It is indeed...
Bonne continuation!
The verb être means to be.
Here's how to say I am and you are in French:
Note that the verb form changes depending on who is acting.
Remember that in French, to say you, you will use either:
- tu to address one person you know well, i.e. informal and singular
- vous to address a group of people, i.e. plural OR one person in a professional context, or that you don't know well, i.e. formal and singular
Here's a link to the full conjugation of être in Présent indicatif:
Conjugate être in Le Présent (present tense)
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Q&A Forum 23 questions, 33 answers
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I think when I was learning French years ago I was taught, "Qui est-ce que vous êtes?" to make the question with est-ce que. Is that too formal?
Asked 2 months ago
Hi Kris,
It's the opposite,
"Qui est-ce que vous êtes?"
is very informal.
Kris asked:View original
I think when I was learning French years ago I was taught, "Qui est-ce que vous êtes?" to make the question with est-ce que. Is that too formal?
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Une question à propos de conjugaison
Bonjour,
Je voudrais poser une question à propos de conjugaison, particulièrement avec être. Dans les cas où on a veut exprimer deux sujets en une seule phrase pour le même verbe, par exemple deux sujets séparés par une virgule, quel sujet détermine la forme verbale à utiliser ? Par exemple, si je veux exprimer « tout le monde, surtout les jeunes,… » est-ce qu’on utiliserait « sont » après « les jeunes ? Et quel est la règle qui détermine la bonne forme ? Merci d’avance et j’espère que j’ai utilisé la bonne grammaire dans ces phrases, j’accueille les conseils.
Asked 5 months ago
Bonjour Bill,
Dans cette exemple, le verbe doit s'accorder avec 'tout le monde';
'surtout les jeunes' est presque entre parenthèses, et le sujet principal est 'tout le monde' qui est singulier donc,
est
est correct...
Bonne continuation!
Pardon-moi, je suis sûr que j’ai demandé ça sur la
mauvaise page, mais je ne savais pas où j’aurais dû demander ça.
« Pardonne-moi » ! Je déteste quand je fais des erreurs, mais c’est mieux de faire des erreurs que de ne pas de tout écrire, non ?
Bill asked:View original
Une question à propos de conjugaison
Bonjour,
Je voudrais poser une question à propos de conjugaison, particulièrement avec être. Dans les cas où on a veut exprimer deux sujets en une seule phrase pour le même verbe, par exemple deux sujets séparés par une virgule, quel sujet détermine la forme verbale à utiliser ? Par exemple, si je veux exprimer « tout le monde, surtout les jeunes,… » est-ce qu’on utiliserait « sont » après « les jeunes ? Et quel est la règle qui détermine la bonne forme ? Merci d’avance et j’espère que j’ai utilisé la bonne grammaire dans ces phrases, j’accueille les conseils.
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"Vous etes qui" means "who are you". "Vous etes Mme Lupin" means "You are Mrs Lupin". How is that, I'm confused? I've only been studying two weeks!
Just not sure how this switches/changes from a question to a statement.
Asked 5 months ago
As for "Vous êtes qui?", I don't know what this kind of question is called. It's not an est-ce question or an inversion question, but it's fairly typical. Pronoun--verb--question word.
That's just the syntax of French is this case. Maybe it helps you to think of "Vous êtes qui?" as "You are who?"
Actually "Vous êtes Mme Lupin", could be a question as well. You would simply have to raise your voice at the end of the sentence to make it one or place a question mark behind it when writing. We sometimes do this in English. For example, if someone tells you something that seems surprising you might say "It is?" or "You do?"
There are other types of questions, but I won't get into them as you just started learning French two weeks ago.
I hope this helps.
Brandon asked:View original
"Vous etes qui" means "who are you". "Vous etes Mme Lupin" means "You are Mrs Lupin". How is that, I'm confused? I've only been studying two weeks!
Just not sure how this switches/changes from a question to a statement.
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Pour les autres sujets?
C'est:
Je suis
Tu es
Il est
Elle est
Nous sommes?
Vous êtes
Ils sont?
Elles sont?
Asked 1 year ago
Georgia asked:View original
Pour les autres sujets?
C'est:
Je suis
Tu es
Il est
Elle est
Nous sommes?
Vous êtes
Ils sont?
Elles sont?
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is it "vous êtes qui" always?
So if I'm asking to a group of people "Who are you?" the question would be the same as if I'd be asking that to a single person?? Is it vous êtes qui, no matter what? I was expecting it to be like "quis" or some plural there
Asked 1 year ago
No it is "vous êtes qui?" In this case one would probably use the inverted form of the question: "Qui êtes-vous?" By just looking at this sentence you couldn't tell whether it is about a single person being addressed formally or a group of people. But that is the same in English: "who are you" has a similar ambiguity.
Greetings, -- Chris (not a native speaker)
Francisco asked:View original
is it "vous êtes qui" always?
So if I'm asking to a group of people "Who are you?" the question would be the same as if I'd be asking that to a single person?? Is it vous êtes qui, no matter what? I was expecting it to be like "quis" or some plural there
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Bonjour Nigel !
I love Magritte, what a great artist!
However, here's how we would say :
C'est une pipe ? Non, c'est une peinture (a painting) / un-e peintre (a painter).
Have a look at our related lesson:
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/when-to-use-cest-or-il-est-elle-est-to-say-it-is
Bonne journée !
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anyone?
does anyone know how to get a bigger level i transfered from a francophone school to an english school as a grade 8 but it put me as a0 instead of advanced and ive been getting 10-10 on the a2 test and it has not switched my level
Asked 1 year ago
Hi Amanda, levels are upgraded when students achieve a level Kwiziq score of 75% (silver shield).
Amanda asked:View original
anyone?
does anyone know how to get a bigger level i transfered from a francophone school to an english school as a grade 8 but it put me as a0 instead of advanced and ive been getting 10-10 on the a2 test and it has not switched my level
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why is it that we can say je suis des parents, but not je suis des a amoureux?
I mean this as in, when we say je suis des parents we say I am a parent, but when we say je suis des a amoureux we say I'm lovers - which makes no sense. Maybe it's just des I am confused with?
Asked 2 years ago
AurélieKwiziq language super star
Bonjour Patrick !
First of all, you can never say "Je suis" with either "des parents" nor "des amoureux", as it's singular.
You can say "Nous sommes des parents." or "Nous sommes parents." just like you say either "Nous sommes des amoureux." or "Nous sommes amoureux.".
In the case with "des", you insist on the *person* = we are (some) parents/lovers;
whereas in the second case, it becomes more of a characteristic:
= We are parents (it's our function) / We are *in love*.
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Patrick asked:View original
why is it that we can say je suis des parents, but not je suis des a amoureux?
I mean this as in, when we say je suis des parents we say I am a parent, but when we say je suis des a amoureux we say I'm lovers - which makes no sense. Maybe it's just des I am confused with?
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AurélieKwiziq language super star
Bonjour Sonja !
"Est-ce que tu es grand ?" means "Are you tall?" (addressing a man)
Did you have a particular question about this?
Bonne journée !
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Why do you have Tu es qui for informal and Vous etes qu for formal?
They seem like two completely different questions except the "qui" on the end of it.
Asked 2 years ago
AurélieKwiziq language super star
Bonjour Amy !
Following your question, I've decided to amend this lesson to make the distinction between formal and informal forms clearer :)
The fact is that in French, we have two ways of saying "you", which can be used in three different contexts:
- "tu" is to address *one* person you know well, i.e. "informal" and "singular"
- "vous" is to address either: - *a group* of people, i.e. "plural"
OR - *one* person in a professional context, or that you don't know
well, i.e. "formal" and "singular"
Also note that in French, verbs change for each different person (I, you, he, she...), hence the completely different morphology of the two questions :)
I also added a link to our related lesson:
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Amy asked:View original
Why do you have Tu es qui for informal and Vous etes qu for formal?
They seem like two completely different questions except the "qui" on the end of it.
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De and des
Why is it "Elles sont de meilleurs amies." and not "des", when the number of amies is plural? Isn't "de" for singular words, and "des" for plural?
Asked 2 years ago
AurélieKwiziq language super star
Bonjour J ! This is a specific case when "des" become "de" when followed by an adjective. Please have a look at our related lesson: Using ''de / d' '' instead of 'des' in front of adjectives preceding nouns (partitive article)">Using ''de / d' '' instead of 'des' in front of adjectives preceding nouns (partitive article)">Using ''de / d' '' instead of 'des' in front of adjectives preceding nouns (partitive article)">Using ''de / d' '' instead of 'des' in front of adjectives preceding nouns (partitive article)
I hope that's helpful! À bientôt !
I hope that's helpful! À bientôt !
Joan asked:View original
De and des
Why is it "Elles sont de meilleurs amies." and not "des", when the number of amies is plural? Isn't "de" for singular words, and "des" for plural?
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AurélieKwiziq language super star
Bonjour Vincent !
In French, verbs have six different forms for each tense they're conjugated at.
The verb "être" in Le Présent is as follows:
je suis
tu es
il/elle/on est
nous sommes
vous êtes
ils/elles sont
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
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AurélieKwiziq language super star
Bonjour Rafael !
"un peu calme" means "a bit quiet" which sounds a bit weird.
You could use "plutôt" (rather) or "assez" (quite) :)
À bientôt !
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Our French neighbours have told us to use "tu"
When asking if they have been away would you use vous as you are speaking to them as a couple? bit unsure on this
Asked 2 years ago
LauraKwiziq language super star
Bonjour Karen,
Yes, you can only use tu when talking to/about one of them. When talking about both, even if you're only addressing one at the moment, use vous.
Karen asked:View original
Our French neighbours have told us to use "tu"
When asking if they have been away would you use vous as you are speaking to them as a couple? bit unsure on this
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GruffKwiziq language super star
Hi Deeksha Here's a list of our general learning tips:
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/hints-and-tips">https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/hints-and-tips">https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/hints-and-tips">https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/hints-and-tips
If you want to focus specifically on irregular conjugations then you can add specific lessons to your Kwiziq notebook and test against those.
Bonne chance!
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/hints-and-tips">https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/hints-and-tips">https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/hints-and-tips">https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/hints-and-tips
If you want to focus specifically on irregular conjugations then you can add specific lessons to your Kwiziq notebook and test against those.
Bonne chance!
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AurélieKwiziq language super star
Bonjour Nan !
"Vous êtes des parents." means "You are parents." in a general way, i.e. you have children.
Here "des" is the indefinite article, see the related lesson: https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/plural-of-the-and-a-les-and-des-articles
You could also say "Vous êtes les parents." which would be specific to a given situation ("You are the parents (of that child)").
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
got a doubt....etre conjucation ....vous etes means they are
am i right or wrong ???!!!
sorry for spelling errors ...typing on the keyboard thus not able to put the accents
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AurélieKwiziq language super star
Bonjour Ally,
Bravo! Indeed, if you want to practise the whole conjugation of être in Le Présent, add this lesson to your notebook:
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/conjugate-etre-in-le-present-present-tense
À bientôt !
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LauraKwiziq language super star
Bonjour Marian,
It's very common to have trouble with conjugations; there's a lot to learn, but regular practice will help. Your personalized StudyPlan will keep kwizzing you on conjugations until you develop a high level of confidence, so just keep at it: https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/my-languages/french
Bon courage !
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je joue - i play, i am playing
but then the example for en train is je suis en train de jouer - why does the form of play change?
Asked 3 years ago
LauraKwiziq language super star
Bonjour John,
You're right that in French, je joue is equivalent to both "I play" and "I am playing."
But when you want to emphasize the fact that you're playing right now, you can use the expression être en train de jouer.
Jouer is in the infinitive because that's how French works: when you have two verbs (in this case, être and jouer), the first is conjugated and the second remains in the infinitive.
You can also use être en train de with other verbs: être en train de manger (to be eating), être en train d'étudier (to be studying), etc.
I hope this helps, bonne continuation !
John asked:View original
je joue - i play, i am playing
but then the example for en train is je suis en train de jouer - why does the form of play change?
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