Grammar · Intro

Être or Not to Être?

Before we start, let's understand why être is the most important verb in French — and how it compares to English.

You already know English "to be" — French works the same way

I am a teacher.

She is tired.

We are at school.

It is cold.

Je suis professeur.

Elle est fatiguée.

Nous sommes à l'école.

Il fait froid.

Just like in English, you cannot drop "être" in French. The verb is always required.

One big difference: French has 6 different forms

English "to be" has 3 forms: am, is, are. French être has 6 forms — one for each pronoun. You need to memorise all of them.

French pronoun	Être	English equivalent	Example
Je	suis	I am	Je suis étudiant.
Tu	es	You are (informal)	Tu es médecin.
Il / Elle	est	He / She is	Elle est professeur.
Nous	sommes	We are	Nous sommes amis.
Vous	êtes	You are (formal/plural)	Vous êtes touriste.
Ils / Elles	sont	They are	Ils sont contents.

Key differences between English "to be" and French "être"

No contractions in French
English: I'm, he's, we're — French has no short forms like that.
French: Je suis, il est, nous sommes — always written in full.
No article with professions
English: "I'm a teacher." · French: "Je suis professeur." — no un/une!
This is one of the most common mistakes English speakers make.
Adjectives agree with the subject
English: "He is tired. She is tired." — same word.
French: "Il est fatigué." vs "Elle est fatiguée." — the adjective changes!
Liaison: the hidden sound
Ils sont → the s in ils links to sont: pronounced /il zɔ̃/.
Nous sommes → /nu zɔm/. This linking is called liaison.

Negative: je ne suis pas

To make a negative sentence in French, wrap the verb with ne … pas.

Before a vowel, ne becomes n': n'est pas, n'es pas.

Ready? In the next lesson we start with the first real sentence: Je suis + name / job.