Breakdown of Je suis en train de travailler.
travailler
to work
être en train de
to be in the middle of (doing)
Questions & Answers about Je suis en train de travailler.
What does en train de mean here? Does it have to do with a train?
No, it has nothing to do with actual trains! The set expression être en train de means to be in the middle of doing an action. It is used to emphasize that an action is happening right at this exact moment.
Can I just say Je travaille to mean I am working?
Yes, absolutely! The basic French present tense covers both English forms: I work and I am working. You only need to use être en train de when you really want to highlight that you are currently busy and cannot be interrupted.
Can I use depuis with this phrase, like Je suis en train de travailler depuis une heure?
Why is travailler left in the infinitive dictionary form?
It is left in the infinitive because it comes right after the preposition de. A strict rule in French is that any verb following a preposition (like de, à, or sans) must be in its unconjugated infinitive form.
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