🔰 Introduction
In any language, one verb stands above all others in importance: the verb “to be.” In French, that verb is être. Whether you’re introducing yourself, describing someone, or simply saying where you are — être is essential. the verb be in french
This lesson will take you through the basics and beauty of être, explain where it comes from, how to use it, how to ask questions with it, and even why it sometimes includes a mysterious little accent: the circumflex (ˆ).
By the end of this lesson, you’ll be ready to understand and use être confidently in real-life conversations — just like the one we’ll see between a tourist and a waitress in Brussels.
1. What does être mean?
The verb être means “to be.” It is one of the most commonly used and most irregular verbs in the French language.
We use être for:
Identity: I am a student → Je suis étudiant.
Nationality: You are French → Tu es français.
Emotion or state: She is happy → Elle est contente.
Location (sometimes): We are at school → Nous sommes à l’école.
2. Origins and Etymology
The word être has deep historical roots:
Derived from Latin: from esse (to be, exist) and stare (to stand).
These two roots fused over centuries into the modern French forms of être.
This is why être has such irregular conjugations — they carry traces of different Latin verb families.
This verb is also connected to many international words like: the verb be in french
Essence and essential in English
Essere in Italian
Ser and estar in Spanish
3. Present Tense Conjugation
Here’s how you conjugate être in the present tense:
| Subject | Être form |
|---|---|
| Je | suis |
| Tu | es |
| Il / Elle / On | est |
| Nous | sommes |
| Vous | êtes |
| Ils / Elles | sont |
🔁 These forms must be memorized, as they do not follow a regular pattern.
4. Asking Questions in French with Être
French has two common ways to form questions:
🧾 Formal (Inversion)
This structure swaps the subject and verb:
Êtes-vous français ? – Are you French?
Est-elle professeur ? – Is she a teacher?
🧑⚖️ Used in formal speech, written French, or polite contexts.
🎤 Informal (Spoken, Intonation)
You keep the sentence structure the same and just raise your tone at the end:
Vous êtes allemand ?
Tu es étudiante ?
🗣️ This is how people usually ask questions in conversation.
5. What Is That Circumflex Doing in “êtes”?
You may have noticed: êtes has a little hat — ê — over the “e”. This is called a circumflex accent (ˆ).
✨ Why is it there?
In many French words, the circumflex tells us that a letter — often an S — used to exist.
Examples:
être ← from Latin essere
hôpital ← from hospital
forêt ← from forest
île ← from isle
So, “êtes” (you are) reminds us of “estre,” the old French version. The accent keeps the memory of the language’s history alive!
6. Dialogue Example (Paris Café ☕)
Here’s a simple and natural conversation that includes être and some nationality vocabulary:
La serveuse : Voilà votre café !
Giuseppe : Merci. Vous êtes française ?
La serveuse : Non, je suis allemande.
Giuseppe : Vous parlez très bien français.
La serveuse : Merci ! Et vous, vous êtes français ?
Giuseppe : Non, je suis italien.
Ensuite, répondez aux questions suivantes.
1. Qu’est-ce que la serveuse apporte ?
2. Quelle est la nationalité de Luigi ?
3. Que dit Luigi à propos du français de la serveuse ?
7. Tu ______ étudiant ?
Nous ______ très contents.
4. D’où vient la serveuse ?
5. Complétez : « Et vous, vous êtes ______ ? »
6. Complétez avec le verbe être :
Vocabulary
This lesson introduced several important words. For example, serveuse means a waitress — a woman who works in a café or restaurant and brings food or drinks. The word étudiant means a student, someone who is studying at school or university. Allemand means German (for a man), and italienne means Italian (for a woman). These are examples of nationalities. the verb be in french
The verb motiver means to give someone motivation or encouragement. The word très means “very” and is used to emphasize an adjective, like “very happy” – très content. A café is both a drink (coffee) and a small restaurant where people often drink coffee or eat snacks. Finally, parler means “to speak” – it is a regular verb that we use to talk about language or communication.
