Learn Hardcore French: Paul travaille au collège maintenant.

In Paul travaille au collège maintenant, travaille is the verb meaning “works / is working”.
It’s the present tense, 3rd person singular (he/she):

je travaille – I work / I am working
tu travailles – you work
il/elle travaille – he/she works
nous travaillons – we work
vous travaillez – you (pl/formal) work
ils/elles travaillent – they work

You can’t use the noun travail in the verb position; that would be like saying in English: Paul work at the middle school now (missing the correct verb form works).

What tense is travaille, and does it mean “works” or “is working”?

Travaille is in the present tense (présent de l’indicatif).

French has one present tense where English has two common forms:

Paul travaille au collège maintenant.
→ can mean Paul works at the middle school now. (general situation, job)
→ or Paul is working at the middle school now. (current situation)

Context tells you whether it’s about his ongoing job, a recent change, or an action happening around now. But grammatically, the same French verb form covers both English meanings.

How do you pronounce travaille?

Pronunciation (roughly in English sounds): [tra-VAI] (like tra-vye but without a strong y).

Key points:

tra-: tra like tra in traffic (but with a French ‘r’).
-vaille: Rhymes with eye in English, written [vaj] in phonetics.
The final -lle does not make an l sound here; it’s part of the spelling, not pronounced as l.

So:

travaille → /tʁa.vaj/
travail (the noun) is pronounced the same: /tʁa.vaj/

Why is it au collège and not à le collège?

À le is not allowed in French; it contracts to au.

à + le = au
à + la = à la (no change)
à + l’ = à l’ (no change)
à + les = aux

Since collège is masculine and singular (le collège), you must say:

au collège = à + le collège

So Paul travaille au collège literally means Paul works at the middle school.

Does collège in French mean the same as college in English?

No, this is a false friend.

In France specifically:

le collège = middle school / junior high (roughly ages 11–15)
le lycée = high school (roughly ages 15–18)
l’université or la fac = university / college (higher education)

So Paul travaille au collège maintenant means Paul works at a middle school now, not at a university-type college.

Why is it au collège and not dans le collège?

Both can exist, but they don’t mean exactly the same thing.

travailler au collège
→ standard way to say to work at a middle school (as a teacher, staff member, etc.).
It focuses on the institution / workplace.
travailler dans le collège
→ more literal: to work inside the building of the middle school.
It emphasizes the physical inside of the building, and sounds a bit more unusual here unless you’re really talking about being inside the building as opposed to outside.

For someone employed by a school, travailler au collège is the normal phrase.

Can Paul travaille au collège maintenant also mean “Paul has started working at the middle school now” (a recent change)?

Yes. With maintenant (now), the sentence naturally suggests a change from the past:

Before: he didn’t work there.
Now: he works there.

Depending on context, it can mean:

a general present fact (his current job), and/or
an implied contrast with the past (He works at the middle school now, as opposed to before).

If you wanted to emphasize the idea of a new situation even more, you might say:

Maintenant, Paul travaille au collège.
Paul travaille au collège maintenant, au lieu de travailler au lycée.
(…instead of working at the high school.)

Is there a French equivalent of the English present continuous, like “Paul is working”?

Spoken French usually just uses the simple present:

Paul travaille au collège. → can mean Paul works at the middle school
→ or Paul is working at the middle school.

If you really want to stress “right now, at this moment”, you can use:

Paul est en train de travailler au collège.
(Paul is in the process of working at the middle school.)

But even then, most of the time, people will still say simply:

Paul travaille au collège maintenant.

Can maintenant go in another position in the sentence?

Yes. All of these are possible, with slightly different emphasis:

Paul travaille au collège maintenant.
Neutral; emphasizes the time at the end: now.
Maintenant, Paul travaille au collège.
Stresses the change from before: Now, Paul works at the middle school (but before, he didn’t).
Paul, maintenant, travaille au collège.
Sounds more marked or stylistic, like in storytelling or commentary.

All are grammatically correct. The most common everyday versions are 1 and 2.

Why is there no article before Paul in French?

Personal names in French are normally used without an article:

Paul travaille au collège.
Marie habite à Lyon.

There are some special, often colloquial or regional uses with articles (e.g. le Paul, la Marie), but in standard, neutral French, you don’t put le / la in front of someone’s first name in a sentence like this.

What gender is collège, and how would I say “a middle school” in French?

Collège is masculine in French.

le collège = the middle school
un collège = a middle school

So:

Paul travaille dans un collège.
→ Paul works in a (some) middle school.
Paul travaille au collège.
→ Paul works at the middle school (a specific one that’s known in the context).