Understanding French Conjugation for Être
While there are thousands of verbs you can use in a sentence, a few of them carry a much higher importance. Certain verbs, like “to do” or “to be” are used more often in any language, which makes understanding verb conjugation crucial. This is especially true with the French verb conjugation of être.
However, any type of French verb conjugation can get a little messy because you have to consider the tense, mood, and voice that are being used in a sentence. While there are many verbs that follow regular rules, there are also many that don’t. The word être is one of the irregular forms, but also one of the most commonly used verbs in French.
Conjugating the verb être, or “to be,” is one of the most important ways to improve your French and get one step closer to fluency. To help you better understand how to do this, this article will go over various tenses and their corresponding conjugation of être in French.
How to Conjugate Être in French
Conjugating être in French can be confusing, as there are several different ways it can be done. Each conjugation and subsequent forms of être depend on the sentence structure, the tense being used, and the overall mood. This can be overwhelming to new learners, especially because it’s one of the most important French verbs to learn, but with a little memorization and practice, être will become part of your vocabulary in no time. To help you get started, we’ve included tables of French être conjugation in some of the most commonly used verb tenses below.
French Être Conjugation in the Present
Present tense is the most commonly used tense in French verb conjugation. It’s used to describe the present moment, but also to describe your current state of being. To make more robust sentences, simply add some French adjectives. This could include your location, profession, or even physical state/emotion. The same is applied to être conjugation in French. You can see the different present tense être conjugations in the table below.
| Present Être Conjugation | |
|---|---|
| I am | je suis |
| you are | tu es |
| he/she/it is | il/ella/on est |
| we are | nous sommes |
| you are (plural) | vous êtes |
| they are (masculine/feminine) | ils/elles sont |
Some examples of using present tense être conjugation in a sentence include:
- Je suis professeur — I’m a teacher
- Nous sommes heureux — We are happy
Compound Past Être Conjugation
The compound past, or in French passé composé is used to talk about events that happened in the past. These are usually confined to singular events that happened once and then were over. The compound past needs to be combined with the auxiliary verb avoir (to have) and the past participle of être, which is été. You can see this defined in the table below.
| Compound Past Être Conjugation | |
|---|---|
| I was | j’ai été |
| you were | tu as été |
| he/she/it was | il/ella/on a été |
| we were | nous avons été |
| you were (plural) | vous avez été |
| they were (masculine/feminine) | ils/elles ont été |
Knowing the French alphabet is important for pronunciation of étre conjugations. Some examples of using the compound past tense with être conjugation in a sentence include:
- J’ai été impressionné — I’m was impressed
- Nous sommes bouleversé — We were devastated
Imperfect Être Conjugation in French
Another commonly used form of French être conjugation is the imperfect tense. The imperfect tense is used to talk about continuous events that happened in the past. This is similar to the English equivalent of “used to” or “was/were.” With so many different ways to talk about events in the past, present, and future, things can get a little complicated. Download Tandem to match with a native speaker and help strengthen your distinction between all of the different ways to conjugate être in French. When working with the être conjugation in the imperfect tense, more regular rules apply. As you can see in the table below, the roof of the word (ét) remains consistent throughout.
| Imperfect Être Conjugation | |
|---|---|
| I used to/was | j’étais |
| you used to/were | tu étais |
| he/she/it used to/was | il/ella/on était |
| we used to/were | nous étions |
| you used to/were (plural) | vous étiez |
| they used to/were (masculine/feminine) | ils/elles étaient |
Some examples of using imperfect tense être conjugation in a sentence include:
- J’étais professeur — I used to be a teacher
- Nous étions heureux — We were happy
Être Conjugation for Simple Future Use
Conjugating être in French for future use is also an important part of working towards fluency, as it lets you discuss events that will be occurring later on. However, this is one of the most irregular forms of être conjugation, so memorization is key. The endings are regular, but the stem of être changes to ser-. You can see how this alters each form in the table below.
| Simple Future Être Conjugation | |
|---|---|
| I will be | je serai |
| you will be | tu seras |
| he/she/it will be | il/ella/on sera |
| we will be | nous serons |
| you will be (plural) | vous serez |
| they will be (masculine/feminine) | ils/elles seront |
Some examples of using simple perfect tense être conjugation in a sentence include:
- Je serai professeur — I will be a teacher
- Nous serons heureux — We will be happy
Near Future Être Conjugation in French
If you want to talk about things that are going to happen soon, you can use the near future French être conjugation. This is similar to using “going to” in the English counterpart. You will need to partner the infinitive form of the verb être with aller conjugation to use this tense. You can see how this is done in the table below.
| Near Future Être Conjugation | |
|---|---|
| I am going to be | je vais être |
| you are going to be | tu vas être |
| he/she/it is going to be | il/ella/on va être |
| we are going to be | nous allons être |
| you are going to be (plural) | vous allez être |
| they are going to be (masculine/feminine) | ils/elles vont être |
Some examples of using near perfect tense être conjugation in a sentence include:
- Je vais être professeur — I am going to be a teacher
- Nous allons être heureux — We are going to be happy
Conditional French Conjugation of Être
If you want to say something “would” be, you need to use the conditional form of être conjugation in French. This is often paired with the word “if” in a sentence, or si in French. Conditional usage is therefore a type of hypothetical tense, or a way of saying you would do something under certain circumstances. You can see how être changes in the following table.
| Conditional Être Conjugation | |
|---|---|
| I will be | Je serai |
| you will be | Tu seras |
| he/she/it will be | il/ella/on sera |
| we will be | nous serons |
| you will be (plural) | vous serez |
| they will be (masculine/feminine) | ils/elles seront |
Some examples of using the condition tense of être conjugation in a sentence include:
- Je serai professeur — I will be a teacher
- Nous serons heureux — We will be happy
Present Subjunctive French Être Conjugation
Finally, the subjunctive form of être conjugation is used to express some type of doubt or possibility in French. It’s how you communicate about uncertain events or even requests. In most instances, the être conjugation will follow the conjunction “que” in order to complete the sentence. You can see this in the table below.
| Present Subjunctive Être Conjugation | |
|---|---|
| I | que je sois |
| you (singular) | que tu sois |
| he/she/it | que il/elle/on soit |
| we | que nous soyons |
| you | que vous soyez |
| they | que ils/elles soient |
Some examples of using the present subjunctive form of être conjugation include:
- Je veux que tu sois heureux — I want you to be happy
- Quelle surprise que nous soyons ici — What a surprise that we are here
Other Applications of Être Conjugation
Être is considered an auxiliary verb, which means it can be used to help other verbs express tense, mood, or even voice. In this situation, être can transform other verbs into compound tenses. This is particularly important when working with avoir conjugations. Être can also be used with reflexive verbs in French.
Another way to use être conjugation is as a command. These forms are the same as using être conjugated in the subjunctive form. Some examples are as follows:
- sois gentil — be nice!
- soyez responsables — be responsible!
Other verbs that are similar in usage are the faire conjugation in French and venir conjugation.
Learning the être conjugation in French may take a little work, but with some memorization of the tables above and plenty of practice, you’ll have it down in no time. To help you solidify your understanding of this verb, and others, download Tandem today. Tandem is a unique learning language that can help you practice using core sentences with être conjugation in the past, present, and future.
Tandem offers a personalized language learning experience for members around the world looking to practice and exchange language. All you need to do is download the app, match with a native French speaker, and work on your conversation skills together. Unlike other language apps, Tandem focuses on helping members in our community create long-lasting friendships while strengthening their fluency. To join our community and practice your French, sign up for Tandem today.
