Language/French/Grammar/How-to-use-Be

How to use the verb "to be" in French

Welcome to our lesson on "French Grammar → How to use Be"! 🇫🇷 As a French language teacher with 20 years of experience, I am excited to guide you through this essential aspect of French grammar. In this lesson, we will explore the different ways to use the verb "être" (to be) in various contexts and tenses. But don't stop here! After mastering this lesson, you can further enhance your French grammar skills by checking out our lessons on omission of the article, demonstrative pronouns, and vowels and consonants in French. Bonne chance et amusez-vous bien! 😊

Present: verb "être" (to be) conjugation

The common French verb "être" (to be) is one of the most important, if not the most important. It is therefore crucial that know it well.

"être" is an irregular verb whatever the tense is.

Here is the conjugation in the present:

French	English
Je suis	I am
Tu es	You are
Il / Elle est	He is
Nous sommes	We are
Vous êtes	You are
Ils / Elles sont	They are

---

• Here are some phrases:
• Je suis avec elle = I'm with her
• Nous sommes à Madrid = We are in Madrid
• Il est sympathique = He is nice
• Sophie et Pierre sont Français = Sophie and Pierre are French
• Elle est heureuse = She is happy.
• Je suis dans la cuisine = I am in the kitchen.

Also the French verb être is used to form what are known as compound tenses. These are a little more complex, and many of them use this verb complementarily to form sentences like "you're walking". We'll see that later.

Past: verb "être" (to be) conjugation

Let's see how to form the past using this verb.

French	English
J'étais	I was
Tu étais	You were
Il / Elle était	He / She was
Nous étions	We were
Vous étiez	You were
Ils / Elles étaient	They were

Let's put it into practice seeing a number of example sentences :

• Elle était nerveuse = She was nervous
• Vous étiez drôles = You were funny
• Vous étiez seul = You were alone

Auxiliary

An "auxiliary verb" or "helping verb" is a conjugated verb used in front of another verb in compound tenses to indicate the mood and tense of the verb.

In French, the auxiliary verb can be "avoir" or "être". All verbs are classified according to the auxiliary verb they use, and they take the same auxiliary verb in all compound tenses.

Most French verbs use "avoir". The following is a list of verbs that needs "être":

---

Verb	Example	Translation
entrer	Je suis entré à  l'heure	I came on time
monter	Je suis monté au deuxième étage	I climbed to the second floor
mourir	Il est mort dans la nuit	He died in the night
naître	Je suis né en 1972	I was born in 1972
partir	Nous sommes partis à l'heure	We left on time
passer	Je suis passé chez lui	I went home
rester	Elle est restée chez elle	She stayed home
retourner	Nous sommes retournés à la maison	We returned home
sortir	Tu es sorti hier soir	You went out last night
tomber	Il est tombé par terre	He fell to the ground
venir	Nous somme venus trop tôt	We are coming too soon

Other Lessons

• Hyphens in Cardinal Numbers
• Place adverbs
• Talk about Prices
• Cardinal Numbers — When to use figures and when to use words
• Use of en with numerals and quantifiers
• Reciprocal se and cases of potential ambiguity
• Agreement of past participles with direct objects placed before in relative clauses
• Reflexive use of me, te, se, nous, vous
• Homophones
• Plurals