is going, etc.). Like its English counterpart, it demonstrates that an action or event is in progress at the moment of speaking.

The présent continu is formed as follows:

present tense conjugation of être + en train de + infinitive

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Maybe later

Finally, US figure skaters will get Beijing Olympic gold medals — under Eiffel Tower

PARIS — The Kamila Valieva doping saga , one of the most controversial, arduous and infuriating scandals in Olympic history, reaches its long-awaited conclusion Wednesday evening at the base of the Eiffel Tower when, for the first time in history, Winter Olympians will receive their gold medals at the Summer Olympics.

Exactly 2½ years to the day after the team figure skating competition ended at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, U.S. figure skaters will get their gold medals and their Japanese counterparts their silvers at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics . 

Russia dropped from first place to third after Valieva was suspended for four years and her Olympic results were disqualified, but since Russia is not allowed at the Paris Olympics due to the war in Ukraine, their skaters will not be allowed at the medal ceremony and will receive their bronze medals elsewhere, probably in Russia at some later date. 

All nine skaters on the U.S. team, their coaches and several members of each of their families flew to Paris on Tuesday courtesy of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee. 

Medal ceremony outfits have been made for the Americans by the USOPC, which the skaters will wear at the Paris Olympics’ Champions Park for the ceremony beginning at 5 p.m. Wednesday. 

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“It’s so magical that we get this opportunity,” Nathan Chen, who also won the gold medal in the men’s figure skating competition at the 2022 Olympics, said in a phone interview Tuesday after arriving in Paris. 

Then, alluding to all the stops and starts over the past 30 months in this bizarre international doping scandal, Chen added slyly, “Obviously, it hasn’t happened yet, so I’ll check back with you once it’s happening.”

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While the Valieva saga deprived the American and Japanese skaters of their moment on the podium at the 2022 Olympics, and the wait has been an annoying series of twists and turns, there is a silver lining to this gold-medal finale in France. 

“What better place to get a medal than Paris?” said Chen, who has graduated from Yale since those Olympics and is heading into a post-grad program this fall. 

Had the Americans received their then-silver medals when they were supposed to in Beijing, they would have been given them in the eerie isolation of Beijing’s COVID Olympics. They would have been wearing masks, and they would have been all alone except for their teammates. None of their families and friends were allowed to travel to China for those Games due to the stringent COVID restrictions at the time. 

“My parents didn’t get to share the Beijing (men’s gold) medal with me so it’s cool to be able to have this alternative that now allows us to have a chance to have my family in attendance,” said Chen, who said his “whole family,” 10 in total, is with him in Paris.

“I’m really excited for the team, I’m excited to have this opportunity, I’m excited to share this with my family. For me, it’s just joy, glad that we get to have this opportunity. Given the situation, I’m happy that we’re able to have this opportunity just to share with our friends and family and of course the team. That’s really cool.”

On Feb. 7, 2022, Chen and his teammates won the silver medal behind Valieva and the Russians, and ahead of then-third-place Japan. The next day, they were getting ready for the medal ceremony in Beijing when it was abruptly called off, throwing the results of the competition into disarray, when the then-15-year-old Valieva was found to have tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) six weeks earlier at the Russian championships. 

After many months of dithering and delays, mostly by Russian officials, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled against Valieva in January 2024, paving the way for the U.S. team to move up to the gold medal. 

However, that wasn’t the end of the story. The Russians filed three appeals of that decision with CAS — one from the Russian Olympic Committee, another from the Russian figure skating federation and the third from the six skaters who comprised the Russian team. 

As the weeks wore on, there was concern that if CAS did not rule on the appeals in time, the Paris medal ceremony could not take place, leaving the skaters without their medals for who knew how much longer.

Finally, less than two weeks ago, on the day before the Paris Olympics' opening ceremony, CAS dismissed all three Russian appeals and the figure skating medal ceremony was on. 

Follow Christine Brennan on social media  @cbrennansports

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Paris’ Olympics opening was wacky and wonderful — and upset bishops. Here’s why

Paris Olympics organizers apologized to anyone who was offended by a tableau that evoked Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” during the glamorous opening ceremony, but defended the concept behind it Sunday. Da Vinci’s painting depicts the moment when Jesus Christ declared that an apostle would betray him. The scene during Friday’s ceremony featured DJ and producer Barbara Butch — an LGBTQ+ icon — flanked by drag artists and dancers.

Delegations arrive at the Trocadero as spectators watch French singer Philippe Katerine performing on a giant screen, in Paris, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024 in Paris. (Ludovic Marin/Pool Photo via AP)

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Catch up on the latest from Day 12 of the 2024 Paris Olympics:

• Boxing: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting advances to gold-medal Olympic bout, excelling amid misconceptions about her gender.
• Basketball: A’ja Wilson and the US women’s basketball team beat Germany to move closer to their record eighth-consecutive Olympic gold medal.
• Track and field: American Quincy Hall made an epic comeback from fourth place to win gold in the 400m race.
• Artistic swimming: US wins first Olympic artistic swimming medal in 20 years as China takes gold.
• Keep up : Follow along with our Olympics medal tracker and list of winners. Check out the Olympic schedule of events.

PARIS (AP) — Paris: the Olympic gold medalist of naughtiness.

Revolution ran like a high-voltage wire through the wacky, wonderful and rule-breaking Olympic opening ceremony that the French capital used to astound, bemuse and, at times, poke a finger in the eye of global audiences on Friday night.

That Paris put on the most flamboyant, diversity-celebrating, LGBTQ+-visible of opening ceremonies wasn’t a surprise. Anything less would have seemed a betrayal of the pride the French capital takes in being a home to humanity in all its richness.

But still. Wow. Paris didn’t just push the envelope. It did away with it entirely as it hammered home a message that freedom must know no bounds.

A practically naked singer painted blue made thinly veiled references to his body parts. Blonde-bearded drag queen Piche crawled on all fours to the thumping beat of “Freed From Desire” by singer-songwriter Gala, who has long been a potent voice against homophobia . There were the beginnings of a menage à trois — the door was slammed on the camera before things got really steamy — and the tail end of an intimate embrace between two men who danced away, hugging and holding hands.

“In France, we have the right to love each other, as we want and with who we want. In France, we have the right to believe or to not believe. In France, we have a lot of rights. Voila,” said the audacious show’s artistic director, Thomas Jolly.

Jolly, who is gay, says being bullied as a child for supposedly being effeminate drove home early on how unjust discrimination is.

The amorous vibe and impudence were too much for some.

“Know that it is not France that is speaking but a left-wing minority ready for any provocation,” posted far-right French politician Marion Maréchal, adding a hashtagged “notinmyname.”

Here’s a closer look at how Paris both awed and shocked.

A 21st-century update of Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Last Supper’

DJ and producer Barbara Butch, an LGBTQ+ icon who calls herself a “love activist,” wore a silver headdress that looked like a halo as she got a party going on a footbridge across the Seine, above parading athletes — including those from countries that criminalize LGBTQ+ people. Drag artists, dancers and others flanked Butch on both sides.

The tableau brought to mind Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper,” which depicts the moment when Jesus Christ declared that an apostle would betray him.

Jolly says that wasn’t his intention. He saw the moment as a celebration of diversity, and the table on which Butch spun her tunes as a tribute to feasting and French gastronomy.

“My wish isn’t to be subversive, nor to mock or to shock,” Jolly said. “Most of all, I wanted to send a message of love, a message of inclusion and not at all to divide.”

Still, critics couldn’t unsee what they saw.

“One of the main performances of the Olympics was an LGBT mockery of a sacred Christian story - the Last Supper - the last supper of Christ. The apostles were portrayed by transvestites,” the spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, posted on Telegram.

“Apparently, in Paris they decided that since the Olympic rings are multi-colored, they can turn everything into one big gay parade,” she added.

The French Catholic Church’s conference of bishops deplored what it described as “scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity” and said “our thoughts are with all the Christians from all continents who were hurt by the outrage and provocation of certain scenes.”

LGBTQ+ athletes, though, seemed to have a whale of a time. British diver Tom Daley posted a photo of himself recreating the standout Kate Winslet-Leonardo DiCaprio scene from “Titanic,” only with the roles reversed: He was at the boat’s prow with arms outstretched, as rower Helen Glover held him from behind.

Is that a revolver in your pocket?

When a giant silver dome lifted to reveal singer Philippe Katerine reclining on a crown of fruit and flowers, practically naked and painted blue, audiences who didn’t think he was Papa Smurf may have guessed that he represented Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and ecstasy.

But unless they speak French, they may not have caught the cheekiness of his lyrics.

“Where to hide a revolver when you’re completely naked?” he sang, pointing down to his groin. “I know where you’re thinking. But that’s not a good idea.”

“No more rich and poor when you go back to being naked. Yes,” Katerine continued.

Decades after Brigitte Bardot sang “Naked in the Sun,” this was Paris’ reminder that everyone starts life in their birthday suit, so where’s the shame?

Paris museums are full of paintings that celebrate the human form. Gustave Courbet’s “Origin of the World” hangs in the Musée d’Orsay. The 16th-century “Gabrielle d’Estrées and one of her sisters,” showing one bare-breasted woman pinching the nipple of another, hangs in the Louvre.

France sends a message

Clad in a golden costume, French-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura strode confidently out of the hallowed doors of the Institut de France, a prestigious stronghold of French language, culture and commitment to freedom of thought. Even without a note being sung, the message of diversity, inclusion and Black pride was loud.

The most listened-to French-speaking artist in the world was a target of fierce attacks from extreme-right activists when her name emerged earlier this year as a possible performer at the show. Paris prosecutors opened an investigation of alleged racism targeting the singer.

Nakamura performed with musicians of the French military’s Republican Guard, who danced around her.

Au revoir, closed minds and stuffy traditions.

Off with their head!

When London hosted the Summer Games in 2012, it paid homage to the British monarchy by giving Queen Elizabeth II a starring role in the opening ceremony. Actor Daniel Craig, in character as James Bond, was shown visiting the head of state at Buckingham Palace before the pair appeared to parachute out of a helicopter over the stadium.

The French love to joyfully tease their neighbors across the English Channel and, perhaps not incidentally, took a totally different, utterly irreverent tack.

A freshly guillotined Marie Antoinette, France’s last queen before the French Revolution of 1789, was shown clutching her severed head, singing: “The aristocrats, we’ll hang them.” Then, heavy metal band Gojira tore the Paris evening with screeching electric guitar.

Freedom: Does anyone do it better than the French?

AP journalists Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Jim Heintz in Tallinn, Estonia, contributed.

For more coverage of the Paris Olympics, visit https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games .