Être Conjugation: Every Tense, Explained Simply

Être means to be, and you will use it in almost every conversation you have in French. It is also one of the most irregular verbs in the language: je suis, tu es, nous sommes and ils sont look like four different verbs. That is why most learners know je suis and then guess the rest.

This page gives you the full être conjugation in every tense you actually need, with a simple pronunciation hint for each form, 10 real example sentences, the everyday expressions built on être, and the two mistakes I correct in almost every lesson.

Être conjugation in the present tense

This is the table to learn first. If you only memorize one French verb this week, make it this one.

Two sounds matter here. In vous êtes, the s of vous links to the vowel, so you hear voo-ZET. In ils sont, the final t is silent and the on is nasal: do not say "sont" like the English word "sunt".

Tip from class: je suis also means "I follow" (from suivre). Students panic when they see je suis le guide. Context always tells you which one it is: "I am the guide" or "I follow the guide". You do not need to worry about it at A1.

Be careful with il est and elle est before a vowel: the t is pronounced. Elle est américaine sounds like el-eh-ta-may-ree-KEN. That linking t is one of the fastest ways to sound less like a textbook.

Être in the passé composé: j'ai été

Here is the part that surprises people. Être is the helper verb for many other verbs in the past (je suis allé, elle est partie), but être itself uses avoir in the passé composé. Larousse lists it plainly: j'ai été.

The past participle été never changes. Elle a été très gentille (she was very kind), ils ont été surpris (they were surprised). No extra e or s on été, ever.

Être in the imparfait: j'étais

The imparfait is the tense you will use most with être when you talk about the past, because it describes how things were: the weather, your mood, your age, the setting of a story.

Four of the six forms sound exactly the same: étais, étais, était and étaient are all ay-TEH. So if you are speaking, you only have three sounds to learn. The spelling is where you need to pay attention.

How do you choose between j'étais and j'ai été? Use j'étais to describe a state (j'étais fatigué, I was tired) and j'ai été for a state you present as a finished block, often with a time limit (j'ai été malade pendant trois jours, I was sick for three days). Our guide to passé composé vs imparfait goes through that choice with many more examples.

Être in the future and the conditional

Both tenses are built on the same irregular stem, ser-. Learn it once and you get two tenses.

Je serai and je serais sound almost identical (suh-RAY and suh-REH). In daily speech, the context does the work: je serai là demain (I will be there tomorrow) versus je serais content de venir (I would be happy to come).

For the near future, most people skip serai and say je vais être: je vais être en retard, I'm going to be late. Our article on the futur proche vs futur simple explains when each one sounds natural.

Être in the subjunctive and the imperative

The imperative takes three of these forms without que: sois, soyons, soyez. Sois sage ! (be good!) is what French parents say to their children at the school gate, and soyez à l'heure (be on time) is a classic line on a meeting invitation.

Watch the spelling: soyons and soyez, with no i. Writing "soyions" is a spelling mistake I see in almost every written exercise. If the subjunctive itself still feels mysterious, start with our simple explanation of the French subjunctive.

The other forms: present participle étant (being), past participle été (been).

10 example sentences with être

1. Je suis canadienne, mais j'habite à Boston. I'm Canadian, but I live in Boston.
2. Tu es prêt ? Are you ready?
3. C'est vrai. That's true.
4. Nous sommes en retard. We're late.
5. Vous êtes d'où ? Where are you from?
6. Elles sont au bureau jusqu'à six heures. They're at the office until six.
7. Quand j'étais petit, j'étais très timide. When I was little, I was very shy.
8. Le musée a été fermé pendant deux ans. The museum was closed for two years.
9. Je serai à Montréal en décembre. I'll be in Montréal in December.
10. Il faut que tu sois patient. You need to be patient.

Notice sentence 8: être also builds the passive voice. Le musée a été fermé means "the museum was closed" by someone. Larousse lists this passive use among the jobs of être.

Être as a helper verb: the "Alamo" verbs

Être is the auxiliary (the helper verb) of the passé composé for a small group of verbs, mostly about movement or change of state. The University of Texas French grammar calls them "the Alamo of être": aller, arriver, descendre, devenir, entrer, monter, mourir, naître, partir, passer, rentrer, rester, retourner, revenir, sortir, tomber, venir.

With these verbs, the past participle agrees with the subject, like an adjective:

• Il est arrivé. He arrived.
• Elle est arrivée. She arrived.
• Ils sont arrivés. They arrived.
• Elles sont arrivées. They (all women) arrived.

All reflexive verbs also take être: je me suis levé à sept heures (I got up at seven). Our guide to French reflexive verbs covers the agreement rules for those.

Tip from class: my students remember the list with a house. You arrive at the door, enter, go up the stairs, come down, go out, fall on the steps. Draw it once on paper and label each room with a verb. It sticks far better than a list of initials.

Everyday expressions with être

These phrases are used constantly, and most of them do not translate word for word:

Je suis en train de cuisiner is the natural way to say "I'm cooking (right now)". French has no -ing tense, so être en train de does that job when you want to insist on the moment.

Common mistakes English speakers make

• Mistake: Je suis faim. → Say instead: J'ai faim. Hunger, thirst, cold, heat, fear and age use avoir in French: j'ai soif, j'ai froid, j'ai peur, j'ai vingt ans.
• Mistake: Il est beau aujourd'hui for the weather. → Say instead: Il fait beau. Weather uses faire.
• Mistake: J'ai été à Paris l'été dernier. → Say instead: Je suis allé(e) à Paris. You will hear j'ai été in speech, but the Académie française says aller should always be preferred when you mean going somewhere. It also gently corrects the waiter's ça a été ? (how was everything?). Use je suis allé in writing and on exams.
• Mistake: Il est un bon ami. → Say instead: C'est un bon ami. Before a noun with an article (un, une, le, mon…), French uses c'est, not il est.
• Mistake: Elle a étée malade. → Say instead: Elle a été malade. Été never agrees.
• Mistake: Je suis un professeur. → Say instead: Je suis professeur. With a job, nationality or religion after être, French drops the article.

Practice

Fill in the correct form of être.

1. Nous ___ très contents de vous voir. (present)
2. Quand elle était petite, elle ___ toujours dehors. (imparfait)
3. Demain, je ___ au bureau à neuf heures. (future)
4. Il faut que vous ___ patients. (subjunctive)
5. Ils ___ malades toute la semaine dernière. (passé composé)

Answers: 1. sommes · 2. était · 3. serai · 4. soyez · 5. ont été

Once these five feel easy, the same drill works for avoir, aller, faire and venir, the other pillars of the French verb system. The free French Keys flashcards are a good way to review the present forms on your phone for five minutes a day.

In short

Être is irregular, so memorize it: start with the present (je suis, tu es, il est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont) and the imparfait (j'étais). Remember that its own passé composé is j'ai été, with avoir, even though être helps other verbs form their past. When you are ready to see être alongside the verbs you will need next, our list of the most common French verbs and the present tense conjugation guide are the natural next steps.

If you want someone to listen to your vous êtes and ils sont and tell you exactly what to fix, book a free 30-minute assessment with Magali. You will leave with a clear plan for the verbs and tenses that matter at your level.