French Verb Être: Conjugation and Usage (+ FREE Audio)

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Last Updated: November 8, 2023

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The French verb ĂȘtre is one of the most important verbs you could learn in French. Être means “to be” and this highly irregular French verb can be found everywhere – in simple daily conversations, idiomatic expressions, written language, and elsewhere – making it a must-learn for anyone who is starting to learn French.

Here in this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about this verb: how to use ĂȘtre and ĂȘtre conjugation tables.

French Verb Etre

Bonus Audio

This article comes with free MP3 files that you can use to practice your listening and pronunciation skills. The audio also doubles as drills for you to familiarize yourself with the conjugation of the verb ĂȘtre, using an effective repetition method. 

The audio is included in the fully-packed French Learning Package which you can access for FREE when you signup to join our mailing list.  

I. How to use ĂȘtre

3 main ways the French verb ĂȘtre (to be) is used

  1. Être is used with nouns, adjectives, and adverbs to describe the permanent or temporary state of being.  Example: Je suis une amoureuse des animaux. (I am an animal lover.)
  2. It is also used to indicate possession. Example: C’est mon chien. (It’s my dog.)
  3. Also to talk about someone’s job or profession.  Example: Je suis Ă©tudiant. (I am a student.)

Être as an auxiliary verb

  1. Compound tenses. Être is an auxiliary verb which is used with the past participle of several French verbs to form compound tenses such as the perfect or the past perfect. Example: Je suis allĂ© en France l'annĂ©e derniĂšre.  (I went to France last year.)
  2. Passive voice. To form the passive tenses in French, ĂȘtre is used, followed by the past participle.
  • Present Passive: present tense of ĂȘtre + past participle
  • PassĂ© composĂ© passif (perfect passive): perfect tense of ĂȘtre + past participle
  • Futur passif (future passive): future tense of ĂȘtre + past participle
  • PassĂ© conditionnel passif (past conditional passive): past conditional tense of ĂȘtre + past participle

II. Être Conjugation

Since ĂȘtre is a highly irregular French verb, the conjugation can be quite tricky. It's something that you must master usually by memorizing, or with the help of audio drills. 

In this part, let's review the conjugation tables for the French verb ĂȘtre.

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Être Conjugated in the Indicative Mood (INDICATIF)

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how to conjugate the French verb etre in indicative mood

How to conjugate ĂȘtre in the present tense (PrĂ©sent)

je suisI am
tu esyou are
il/elle esthe/ she is
nous sommeswe are
vous ĂȘtesyou are
ils/elles sontthey are

How to conjugate ĂȘtre in the Imparfait

j'Ă©taisI was being
tu Ă©taisyou were being
il/elle Ă©taithe/she was being
nous Ă©tionswe were being
vous Ă©tiezyou all were being
ils/elles Ă©taientthey were being

Futur

je seraiI will be
tu serasyou will be
il/elle serahe/ she will be
nous seronswe will be
vous serezyou will be
ils/elles serontthey will be

How to conjugate ĂȘtre in passĂ© composĂ©

j'ai étéI was
tu as étéyou were
il/elle a étéhe/ she has been
nous avons étéwe have been
vous avez étéyou have been
ils/elles ont ététhey have been

How to conjugate ĂȘtre in passĂ© simple

je fusI was
tu fusyou were
il/elle futhe/ she was
nous fûmeswe were
vous fûtesyou were
ils/elles furentthey were

ĂȘtre in plus-que-parfait

j'avais étéI had been
tu avais étéyou had been
il/elle avait étéhe/ she had been
nous avions étéwe had been
vous aviez étéyou had been
ils/elles avaient ététhey had been

ĂȘtre in passĂ© antĂ©rieur

j'eus étéI had been
tu eus étéyou had been
il/elle eut étéhe/ she had been
nous eûmes étéwe had been
vous eûtes étéyou had been
ils/elles eurent ététhey had been

ĂȘtre in futur antĂ©rieur

j'aurai étéI will have been
tu auras étéyou will have been
il/elle aura étéhe/ she will have been
nous aurons étéwe will have been
vous aurez étéyou will have been
ils/elles auront ététhey will have been

Être in the Subjunctive Mood (SUBJONCTIF)

Présent

que je soisthat I am
que tu soisthat you are
qu'il/elle soitthat he/ she is
que nous soyonsthat we are
que vous soyezthat you are
qu'ils/elles soientthat they are

Imparfait

que je fussethat I would be
que tu fussesthat you would be
qu’il/elle/on fĂ»tthat he/she would be
que nous fussionsthat we would be
que vous fussiezthat you would be
qu’ils/elles fussentthat they would be

Passé

que j'aie ététhat I have been
que tu aies ététhat you have been
qu'il/elle ait ététhat he/ she have been
que nous ayons ététhat we have been
que vous ayez ététhat you have all been
qu'ils/elles aient ététhat they have been

Plus-que-parfait

que j'eusse ététhat I would have been
que tu eusses ététhat you would have been
qu'il/elle eût ététhat he/she would have been
que nous eussions ététhat we would have been
que vous eussiez ététhat you all would have been
qu'ils/elles eussent ététhat they would have been

Être in the Conditional Mood (CONDITIONNEL)

Présent

je seraisI would be
tu seraisyou would be
il/elle seraithe/she would be
nous serionswe would be
vous seriezyou would be
ils/elles seraientthey would be

Passé (1Úre forme)

j'aurais étéI would have been
tu aurais étéyou would have been
il/elle aurait étéhe/she would have been
nous aurions étéwe would have been
vous auriez étéyou would have been
ils/elles auraient ététhey would have been

Passé (2Úme forme)

j'eusse étéI would have been
tu eusses étéyou would have been
il/elle eût étéhe/she would have been
nous eussions étéwe would have been
vous eussiez étéyou would have been
ils/elles eussent ététhey would have been

PARTICIPE

Présent

Ă©tant



Passé

  • masc.sg.: Ă©tĂ©
  • masc.pl.: Ă©tĂ©
  • fĂ©m.sg.: Ă©tĂ©
  • fĂ©m.pl.: Ă©tĂ©

PARTICIPE PASSÉ COMPOSÉ

  • ayant Ă©tĂ©

Être Conjugated in the Imperative Mood (IMPÉRATIF)

Présent

  • (tu) sois
  • (nous) soyons
  • (vous) soyez

Passé

  • (tu) aie Ă©tĂ©
  • (nous) ayons Ă©tĂ©
  • (vous) ayez Ă©tĂ©

Être in the Infinitive Mood (INFINITIF)


Présent

ĂȘtre

Passé

avoir été

III. Quick Exercise: Fill in the blanks!

1. Je ____ Français (I am French)

Click to reveal the answer

2. Tu ____gentil (You are nice)

Click to reveal the answer

3. Elle ____ jolie (She is cute)

Click to reveal the answer

4. Il _____ sĂ©rieux (He is serious)

Click to reveal the answer

5. Nous ____ Ă©tudiants (We are students)

Click to reveal the answer

IV. Conclusion

This etre conjugation tables will surely make mastering the French verb ĂȘtre easier! 

Être is a super-charged, widely-used French verb that you should spend time getting to know along with other most commonly used verbs such as avoir, dire, ĂȘtre, faire, finir, manger, pouvoir, savoir,venir, voir, and vouloir.

But would you believe me if I say that you can master the different conjugations of these verbs without any rote memorization? All you need is a handy pack of audio drills to listen to and practice everyday.

Do you still find these etre conjugations difficult? Check out the French Verb Conjugation Course and see how you can learn French verb tenses naturally.

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  • Learn French on your own terms with our comprehensive, self-paced beginner, intermediate, and advanced courses, each with a step-by-step plan tailored to your level.
  • Master French pronunciation and sound like a native with our pronunciation course.
  • Receive personalized feedback and guidance from a dedicated French teacher.

Here are some FAQs about French Verb Être

How do you use ĂȘtre in French?

Être is a verb meaning “to be” in English. Just like the verb “to be,” ĂȘtre is also an extremely versatile and irregular verb. The most basic usage of ĂȘtre is to attribute a trait or describe the state of the subject:

Je suis heureux/heureuse ! (I am happy!)
Nancy est petite. (Nancy is small.)
Nous sommes Ă  la maison. (We are at home.)

Être is also commonly used to indicate possession, or to talk about one’s profession:

C’est ton chat, non? (That’s your cat, isn’t it?)
Elle est mĂ©decin. (She’s a doctor.)

What is the prĂ©sent conjugation for ĂȘtre?

The present tense conjugation for ĂȘtre is as follows:

Je suis (I am)
Tu es (you are)
Il/elle/on est (he/she/it is)
Nous sommes (we are)
Vous ĂȘtes (you [plural or formal] are)
Ils/elles sont (they are)

What verbs do you use ĂȘtre with?

The article has managed to discuss all conjugations for the French verb ĂȘtre. However, ĂȘtre and avoir are both very odd verbs, and can often switch places. In fact, ĂȘtre takes the place of avoir as the auxiliary verb when conjugating certain verbs to the passĂ© composĂ©.

“Dr Mrs P. Vandertramp” is a very popular tool for French language learners to memorise irregularly conjugated verbs in the past participle, or the passĂ© composĂ©. This is an acronym, so each letter represents a verb. It is known as the “House of Être” because all of these verbs use ĂȘtre as their auxiliary. However, please note that not all verbs using ĂȘtre are included in this abbreviation.

Here is the list of Dr Mrs P. Vandertramp verbs:

Devenir (to become): devenu
Revenir (to come back): revenu

Monter (to climb): monté
Rester (to stay): resté
Sortir (to leave): sorti

Passer (to pass): passé

Venir (to come): venu
Aller (to go): allé
Naßtre (to be born): né

Descendre (to descend): descendu
Entrer (to enter): entré
Rentrer (to re-enter): rentré

Tomber (to fall): tombé
Retourner (to turn around): retourné
Arriver (to arrive/come): arrivé
Mourir (to die): mort
Partir (to leave): parti

Now here are some examples of conjugated verbs from Dr Mrs P. Vandertramp in the past participle. Remember subject-verb agreements – an extra -e for females, and an -s for multiple subjects.

subject + ĂȘtre (prĂ©sent) + Dr Mrs P Vandertramp verb (passĂ© composĂ©)

Je suis allé (I went)
Elle est tombée (She fell)
Vous ĂȘtes venu (You came)
Nous sommes entrés (We entered)
Ils sont revenus (They came back)

About the author 

Frederic Bibard is the founder of Talk in French, a company that helps french learners to practice and improve their french. Macaron addict. Jacques Audiard fan. You can contact him on Instagram

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