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Conjugation of the French verb être

A list of the common conjugations for the French verb être, along with their English translations.



Verb phrases



InfinitiveScored
êtreto be

PresentScored
je suisI am
tu esyou are
il esthe is
elle estshe is
nous sommeswe are
vous êtesyou are
ils sontthey are
elles sontthey are

ImperfectScored
j'étaisI was being
tu étaisyou were being
il étaithe was being
elle étaitshe was being
nous étionswe were being
vous étiezyou were being
ils étaientthey were being
elles étaientthey were being

Past Historic / Passé Simple
This is a literary tense, i.e. a tense used in writing, in everyday speech the Passé Composé is used to refer to past actions.
Scored
je fusI was
tu fusyou were
il futhe was
elle futshe was
nous fûmeswe were
vous fûtesyou were
ils furentthey were
elles furentthey were

Passé ComposéScored
j'ai étéI was
tu as étéyou were
il a étéhe was
elle a étéshe was
nous avons étéwe were
vous avez étéyou were
ils ont ététhey were
elles ont ététhey were

Pluperfect / Plus-que-parfaitScored
j'avais étéI had been
tu avais étéyou had been
il avait étéhe had been
elle avait étéshe had been
nous avions étéwe had been
vous aviez étéyou had been
ils avaient ététhey had been
elles avaient ététhey had been

FutureScored
je seraiI will be
tu serasyou will be
il serahe will be
elle serashe will be
nous seronswe will be
vous serezyou will be
ils serontthey will be
elles serontthey will be

Future Perfect / Futur antérieur
The French Future Perfect or Futur antérieur is made with the future tense of avoir or être and the past participle of the verb. The past participle agrees with the subject for verbs that take être, or with the direct object for verbs that take avoir.
Scored
j'aurai étéI will have been
tu auras étéyou will have been
il aura étéhe will have been
elle aura étéshe will have been
nous aurons étéwe will have been
vous aurez étéyou will have been
ils auront ététhey will have been
elles auront ététhey will have been

ConditionalScored
je seraisI would be
tu seraisyou would be
il seraithe would be
elle seraitshe would be
nous serionswe would be
vous seriezyou would be
ils seraientthey would be
elles seraientthey would be

Conditional Perfect / Conditionnel passé
The French Conditional Perfect (the past conditional) or Conditionnel passé is made with the conditional tense of avoir or être and the past participle of the verb. The past participle agrees with the subject for verbs that take être, or with the direct object for verbs that take avoir.
Scored
j'aurais étéI would have been
tu aurais étéyou would have been
il aurait étéhe would have been
elle aurait étéshe would have been
nous aurions étéwe would have been
vous auriez étéyou would have been
ils auraient ététhey would have been
elles auraient ététhey would have been

Present SubjunctiveScored
(... que) je sois(... that) I am
(... que) tu sois(... that) you are
(... que) il soit(... that) he is
(... que) elle soit(... that) she is
(... que) nous soyons(... that) we are
(... que) vous soyez(... that) you are
(... que) ils soient(... that) they are
(... que) elles soient(... that) they are

Imperfect SubjunctiveScored
(... que) je fusse(... that) I was being
(... que) tu fusses(... that) you were being
(... que) il fût(... that) he was being
(... que) elle fût(... that) she was being
(... que) nous fussions(... that) we were being
(... que) vous fussiez(... that) you were being
(... que) ils fussent(... that) they were being
(... que) elles fussent(... that) they were being

ImperativeScored
sois Be
soyonsLet's be
soyez Be

Present ParticipleScored
étant being

Past ParticipleScored
été been

Irregular conjugation
Regular conjugation
Spelling change



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