What is the equivalence of be+ing in French?

Answer 1

I think you are referring to present continuous such as "I am eating pancakes", indicating an ongoing action.

In French, there's no distinct tense.

You only have one present tense and doesn't differentiate between a habit or something happening now.

What we use is a the "en train de" construct for something ongoing.

"I am eating pancakes" would translate into "je suis en train de manger des pancakes". Sounds long but it is a vary common way of expressing this.

Answer 2

the verb to be - être

Being - étant (Present continuous)

Examples:

étant + Followed by a noun or adjective (usually descriptive):

Being a doctor, I work long hours - étant un médecin, je travaille de longues heures.

Being a professional, I adore my students. - étant un professeur, j'adore mes élèves.

Being funny, I make friends easily - étant drôle, je me fais des amis facilement.

BUT

étant + Followed by basically anything else (Location, action, state):

Being with you today is a privilege - être parmis vous aujourd'hui est un privilège.

Answer 3

In french we used present participle ended ant as in English we use the gerund form of the verb ing.

The present participle is formed by dropping the -ons ending from the "nous" form in the present tense and adding -ant. Present participles are invariable. 

1. chanter - nous chantons - chantant
2. finir - nous finissons - finissant
3. boire - nous buvons - buvant

Only three verbs, être, avoir and savoir, have irregular present participles. 

1. étant - ayant - sachant

I hope is clearer for you.😊

Answer 4

Being a student, I need to study.

Etant un étudiant, j'ai besoin d'étudier.

Answer 5

The "-ing" ending in English is called the gerund form of the verb. In French the gerund takes the "-ant" form (so vb + ant). In the case of être, it would étant. (Other examples: faire -> faisant. Manger -> mangeant.)

FYI, the "être en train de" construction that Marion commented above is not wrong, but a little different from what you're looking for here. It means "to be doing something," which is the present continuous tense, not the gerund form. In English the present continous can involve the gerund ("I am making a cake"), in French it does not ("je suis en train de lire un livre") Hopefully this helps :)