Présent
Present
What happens now or regularly: je parle français.
French verb conjugation
Être conjugation
Être — “to be”. Every tense with audio: tap a form to hear it, or the speaker to hear the whole tense.
- Translation
- to be
- Group
- key verb
- Participe passé
- été
- Passé composé with avoir
- j’ai été
Être in every tense
Il / elle and ils / elles share the same forms. With être the participle agrees with the subject: (e) for the feminine, (e)s for the plural.
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Passé composé
Perfect (completed past)
What happened and is over: hier, j’ai vu un film. The main past tense of speech.
Imparfait
Imperfect (ongoing past)
Description, habit or background in the past: quand j’étais petit, je jouais au foot.
Futur simple
Future
What will be: demain, il fera beau. In speech aller + infinitive often replaces it.
Conditionnel présent
Conditional
Polite requests and imagined situations: je voudrais un café ; si j’avais le temps, je voyagerais.
Subjonctif présent
Subjunctive
After wishes, necessity and feelings: il faut que tu viennes. Always after que.
Impératif
Imperative
Requests, advice, orders: viens ! écoutez !
What to know
The most important verb: it forms the passé composé of verbs of motion (je suis allé) and of reflexive verbs. Every tense is irregular — the stems ét- (imparfait) and ser- (futur) simply have to be learnt.
Examples
- Je suis étudiante.I’m a student.
- Hier, nous étions à la maison.Yesterday we were at home.
- Tu seras content.You’ll be happy.
Practice
A person and a tense — choose the right form of être. 10 questions.
Choose the form
FAQ
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How do you conjugate être in the présent?
je suis, tu es, il/elle est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils/elles sont.
Does être take avoir or être in the passé composé?
Avoir: j’ai été, tu as été, il/elle a été, nous avons été, vous avez été, ils/elles ont été.
What is être in the imparfait?
j’étais, tu étais, il/elle était, nous étions, vous étiez, ils/elles étaient.
What is être in the futur simple?
je serai, tu seras, il/elle sera, nous serons, vous serez, ils/elles seront.
What’s next
French irregular verbs
The présent, passé composé and futur of irregular verbs in one table — with search and practice.
Open the table50 most common French words
The 50 most common French words with audio, examples and exercises.
See the wordsFrench level test
Grammar, vocabulary and reading from A1 to C1 — and your level of French.
Take the test
Grammar for this topic
Rules in plain words — with tables, examples and a quiz in every topic.
The présent tense
Je parle, nous finissons, vous faites — the endings of the three verb groups and the key irregulars.
Level A1Passé composé or imparfait
Two past tenses: what happened — and what it was like, what was going on.
Level A2–B1Futur proche and futur simple
Two ways to talk about the future: je vais partir and je partirai.
Level A1–A2The subjonctif: il faut que…
Il faut que tu viennes, je veux qu’il soit là — how to form the subjunctive and which words trigger it.
Level B1
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