How French works
We’ve seen that in French, verbs can have different endings according to whether you use them with I, he, she etc., and that this is called conjugation.
Some verbs in French follow a standard pattern and these are called regular verbs. Many verbs, however, do not follow a standard pattern, and these are called irregular verbs.
Some of the most common verbs in French are irregular verbs. One of these is the verb être which means to be. In the present tense être has these forms:
| être to be | ||
|---|---|---|
| je | suis | |
| tu | es | |
| il / elle | est | |
| nous | sommes | |
| vous | êtes | |
| ils / elles | sont | |
Be careful, though. There are quite a few instances where English uses to be while French uses avoir (to have):
J’ai chaud
I’m hot
The verb être is used in very much the same way as to be is in English. Here are some examples:
Je suis britannique
I’m British
Tu es en retard
You’re late
Elle est sympa
She’s nice
Ils sont en vacances
They’re on holiday
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