French Verb Être: How to Use, Conjugation & Examples

Être

Être is a french verb that means “to be”, it’s used to express the state, qualities, characteristics or location of people, animals or things, for example “Je suis bon” – I am good, “Nous sommes ici” – We are here, “Le chat est grand” – The cat is big”. A verb in general, is a word that expresses an action, an act, a movement, or a state. According to Larousse, they refer to the activities done or experienced by people, animals, or things and their states of being. Examples are “To eat”, “To go”, “To feed”, etc.

Conjugation of Être in the present tense

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

Examples or sentences

Tu es fort. – You are strong.
Elle es jolie. – She is pretty.
Vous etes haut. – You are tall.
Il est petite. – He is small.
Nous sommes heureux. – We are happy.
Vous êtes fous. – You are crazy.
Ma soeur est à la France. – My sister is in France.

Être in imperfect tense (l’imparfait)

The imparfait is a commonly used verb tense in French that describes past actions without a defined ending. As it is used frequently, it is an important tense to learn.

Conjugation

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

Examples

J’étais ici hier. – I was here yesterday.
Vous étiez chez mois. – You were at my house.
Il était heureux. – He was happy.
Tu étais triste. – You were sad.
Nous étions là. – We were there.

How and when to use être

Être is a versatile verb that serves various purposes. It can be used to form attributive sentences (where a quality is expressed), as an auxiliary verb for verbs of movement, and also as an auxiliary verb for reflexive verbs (those that reflect in the subject itself).

In attributive sentences

Attributive sentences describe or attribute a characteristic.

Il est bien. – He is fine.
Elle était en France. – She was in France.
Le ciel est bleu. – It’s blue.
Les chats étaient grands. – The cats were big.

Être as an auxiliary of verbs of movement

Verbs of movement (les verbes du mouvement) express displacement from one place to another, they are sixteen verbs and some are: To go, to arrive, to leave, to run, etc.

An auxiliary verb is a complementary verb, which is used to accompany another main verb.

Je suis venu. – I have come. Suis (to be) and venu (to come) are two different verbs, “venir” (to come) are the main verbs and “être” or “to be” are the auxiliary ones.
Ils sont partis. – They are gone.
Tu es arrive. – You have arrived.
Il est parti. – He is gone or he left.

As an auxiliary verb of reflexive verbs

Reflexive verbs reflect the action back to the subject, like “I dress myself”.

Je me suis lavées les mains. – I washed my hands.
Elle s’est coupé la main. – She cut her hand.
Tu t’es habillé rapidement. –You got dressed quickly.
Il/Elle s’est levé(e) – He/she got up.

Exercises

Fill in the blank boxes with the corresponding translation

I am

You are (Singular)

He is

She is

We are

You are (2nd person plural)

They are (Males and females)

They are (Females)

I was

From now on, fill in the boxes with Past perfect conjugation (I’imparfait)

You were

He was

She was

We were

You were

They were (Male and females)

They were (Females only)

Suggested exercise

1. Write 8 or more sentences containing the verb Être in the present simple, one for each subject pronoun (Je, tu, il, elle, nous, vous, ils and elles)

2. Write 8 or more sentences containing the verb Être in the past perfect conjugation (I’imparfait)
one for each subject pronoun.