In almost all languages, verbs vary in faces and numbers. This is called conjugation. Sometimes this happens according to general rules, but often the most used of them have to be memorized, because the formation of one form or another does not lend itself to any logic. And among them, of course, etre.
Conjugation of regular verbs in French
It is difficult for a modern person to do without knowledge of English at least at an elementary level. Any travel, meeting with foreigners, interesting highly specialized articles - for all this you need to learn a foreign language. Most often, English is taught in schools, although French is no less important - information on a driverâs license is duplicated on it. He is also among the working languages ââof the UN and its secretariat; finally, it is simply beautiful and romantic. But learning it is not an easy task, primarily because of grammar.
Remembering how the so-called "regular" verbs change is not difficult. There are two main groups with different endings that conjugate according to different principles. The easiest way to illustrate this is with a table:
Present |
| I group | II group |
Infinitive form | parl er (talk) | fin ir (finish) |
Je | parle | finis |
Tu | parles | finis |
Il / elle | parle | finit |
Nous | parlons | finissons |
Vous | parlez | finissez |
Ls / elles | parlent | finissent |
Obviously, remembering these rules is not so difficult. But unfortunately,
not all verbs are so simple in their changes. And etre, of course, refers to them.
Conjugation of basic irregular verbs
It might seem that there is no particular difficulty in French grammar. But this is not entirely true. The main verbs - etre (to be) and avoir (to have) are classified as irregular. That is, their forms can only be learned, it is impossible to build them on the basis of general conjugation rules. The problem is aggravated by the fact that these verbs often act as âbundles,â that is, they participate in the formation of more complex grammatical constructions. But do not immediately go deep into the question, first you need to find out how, after all, these two verbs change.
Present |
etre (to be) | avoir (to have) |
Je suis (I am, I exist) | J'ai (I have) |
Tu es (you are, you exist) | Tu as (Do you have) |
Il / Elle / On est (He / she is, he / she exists) | Il / Elle / On a (He / she has) |
Nous sommes (We are, we exist) | Nous avons (We have) |
Vous ĂȘtes (You are, you exist) | Vous avez (you have, you have) |
Ils / Elles sont (They are, they exist) | Ils / Elles ont (They have) |
So, having really learned the conjugation of the French verb etre, we can assume that the study of the grammar of this language is over? No matter how! After all, there are still forms denoting actions in the past and future. And there this verb
completely different forms that also have to be learned.
Past and future tense
In French there are 8 forms of tenses, and two of them are used only in writing. There are still 4 moods: indicative, conditional, subjunctive and imperative, as well as participles and constructions indicating a compassionate voice. That is, there are 21 types of forms for each verb, including the infinitive. This number is a little scary. And all this must be mastered if you want to know French well. The conjugation of the verb etre, as already mentioned, does not obey the general rules, which means that all its forms will have to be memorized
The full table will look like this:
Indicative (Indicatif) |
Time | French verb form | Possible translation |
Past tense forms | Passé simple (Simple past) | je fus | i was / existed |
tu fus | you were / existed |
il / elle / on fut | he / she was / was / was / existed |
nous fûmes | we were / existed |
vous fûtes | you were |
ils / elles furent | they were |
Passé composé (Past completed) | j'ai été | i was / existed |
tu as été | you were / existed |
il / elle / on a été | he / she was / was / was / existed |
nous avons été | we were |
vous avez été | you were |
ils / elles ont été | they were |
Imparfait (Incomplete past) | j'Ă©tais | i was / existed |
tu Ă©tais | you were / existed |
il / elle / on Ă©tait | he / she was / was / was / existed |
nous Ă©tions | we were |
vous Ă©tiez | you were |
ils / elles Ă©taient | they were / existed |
Plus-que-parfait (Perfect long ago preceding another action) | j'avais été | i was / existed |
tu avais été | you were / existed |
il / elle / on avait été | he / she was / was / was |
nous avions été | we were |
vous aviez été | you were |
ils / elles avaient été | they were / existed |
Passé antérieur (Past Past) | j'eus été | I was |
tu eus été | you were |
il / elle / on eut été | he / she was / was / was / existed |
nous eûmes été | we were |
vous eûtes été | you were |
ils / elles eurent été | they were |
Present tense forms | Présent | je suis | I am / exist |
tu es | you are / exist |
il / elle / on est | he / she is / exists |
nous sommes | we are / exist |
vous ĂȘtes | you are / exist |
ils / elles sont | they are / exist |
Forms of the future tense | Futur simple | je serai | I will |
tu seras | you'll |
il / elle / on sera | he / she will |
nous serons | we will |
vous serez | You will |
ils seront | they will |
Futur antérieur (Future with a sequence of actions) | j'aurai été | I will |
tu auras été | you'll |
il / elle / on aura été | he / she will |
nous aurons été | we will |
vous aurez été | You will |
ils / elles auront été | they will |
Subjunctive (Subjonctif) |
Passé | que j'aie été | transmitted by the subordinate clause "... that I was / existed" |
que tu aies été | transmitted by the subordinate clause "... that you were / existed" |
qu'il / elle / on ait été | transmitted by the subordinate clause "... that he / she was / was / was / existed (a, o)" |
que nous ayons été | transmitted by the subordinate clause "... that we were / existed" |
que vous ayez été | transmitted by the subordinate clause "... that you were / existed" |
qu'ils / elles aient été | transmitted by the subordinate clause "... that they were / existed" |
Plus-que-parfait (almost never used) | que j'eusse été | what i was / existed |
que tu eusses été | what have you been / existed |
qu'il / elle / on eût été | that he / she was / was / was / existed |
que nous eussions été | what we were / existed |
que vous eussiez été | what you were / existed |
qu'ils / qu'elles eussent été | what they were / existed |
Imparfait (almost never used) | que je fusse | what i was / existed |
que tu fusses | what have you been / existed |
qu'il / elle / on fût | that he / she was / was / was / existed |
que nous fussions | what we were / existed |
que vous fussiez | what you were / existed |
qu'ils / elles fussent | what they were / existed |
Présent | que je sois | what i am / exist |
que tu sois | what you are / exist |
qu'il / elle / on soit | what he / she is / exists |
que nous soyons | what we are / exist |
que vous soyez | what you are / exist |
qu'ils / elles soient | what they are / exist |
Conditionnel |
Passé 1re forme | j'aurais été | I would be / exist |
tu aurais été | would you be / exist |
il / elle / on aurait été | he / she was / was / was / existed |
nous aurions été | we would be / exist |
vous auriez été | would you be |
ils / elles auraient été | they would be |
Passé 2e forme (almost never used, book form, plus-que-parfait) | j'eusse été | I would have been / existed (when designating an unrealized action in the past) |
tu eusses été | would you be / exist |
il / elle / on eût été | he / she would / was / was / existed |
nous eussions été | we would be / exist |
vous eussiez été | would you be / exist |
ils / elles eussent été | they would be |
Présent | je serais | I would be (action in the present) |
tu serais | would you be / exist |
il / elle / on serait | he / she would / was / was / existed |
nous serions | we would be / exist |
vous seriez | would you be |
ils / elles seraient | they would exist |
Imperative (Impératif) |
Passé (used to indicate an impulse to an action that must be completed before a certain point) | aie été | be |
ayons été | let's be / be |
ayez été | be |
Présent | sois | be |
soyons | will / let's be |
soyez | be |
Initial Form (Infinitif) |
Passé | avoir été | to be |
PrĂ©sent | ĂȘtre | to be |
Communion Form (Participe) |
Passé | été | being |
Présent | étant | being |
Yes, the variety of forms of French verbs is amazing. And all this will have to be learned. The table shows only etre, the conjugation of which is a great example of how the wrong ones can behave unpredictably
Verbs. But there are a huge number of them. In fact, fear of irregular verbs should not stop those who want to learn French. Not all of these forms are actively used even by carriers, but all that is necessary can be remembered by regularly practicing.
Addiction etre
The conjugation of this verb may seem complicated - the way it is. But you will have to learn all its forms, because you will have to use it constantly.
Firstly, it is present in phrases indicating the occupation, nationality or other qualities of a person:
Je suis Ă©tudiante. I am a student.
Secondly, it is used to indicate states:
Je suis malade. I am sick.
Finally, it is used to form the past tense of some verbs:
Je suis allé. I went.
So to neglect the study of such an important verb definitely should not. And its forms can be remembered in the process of mastering various times, moods and other grammatical constructions. Then the conjugation of the verb etre will not be so
intimidating - the main thing is to do everything gradually.
Examples from other languages
French is no exception in the sense of irregularity of verb forms. For European languages, this is more likely even a rule. English to be, German sein, even Russian "be"! The latter is not used as often as its counterparts in other languages, but it is undeniably incorrect. This is easily seen by trying to conjugate it. In the present tense, he completely changes the basis for "is", in the past and future it comes back, and the change seems to occur according to the rules. Nevertheless, it is more correct to classify it as "wrong." So before you think about how you have to suffer while studying foreign languages, you should understand that your native one - Russian - can hardly be called simple.