How To Say ‘Are’ in French

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The word “are” is commonly used in everyday English and French. It helps you explain things happening in the present and ask questions about other people. While the word is just “are” in English, you’ll need to know how to conjugate the French verb être (to be) to get the equivalent in most cases—which means there’s more than one way to say “are” in French. 

Learning the forms of être in French

When you want to say “are” in French, you’ll often use a conjugation of the verb être (to be). It sounds simple enough, but, in French, there are 21 verb tenses you might conjugate a verb into! Luckily, when conjugating être in French, you’ll probably only use the present tense. 

To get a literal translation of “are,” you’ll mostly need to know how to conjugate être for tu (you; informal), nous (we), vous (you; formal), and ils/elles (they). But the table below shows the verb’s full conjugation in the present tense. 

être – to be

Keep in mind that translation doesn’t necessarily involve literal word-for-word matches between the two languages. In French,  “are” is simply implied in the present tense use of many verbs. For example, if you were to say, “You are running” you would say, “Tu cours.” Sometimes, other French verbs can be translated to “are” like aller (when talking about health), avoir (when talking about age), and coûter (cost). 

How to pronounce words for ‘are’ in French

One of the things the French language is most notable for is its je ne sais quoi, which is an indefinable quality that makes the French accent sound alluring and mysterious. But what may seem an elusive aspect of the French language’s appeal is really just a nuance of pronunciation. 

The French alphabet has the same letters as the English alphabet, but some of the letter sounds are pronounced quite differently. This is how you’d pronounce some of the present tense forms of être  that mean “are”:

• tu es (you are) = “too ay”
• nous sommes (we are) = “noo sohm”
• ils/elles sont  (they are) = “eel/el soh”

How to pronounce êtes in French

Unlike English, some French letters use French accent marks to help guide your pronunciation. The accent mark on the ê in êtes is called  l’accent circonflexe (the circumflex accent). In the case of être, this French accent tells you to shorten and accentuate the vowel sound. On its own, êtes is pronounced “eht.” But, you wouldn’t use this word alone. Since vous ends with a consonant, and êtes starts with a vowel, the “s” in vous takes on a “z” sound. Together, they are pronounced like “voo zeht.”

Rosetta Stone uses a proven and patented TruAccent speech-recognition engine to provide real-time feedback on spoken words, so you’ll feel confident saying any form of “are” in French. 

Common phrases that use ‘are’ in French

Since “are” is such a common verb in French, you’ll find it in phrases that help you: 

Grow your French vocabulary with Rosetta Stone

When you first begin to learn French, you may be tempted to memorize long lists of common French words. But simply memorizing words isn’t a very effective method. That’s why Rosetta Stone uses a Dynamic Immersion method that pairs words with images, so you can learn the language in context. 

There are commonly used French words and conversational phrases that make up the backbone of the language—like the verb “are.” Learning these common words and phrases will give you a solid foundation to approach real-world conversations with confidence.