Être Conjugation: Essential Tenses, Uses and Agreement

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Want to get the French verb être (“to be”) straight once and for all?

In this article I'll walk you through the core être conjugations, from the present and common past forms to the subjunctive, imperative and literary passé simple. I'll also show you how être works as a helper in compound tenses, where past-participle agreement depends on the verb and construction.

Être is irregular, so you cannot build every form from one predictable stem. Its frequency helps: je suis, c'est and vous êtes appear early and often. Learn the present first, then add one tense at a time.

French was one of the first languages I took on after Spanish, partly to test whether the approach that got me speaking Spanish would carry over to another language. Être was one of the first verbs I drilled. That experience taught me the value of learning a few high-frequency verbs well enough to retrieve them in conversation.

Être can be a main verb or an auxiliary, a helper used to build a compound form. The second role explains the agreement section later in this guide.

Être in the Present Tense (Le Présent)

Start here. The present forms appear in introductions, descriptions, locations and many common expressions.

French	English
je suis	I am
tu es	you are (informal)
il / elle / on est	he / she / one is
nous sommes	we are
vous êtes	you are (formal / plural)
ils / elles sont	they are

Je suis is “I am”, and it is written identically to je suis from suivre (“to follow”). The surrounding words normally make the intended verb clear.

Keep the circumflex in vous êtes. In informal speech, on est often means “we are”, while nous sommes remains normal in formal and careful registers.

Here it is in the wild:

• Je suis irlandais. (I am Irish.)
• Tu es prêt ? (Are you ready?)
• Nous sommes en retard. (We are late.)
• Ils sont à Paris. (They are in Paris.)

Être in the Past: Passé Composé (J'ai été)

For many completed past events in everyday French, you'll use the passé composé. To build it for être itself, take the present of avoir (“to have”) and add été, the past participle of être.

French	English
j'ai été	I was / I have been
tu as été	you were
il / elle / on a été	he / she / one was
nous avons été	we were
vous avez été	you were
ils / elles ont été	they were

Notice the quirk here: even though we're talking about être, its own past tense is built with avoir. So “I have been” is j'ai été, never “je suis été”.

• J'ai été malade hier. (I was ill yesterday.)
• Ça a été une belle journée. (It was a lovely day.)

Keep the two patterns separate: être‘s own compound past uses avoir, while a defined group of other verbs and all pronominal verbs use être as their auxiliary.

Être in the Imperfect (L'Imparfait)

The imparfait often expresses description, background, repeated past situations and “used to be”. For être, use the irregular stem ét- plus the regular imperfect endings.

French	English
j'étais	I was / I used to be
tu étais	you were
il / elle / on était	he / she / one was
nous étions	we were
vous étiez	you were
ils / elles étaient	they were

• Quand j'étais petit, j'étais timide. (When I was little, I was shy.)
• Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…, literally “It was one time…”)

If you want to go deeper on when to reach for the imperfect versus the passé composé, we've got a full guide to the French imparfait.

Être in the Future (Le Futur Simple)

The future uses the stem ser-. The conditional below uses the same stem with different endings.

French	English
je serai	I will be
tu seras	you will be
il / elle / on sera	he / she / one will be
nous serons	we will be
vous serez	you will be
ils / elles seront	they will be

• Je serai là à huit heures. (I will be there at eight o'clock.)
• Ce sera difficile. (It will be difficult.)

Être in the Conditional (Le Conditionnel Présent)

The conditional is your “would be” tense, perfect for being polite or talking about hypotheticals. It uses the same ser- stem as the future, with imperfect-style endings tacked on.

French	English
je serais	I would be
tu serais	you would be
il / elle / on serait	he / she / one would be
nous serions	we would be
vous seriez	you would be
ils / elles seraient	they would be

• Ce serait génial ! (That would be great!)
• Je serais ravi de t'aider. (I would be delighted to help you.)

Être in the Subjunctive (Le Subjonctif Présent)

The subjunctive shows up after certain expressions of wish, emotion, doubt or necessity, very often introduced by que (“that”). Être‘s subjunctive forms are genuinely irregular, so give them a little extra drilling.

French	English
que je sois	that I be
que tu sois	that you be
qu'il / elle / on soit	that he / she / one be
que nous soyons	that we be
que vous soyez	that you be
qu'ils / elles soient	that they be

• Il faut que tu sois patient. (You need to be patient.)
• Je veux qu'elle soit heureuse. (I want her to be happy.)

Learn these forms inside complete phrases, such as il faut que tu sois…, rather than as isolated translations. For the wider set of triggers and uses, see our guide to the French subjunctive.

Être in the Imperative (L'Impératif)

The imperative is for commands and encouragement. Être borrows its subjunctive forms here, so if you've learned sois, soyons and soyez above, you've already done the work.

Affirmative	English	Negative	English
sois	be (informal)	ne sois pas	don't be
soyons	let's be	ne soyons pas	let's not be
soyez	be (formal / plural)	ne soyez pas	don't be

• Sois sage ! (Be good! / Behave!)
• Soyez les bienvenus. (Welcome, literally “Be the welcomed ones.”)
• Ne sois pas timide. (Don't be shy.)

Être in the Passé Simple

The passé simple is mainly a literary and formal narrative tense. It is rare in spontaneous conversation, but you will meet it in novels, fairy tales and some historical writing. Recognition is usually more useful than production for a beginner.

French	English
je fus	I was
tu fus	you were
il / elle / on fut	he / she / one was
nous fûmes	we were
vous fûtes	you were
ils / elles furent	they were

You'll spot il fut and ils furent in storytelling. Recognise them, then move on.

Participles: Étant and Été

Two forms round out the set:

• Participe présent: étant (“being”). As in étant donné que… (“given that…”), a handy phrase to have ready.
• Participe passé: été (“been”). This is the one you've already used to build the passé composé above, and you'll see it again across all the compound tenses.

Être as an Auxiliary Verb

The conjugation tables are only half the reference. You also need to know when être serves as an auxiliary.

In the passé composé and other compound tenses, most French verbs use avoir. A smaller set uses être. The choice of auxiliary and the agreement rule need separate attention.

Which verbs use être? The “house of être”

The verbs that take être are mostly about coming, going, arriving, leaving, rising, falling, being born and dying: movement and changes of state. Teachers package them up with the mnemonic DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP, where each letter is the first letter of one of these verbs:

Letter	Verb	Meaning
D	Devenir	to become
R	Revenir	to come back
M	Monter	to go up
R	Rester	to stay
S	Sortir	to go out
V	Venir	to come
A	Aller	to go
N	Naître	to be born
D	Descendre	to go down
E	Entrer	to enter
R	Rentrer	to go home
T	Tomber	to fall
R	Retourner	to return
A	Arriver	to arrive
M	Mourir	to die
P	Partir	to leave

You'll also hear this called the “house of être”, often drawn with people climbing stairs (monter), entering (entrer) and leaving (partir). Some derived verbs, including intransitive uses of repartir, remonter and redescendre, follow the same pattern. Passer also takes être in an intransitive use such as je suis passé chez elle. Check the construction because several of these verbs take avoir when used transitively.

Past-Participle Agreement with Être

With a non-pronominal verb that takes être in the passé composé, the past participle agrees with the subject. In the regular written pattern, add -e for feminine singular, -s for masculine or mixed plural, and -es for feminine plural.

Subject	Sentence	English
masculine singular	Il est allé.	He went.
feminine singular	Elle est allée.	She went.
masculine plural	Ils sont allés.	They went.
feminine plural	Elles sont allées.	They went.

So a woman writing about herself says je suis allée (with the extra -e), while a man writes je suis allé. With avoir, the participle does not agree with the subject; it agrees only with a direct object placed before it, which is why the basic être pattern deserves separate attention.

• Marie est née en France. (Marie was born in France.)
• Nous sommes arrivés en retard. (We arrived late, group including at least one male.)
• Elles sont parties tôt. (They left early, all-female group.)

One important catch: when these verbs take avoir

A handful of the house-of-être verbs can flip to avoir when they're used with a direct object (when you do something to a thing). The meaning shifts slightly too:

• Je suis monté. (I went up.) versus J'ai monté les valises. (I took the suitcases up.)
• Elle est sortie. (She went out.) versus Elle a sorti les poubelles. (She took out the bins.)

For these alternating verbs, a transitive use with a direct object takes avoir. Do not apply that switch to every verb in the mnemonic.

Pronominal Verbs Use Être Too

Here's the other half of the rule that thin guides skip. Every pronominal verb uses être in the passé composé, but its agreement depends on the construction. Many agree with the subject; others agree only with a preceding direct object or remain unchanged.

• Elle s'est levée. (She got up.)
• Ils se sont couchés tard. (They went to bed late.)
• Je me suis trompé. / Je me suis trompée. (I made a mistake, male / female speaker.)

Pronominal verbs such as se lever, se coucher, s'habiller and se laver build their compound past with être. Their participle agreement still depends on the construction. For more examples, see our guide to French reflexive verbs.

The Main Uses of Être

Conjugation is only half the story. Here's what être actually does for you in real sentences.

Identity and description. Use être to say what someone or something is or what it is like.

• Je suis fatigué. (I am tired.)
• Le ciel est bleu. (The sky is blue.)

Jobs and professions. Note that French drops the “a/an” here.

• Elle est médecin. (She is a doctor, literally “She is doctor.”)
• Je suis professeur. (I am a teacher.)

Telling the time. French clock-time expressions use être.

• Il est trois heures. (It is three o'clock.)
• Il est tard. (It is late.)

Building the past tense, as we've just seen at length, for the house-of-être verbs and all reflexives.

C'est versus il est

C'est and il est overlap in English translation, but the words that follow help you choose.

Use c'est (“it is / this is / that is”) before a noun, a name, or a stand-alone description:

• C'est un bon livre. (It's a good book.)
• C'est Marie. (It's Marie.)
• C'est génial ! (It's great!)

Use il / elle est (“he / she / it is”) before an adjective on its own, or before an unmodified profession:

• Il est intelligent. (He is intelligent.)
• Elle est avocate. (She is a lawyer.)

As a starting rule, use c'est before a name or a noun with a determiner such as un, une, le or la. Use il / elle est before a bare adjective or unmodified profession. Context creates exceptions, so learn these patterns through complete examples.

Common Mistakes With Être

A few slip-ups I see again and again, and how to dodge them:

• Building être‘s own past with itself. It's j'ai été, not “je suis été”. Être‘s past participle uses avoir.
• Forgetting the agreement. With non-pronominal house-of-être verbs, the participle matches the subject: elle est allé should be elle est allée. With pronominal verbs, check whether a direct object controls the agreement.
• Using être for age and feelings of hunger or cold. French uses avoir for these: j'ai faim (“I'm hungry”), j'ai froid (“I'm cold”), j'ai vingt ans (“I'm twenty”).
• Adding an article before an unmodified job. Say je suis professeur. An article can appear when the profession is identified or modified, as in c'est un professeur or c'est un bon professeur.
• Mixing up c'est and il est. Start by checking whether a name, noun with a determiner, bare adjective or unmodified profession follows.

Putting Être to Work

Être is one of the highest-frequency French verbs. Learn the present first, then distinguish être‘s own passé composé from its role as an auxiliary for other verbs.

From here, shore up the verbs and vocabulary that travel alongside être every day: a stock of French question words, the French accent marks you'll need to spell these forms correctly, and plenty of speaking practice so the conjugations become automatic rather than something you have to stop and work out.

Reading a conjugation table is different from retrieving je suis or elle est allée in conversation. Practise by changing the subject and time in short true sentences, then use a few with another person. If you want a structured speaking programme with coaching and a private community, see the Fluent in 3 Months Bootcamp.

You now have the core être forms and the agreement rules this guide covers. Choose one tense, write six short examples and say them aloud.