Confidently Conjugate Être in French (With Charts and Examples)

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Have you heard the quote “Je pense, donc je suis” (I think, therefore I am) by philosopher René Descartes? The irregular verb used is être—the most commonly used verb in the French language. In English, it translates as “to be” but it’s conjugated to “am” in the famous statement above. 

Since it’s an irregular verb, you might not recognize it when you’re just learning French, but this guide will help you learn to conjugate être like a pro. You’ll be able to speak French more fluently and follow important French grammar rules that are essential for building sentences. Être conjugation takes practice, but it’s your building block to expressing your state of being and so much more!

Why you need to know how to conjugate être in French

To reach the A1 (beginner) CEFR level in French, you have to be able to introduce yourself and others, and you have to be able to ask and answer basic questions about your life, surroundings, etc. As you master these conversational skills, you’ll often need to use a conjugation of être in the past, present, or future tense. 

You can’t say simple things like, Je suis américain/américaine (“I am American.”) or J’étais à Paris (“I was in Paris.”) without knowing how to conjugate être.

Être in the présent (present tense)

The first thing to know is that there are many verb tenses in French, just as there are in English. You’ll need to know how the French conjugate être in each one, starting with the most common: French present tense. 

This is the simplest and most common verb tense, so you’ll likely learn most of your verb conjugations in this tense before moving on to other tenses. 

Here are a few sentence examples of using être in the present tense:

• Les enfants sont dans la classe. = The children are in the classroom.
• La voiture est rouge. = The car is red.
• Le médecin est là. = The doctor is here.

Être in the passé composé (past tense)

In French, the passé composé tense indicates actions that are both finite and complete—they happened in the past. It’s sometimes referred to as the “finished past.” For the verb être, we can think of this as sentences with “was” or “were” in them. Just like many other French verbs, to conjugate être in passé composé, you will use avoir as an auxiliary verb.

When using être in the past tense, it’s important to remember that “being” is a continuous state, so être often uses the imparfait conjugation. To help illustrate the difference between passé composé vs imparfait conjugations, let’s look at this sentence: “Last year, I was sick.”

• Passé composé: L’année dernière, j’ai été vraiment malade. = Last year, I was really sick (at one point).
• Imparfait: L’année dernière, j’étais vraiment malade. = Last year, I was really sick (often or all year).

In the passé composé tense, the sentence implies that you were sick for a brief period of time. But in the imparfait tense, you’re implying that you were sick for an extended period of time. In the end, either tense gets the point across, but it’s up to your judgment as to which one is “more” correct. Generally, using être in the imparfait tense is the right way to go.

Remember to have subject agreement when conjugating être in the passé composé. This means if you have an adjective, like content in the example below, you need to add an “-e” at the end if the subject is feminine and an “-s” at the end for plural subjects. 

• Masculine: J’ai été content de te voir. = I was happy to see you. 
• Feminine: J’ai été contente de te voir. = I was happy to see you.
• Plural: Ils étaient contents de vous voir. = They were happy to see you. 

Être in the imparfait (imperfect tense)

As we explained above, conjugating être for the past often uses the imparfait tense. This tense describes states of being and actions that were ongoing or repeated in the past.

You’ll most often use l’imparfait to describe things that you used to do regularly, feelings you had, or places you’ve been.

• Quand j’étais enfant, je jouais du piano. = When I was a child, I used to play the piano.
• Il était content de te voir. = He was happy to see you.
• Nous étions dans la forêt quand il a commencé à neiger. = We were in the forest when it started to snow.

Être in the futur simple (future tense)

Conjugating être in the future tense is similar to other French verbs. You simply drop the ending of the verb and add the appropriate ending. However, as être is a highly irregular verb, the stem word for être in the future tense is ser.

For sentences where you want to express what you “will do” or “will be,” you’ll use the future tense of être.

• Je serai en retard pour la réunion de 14h. = I will be late for our 2 p.m. meeting.
• L’été prochain, ils seront en France pour deux semaines. = Next summer, they will be in France for two weeks.
• Elle sera absente la semaine prochaine. = She will be out next week.

Être in the subjonctif présent (subjunctive tense)

In French, feelings like doubt and desire require the subjunctive present tense, as do expressions of necessity, possibility, and judgment. This tense is also referred to as a “mood” since it expresses things that are subjective or uncertain.

Here are a couple examples of subjective ideas using être in the subjunctive present tense:

• Il faut que tu sois gentil(le) avec tes amis. = You must be nice to your friends.
• Je ne pense pas que ce soit une bonne idée. = I do not think it is a good idea.
• Il est possible que nous soyons en retard. =  It is possible that we may be late.

Être in the impératif (imperative)

The imperative form is used to give orders or advice to one or more people. The imperative only exists in the tu, nous, and vous forms. To conjugate être in the imperative is the same as for the subjunctive present tense, but the subject pronouns are omitted.

• Sois gentil(le). = Be nice.
• Soyons patients. = Let’s be patient.
• Soyez heureux. = Be happy.

Être as an auxiliary verb

If you’ve read our guide to French verb conjugation, you may remember that verbs in the passé composé require an auxiliary verb to form the tense. Most French verbs use avoir as the auxiliary verb, but there are 17 verbs that use être as the auxiliary verb.

Forming passé composé using être follows the same pattern as verbs that use avoir. First, être is conjugated in the present tense followed by the past participle of the verb showing the action. Here are the 17 verbs that use être in the passé composé:

Verbs whose helping verb is être must show agreement of their past participle in gender and number. This means adding an “-e” to the end for feminine subjects and adding an “-s” for plural subjects.

Masculine subjects:

• Je suis allé au cinéma. = I went to the movies. 
• Tu es parti vendredi dernier. = You left last Friday.
• Il est né le 2 avril 1910. = He was born on April 2nd, 1910.

Feminine subjects:

• Je suis allée au cinéma. = I went to the movies.
• Tu es partie vendredi dernier. = You left last Friday.
• Elle est née le 2 avril 1910. = She was born on April 2nd, 1910.

Plural masculine subjects:

• Vous êtes venus nous rendre visite l’année dernière. = You came to visit us last year.
• Ils sont sortis ensemble. = They are going out together.
• Nous sommes arrivés en retard. = We arrived late.

Plural feminine subjects:

• Vous êtes venues nous rendre visite l’année dernière. = You came to visit us last year.

• Elles sont sorties ensemble. = They went out together.
• Nous sommes arrivées en retard. = We arrived late.

6 ways to use être correctly in French

As the most common verb in the French language, être is used to express feelings, characteristics, your location, and more! Knowing how to use and conjugate être will help you talk about yourself and the people around you.

1. To express a state of being:

One way you can use être is to describe how you’re feeling. Just like in English, French speakers use “I am” statements to describe how they feel physically or emotionally. 

• Je suis content / contente. = I am happy.
• Il est fatigué. = He is tired.
• Nous sommes malades. = We are sick.

2. To describe someone:

Another common use of être is to describe the physical characteristics of other people and things. In these cases the other person is the subject of the sentence.

• Il est grand. = He is tall.
• Elle est petite. = She is small.
• Ils sont beaux. = They are handsome.

3. To express possession:

When you want to indicate possession of something, like in the phrase “It’s my car,” être is the verb to use! In these sentences, the person, place, or thing you’re possessing is the subject of the sentence.

• C’est mon chat. = It is my cat.
• C’est le chien de ma mère. = It is my mother’s dog.
• Ce sont mes clés. = These are my keys.

Note: Ce means “it” or “this.” The singular, first person contraction above—C’est—is a combination of ce + est. In French, it’s common practice to create a contraction between two words when one word ends with a vowel and the next begins with a vowel. 

4. To give your location:

In the same way you would say “I am at work” in English, you will use être to indicate your location in French.

• Je suis à Paris. = I am in Paris.
• Il est au travail. = He is at work.
• Vous êtes dans le jardin. = You are in the garden.

5. To tell someone your job or nationality:

Être is also used to tell someone what you do for work or what nationality you are.

Make note that in French, professions lose their definite article (le, las, les) or indefinite article (un, une, des) and become adjectives when they follow être.

• Je suis Français. = I am French.
• Il est professeur. = He is a teacher.
• Vous êtes dentiste. = You are a dentist.

6. To express punctuality:

The last most common usage of être is to tell time. Everything uses the verb être, from talking about the current time to discussing how late or early someone or something is.

• Quelle heure est-il ? = What time is it?
• Il est huit heures. = It is eight o’clock.

• Je suis en retard. = I am late.
• Il est en avance. = He is early.

Tip: Don’t use être to describe your age

Since sentences with être are very similar to English sentences using “am,” “is,” or “are,” many people assume that they can use être to state their age. But this is actually a mistake many beginner French learners make.

In French, it’s appropriate to use the verb avoir when you are talking about your age. So while it may seem odd to say you “have your age,” that’s how it’s done in French!

• J’ai vingt ans. = I am 20 years old.
• Elle a soixante ans. = She is 60 years old.

Learn to conjugate être in French with Rosetta Stone

A trip to France or any French-speaking country will awaken many emotions during your travels. You’ll want to share how you’re feeling, where you are, and so much more. Knowing the many ways to conjugate être will help you feel like you can communicate on a foundational level.

If you want to accelerate your learning of the most common verbs in French, then dive into the  Rosetta Stone App, where you’ll learn French naturally with an immersive approach through audio, visual, and interactive activities that teach you in the same way you learned your first language.