The equivalent of the verb TO BE in French is être which is one of the most important verbs in the French language. The verb “to be” is everywhere, in one form or another.
Below is a table that shows how to conjugate the verb to be, or être, in the present tense.
| Je suis | I am | First person singular |
| Tu es | You are | Second person singular |
| Il/Elle/On est | He/She/One is | Third person singular (masc/fem/neutral) |
| Nous sommes | We are | First person plural |
| Vous êtes | You are | Second person plural or formal second person singular |
| Ils/Elles sont | They are | Third person plural (masc/fem) |
What to know about être:
- Être is known as an irregular verb. An irregular verb means that when conjugating it, there is no regular pattern to follow.
- The unconjugated form of any verb (in this case, être) is called an infinitive.
Remember:
- As discussed earlier, the subject pronoun On can have either a singular or plural meaning in English, yet it is always conjugated in the third person singular form. That means that On est… can mean either “One is…” or “We are…”
- The French irregular verb être, “to be,” is one of the most important verbs in the French language. In this module, you will find the conjugations of être in the present tense. Être is not only common because it means “to be”, but also because many verbs use être as an auxiliary verb to form compound tenses such as passé composé. We will not discuss these other verb forms at the moment, but know that this is one verb you want to know inside and out!