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
Chris
Kwiziq community member
5/02/18
Yes, that seems correct to me.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Chris
Kwiziq community member
30/10/17
Greetings, -- Chris (not a native speaker)
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
1/11/17
That's correct, qui is invariable.
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
25/10/17
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 !
Gruff
Kwiziq language super star
20/09/17
amanda
Kwiziq community member
21/09/17
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
23/05/17
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 !
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
15/05/17
"Est-ce que tu es grand ?" means "Are you tall?" (addressing a man)
Did you have a particular question about this?
Bonne journée !
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
10/03/17
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 !
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
8/11/16
I hope that's helpful! À bientôt !
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
6/11/16
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 !
Vincent
Kwiziq community member
6/11/16
Chelsie
Kwiziq community member
18 February 2018
1 reply
Other Pronouns
Chris
Kwiziq community member
19 February 2018
19/02/18
Would you like to pose a question and, if so, what is it?
-- Chris.