Practise Être – To be in the present tense

Lesson on être – to be in the present tense

Être means “to be” in English and is used in various ways and can be extremely useful.

First of all, it can be used to say:

• where you are: je suis à Paris – I am in Paris
• how you are: je suis grand – I am tall
• how you feel for instance: je suis heureux – I am happy

Knowing all the forms of the verb être will therefore help you speak about others as well. You will also need to know the present tense of Être when you’ll want to learn the past tense in French too. Let’s start:

• Je suis – I am
• Tu es – You are
• Il est – He is
• Elle est – She is
• On est – One is
• Nous sommes – We are
• Vous êtes – You are (more than one or formal)
• Ils sont – They are (male, male and female)
• Elles sont – They are (female only)