French grammar: Être (to be)

How to use the verb 'to be' in French

The verb 'to be' is être in French.

Être is the most frequently used verb in French and it can be used in lots of different ways, including ‎describing people and things, giving opinions and saying where you are.

How to form 'être'

Être is an irregular verb. Regular verbs follow the same pattern, but irregular verbs don’t.

If you want to say 'I am' in French, you say:

• Je suis – I am

The form of être changes as the person doing the verb changes.

Asking questions using 'être'

To change a statement into a question, you add a question mark.

When writing the question in French, you leave a space between the final word and the question mark.

When you are asking the question, you stress the end of the sentence by saying the last syllable in a higher pitch. This is called rising intonation.

Can you hear the difference between these statements and questions?

Tu es heureux – You are happy

Tu es heureux ? – Are you happy?

Tu es fatigué – You are tired

Tu es fatigué ? – Are you tired?

When can I use 'être'?

Describing yourself

You can use the verb to describe yourself.

Remember when describing somebody in French, the spelling of some adjectives can change depending the person you are describing.

For example, if the person you are describing is female, you will need the feminine form of the adjective.

If the person is male, you will need the masculine form of the adjective.

You can learn more about this in French grammar: Adjectives.

Describing others

You can also describe other people.

• Il est heureux – He is happy

• Elle est heureuse – She is happy

• Il est grand – He is tall

• Elle est grande – She is tall

• Il est petit – He is small

• Elle est petite – She is small

Describing things

A useful word to use when describing things is c'est (it is). This is formed using the word for 'it' ce (it) followed by est (is) from the verb être.

Did you notice how ce becomes c' when it appears before a vowel? This makes it easier to say.

• ce + est = c'est

You can use c'est to say what something is.

• C’est une pomme – It’s an apple

• C’est un chien – It’s a dog

• C’est un cheval – It’s a horse

You can say something is yours.

• C’est ma pomme – It’s my apple

• C’est ma casquette – It’s my cap

• C’est mon chien – It’s my dog

• C’est mon cheval – It’s my horse

You can ask where something is.

Où est mon livre ? – Where is my book?

C’est ici – It’s here

C’est là – It’s there

Key French words