To be in French: say who you are and how you feel

To be in French is être. This page gives the être conjugation in the tenses you will meet first, shows when être works as a helper in the passé composé, and sorts out c’est from il est. It fits with How to conjugate French verbs, French irregular verbs and French tenses, explained. For avoir and aller, each has its own page.

What does to be mean in French?

To be in French is être, and it covers both what something is and where or how it is: je suis (I am), il est ici (he is here). The OQLF (Québec’s language office) groups it with avoir as the two auxiliaries that form the compound tenses [2]. That gives être two jobs: a verb of its own, and a helper for other verbs.

The English glosses are ours. Tap the round buttons to hear the infinitives.

What is the être conjugation in French?

The être conjugation in the présent is je suis, tu es, il est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont [1]. No regular pattern predicts these forms, so they need to be learned as a set.

Here are the six tenses you will use most, copied from the OQLF table [1].

The commands are sois, soyons, soyez, and the present participle is étant [1].

What is the être verb conjugation in the past and the future?

For the past, the imparfait uses the stem ét-: j’étais, nous étions [1]. The passé composé is built with avoir plus été: j’ai été [1]. The OQLF says avoir is the auxiliary of avoir and être themselves, so être never uses être to make its own passé composé [2].

For the future, the stem changes to ser-: je serai, nous serons [1]. The same stem gives the conditionnel: je serais [1]. For when to choose the imparfait over the passé composé, read Imparfait vs passé composé.

The OQLF table also holds the plus-que-parfait (j’avais été), the passé simple (je fus) and the other literary forms [1]. You can leave those for later.

Is it etre or être in French?

The French spelling is être, with a circumflex on the first e, and that is how the OQLF writes the verb [1]. Many people type etre in a search box, and this page answers both. In writing, keep the accent: it is part of the word.

Which etre verbs take être in the passé composé?

Most verbs take avoir, so the verbs that take être are the short list to learn. The OQLF gives three groups [2].

1. Pronominal verbs. All of them take être: Je me suis fait mal. (I hurt myself.) [2]
2. Certain verbs of movement or change. The OQLF names aller, arriver, devenir, entrer, mourir, naître, partir, rester, sortir, tomber and venir [2].
3. The passive. Every verb takes être in a passive sentence: Les étudiants ont été accusés à tort. [3]

The participles in the table are the standard ones. The OQLF page lists the infinitives; for the participle forms, see Passé composé practice. English meanings are ours.

Some verbs take either auxiliary. The OQLF names commencer, déménager, monter, passer, rajeunir, stationner and vieillir: avoir stresses the action, être the state that results [2]. A few verbs change with meaning. Sortir takes être without an object and avoir with one: le soleil est finalement sorti ce matin, but J’ai sorti le chien ce matin [2].

When do you use c’est and when il est?

Use c’est (this is, it is) to introduce or name something, and il est or elle est to describe a person or thing already named. That is a general rule of thumb, not an OQLF quotation. What the OQLF does cover is how c’est behaves with plurals and pronouns [4].

Two things to know. The OQLF says c’est before a plural noun is tolerated but more familiar, and not advised in formal writing [4]. And before eux and elles, the plural is advised, though the singular is common, especially in negative and question forms [4]. The examples are the OQLF’s; the English meanings are ours.

What everyday expressions use être?

Être turns up in short phrases you will say daily. These are the writer’s examples, not quotations from a source.

• Je suis fatigué(e). I am tired.
• Nous sommes en retard. We are late.
• Vous êtes d’accord ? Do you agree?
• C’est la vie. That’s life.
• Je suis né(e) à Montréal. I was born in Montréal.

For hunger, age and weather, French normally uses avoir or faire instead of être. That is a general observation and not sourced here. For avoir, see its own page.

Common mistakes

• Using être as its own auxiliary. The passé composé of être is j’ai été, not “je suis été” [1][2].
• Using avoir with aller, arriver, partir or venir. They are on the OQLF’s list of verbs that take être [2].
• Forgetting the agreement. With être the participle agrees with the subject: elles sont arrivées [3].
• Writing ce sont before nous or vous. The OQLF says the singular is required there: c’était vous [4].
• Writing etre without the accent. The verb is spelled être [1].
• Trusting a conjugation page, including this one. Language offices update their pages. Check each source’s date against the date at the top of this page.

See also: the imparfait.

Sources