What is the verb être in French? (2023)

What is the verb être in French?

The French verb être means to be. It can be used in its various conjugations to form descriptions when paired with adjectives. The different subject pronouns require different forms of the verb.

What is the verb etre in French?

Être is one of the two most important French verbs (avoir is the other one) and has irregular conjugations in just about every tense and mood. Être literally means "to be," but also serves as an auxiliary verb and is the key to the passive voice.

What is the etre rule in French?

What are the 17 être verbs?

What are the 17 être verbs in French? Seventeen verbs, not counting reflexive verbs and other types of pronominal verbs, use être as their auxiliary. These include aller, arriver, descendre, devenir, entrer, monter, mourir, naître, partir, passer, rentrer, rester, retourner, revenir, sortir, tomber, and venir.

How do you know if a verb is etre?

The basic rule of thumb is as follows: 'Avoir' is used for transitive verbs (that is, verbs that take a direct object). Examples include 'Manger', 'Voir', 'Regarder' and 'Lancer'. 'Être' is used for intransitive verbs (that is, verbs that do not take a direct object), especially verbs of movement.

How many etre verbs are there?

Most verbs use avoir as their helping verb, but there are 17 that use être. Before going any further, let's recap the conjugation of être in the present tense, since you'll need it for these verbs in the passé composé.

What are the rules of etre?

For starters, when we use être as an auxiliary, the past participle must agree with the gender and number of the subject. This means that an -e is added to past participles of feminine subjects and an -s is added to past participles of plural subjects.

What is the most common use of the verb être in French?

The Verb Être

Être, meaning ''to be'' in French, is one of the most commonly used French verbs. Along with being used to describe the way that things are in the present tense, ''to be'' is an auxiliary verb used to construct verb tenses like the passé composé, a commonly used French past tense.

How do you use etre in French examples?

Être is a french verb that means “to be”, it's used to express the state, qualities, characteristics or location of people, animals or things, for example “Je suis bon” – I am good, “Nous sommes ici” – We are here, “Le chat est grand” – The cat is big”.

What French verbs take etre in the perfect tense?

Forming the perfect tense with être

They are usually verbs that involve movement, such as aller (to go), arriver (to arrive), sortir (to go out) and partir (to leave). Reflexive verbs also use être.

What does Je suis mean?

Je suis = I am. That said, not always when you would say "I am" in English, is the French translation Je suis. The French say, e.g., I have 20 years (j'ai 20 ans).

What do all être verbs have in common?

First, there's a group of verbs that always take être. They are mostly very common verbs and generally have something to do with movement or a change of state.

What are the 16 words in être?

Only 16 verbs (plus derivative forms of those verbs) PLUS all reflexive verbs use être. The 16 verbs generally refer to motion, travel or change of place, e.g. going in/out/up/down or remaining. allé, arrivé, venu, revenu, entré, rentré, descendu, devenu, sorti, parti, resté, retourné, monté, tombé, né et mort.

How do you tell if a word is avoir or être?

Avoir (to have) and être (to be) are both auxiliary verbs used in the perfect tense in French. The majority of words take avoir in the passé composé, e.g. 'I played' becomes j'ai joué. All reflexive verbs in French take être - these are verbs that you do to yourself (e.g. je me suis habillé).

What are all the être verbs?

What is the difference between être and avoir?

Être means 'to be'. We commonly use it to give our nationality and profession, or to describe people and things. Avoir means 'to have'. We use it to say our age (unlike English which uses the verb 'to be'), or talk about things in our possession.

What are the 6 forms of être?

What are the 6 French conjugations?

There are seven different moods in French conjugation: indicative (indicatif), subjunctive (subjonctif), conditional (conditionnel), imperative (impératif), infinitive (infinitif), participle (participe), and gerund (gérondif). The infinitive, participle, and gerundive are not verbal moods.

What is the negative form of être?

Forming the negative in the passé composé with être

In the negative, put ne before the conjugated form of être and the negative word after it: Il n'est pas sorti. (He didn't go out.)

What are the 13 verbs that take etre?

there are the 13 main verbs that always take etre, and these can be remembered using the acronym MRS VANDERTRAMP (mourir, rester, sortir, venir, aller, naitre, descendre, entrer, rentrer, tomber, retourner, arriver, monter, partir).

How to learn etre in French?

Être (pronounced: ay-tr, with a soft 'r' at the end) is used to indicate how things are. Literally meaning 'to be', être can be conjugated with the various French subject pronouns, paired with adjectives or used in numerous idiomatic expressions.

Why is the verb etre important?

I want to learn... Être is one of the most common verbs in French, making it very important to learn! The French verb être is the equivalent to the verb “to be”. It's essential for talking about how you feel, as well as if you want to describe both people and things.

Do all French reflexive verbs take être?

Reflexive verbs use être as the auxiliary verb to form the passé composé, not avoir. If the reflexive pronoun is the direct object the past participle agrees in gender and number with it. The reflexive pronoun preceeds the auxiliary verb directly.

What are the two most important verbs in French?

Être and avoir are auxiliary verbs, which makes them the two most important French verbs. We use them to form compound conjugations in tenses such as passé composé and past subjunctive. Here's an example of passé composé with the verb manger (“to eat”): Présent: Je mange (“I eat”)

What is an example of avoir être?

How do you say I went in French feminine?

je suis allé(e)- I went. tu es allé(e)- you went (informal) il est allé- he went. elle est allée- she went.

What does suis je belle mean?

I Am Beautiful (Je suis belle)

What is the meaning of Mon Cheri?

What does mon chéri mean? Mon chéri means “my dear” or “sweetheart” in French.

How do you say I am what I am in French?

Je suis comme je suis I am what I am /ʒə sɥi kɔm ʒə sɥi/ | French words quotes, French quotes, Words quotes.

Which form of être goes with je?

What is Aller?

In a basic sense, the verb aller means 'to go' and just like its English counterpart, it gets used a lot as the French language's favorite verb of motion. Simply put, aller is a must-know verb with a whole lot of different expressions and phrases that come with it.

What is faire in past tense?

The passé composé of the verb faire is conjugated using the auxiliary verb avoir followed by the past participle of faire – fait. For the compound tenses, the auxiliary verb conjugates, but the verb faire does not. J'ai fait la vaiselle. I did the dishes.

What is être subjunctive?

Finally, the subjunctive form of être conjugation is used to express some type of doubt or possibility in French. It's how you communicate about uncertain events or even requests. In most instances, the être conjugation will follow the conjunction “que” in order to complete the sentence.

What do you have to remember to do when using être as your helping verb?

In all cases using être as the auxiliary verb, however, agreement between the past participle and the subject of the sentence is required. We can make them agree by adding an -e, s, or -es to the end of the past participle depending on whether the subject is feminine singular, plural, or feminine and plural.

What are the three forms of être in the imperative?

How do you memorize avoir and etre?

The basic rule of thumb is as follows: 'Avoir' is used for transitive verbs (that is, verbs that take a direct object). Examples include 'Manger', 'Voir', 'Regarder' and 'Lancer'. 'Être' is used for intransitive verbs (that is, verbs that do not take a direct object), especially verbs of movement.

What is the verb to drink in French?

Boire, meaning "to drink," is a very common French verb that is also a highly irregular -re verb.

Which verbs use both etre and avoir?

What are the 16 verbs of être in French?

Aller, arriver, entrer, rentrer, rester, retourner, tomber, monter, descendre, partir, sortir, venir, devenir, revenir, naître, mourir, et passer par.

What are the three regular French verbs?

There are 3 kinds of regular verbs in French: -ER, -IR, -RE. Once you've learned the rules of conjugation for each of theses three kinds of verbs, you should be able to conjugate regular verbs in each of those categories with ease.

Is être reflexive?

Reflexive verbs use être as the auxiliary verb to form the passé composé, not avoir. If the reflexive pronoun is the direct object the past participle agrees in gender and number with it. The reflexive pronoun preceeds the auxiliary verb directly.

What are the 14 verbs in French that use être?

Aller, arriver, entrer, rentrer, rester, retourner, tomber, monter, descendre, partir, sortir, venir, devenir, revenir, naître, mourir, et passer par.

What is the verb aller and etre?

In French and in English, the verbs être (to be), avoir (to have), aller (to go), and faire (to do) are probably the most used verbs of our repertoire, which is also why they have become so twisted.

What is an example of avoir etre?

What is etre in French notes?

Notes. Etre is the French verb for "to be" and it is our first irregular verb. An irregular verb is a verb whose conjugations have no pattern. This means that, unlike a regular -er verb, you cannot just remember to drop the infinitive ending and add a present-tense ending.

Why do some French verbs use être?

'Être' is used for intransitive verbs (that is, verbs that do not take a direct object), especially verbs of movement. Examples include 'Venir', 'Aller', 'Rester' and 'Sortir'. It is also used for reflexive verbs.

Why is the verb être important?

I want to learn... Être is one of the most common verbs in French, making it very important to learn! The French verb être is the equivalent to the verb “to be”. It's essential for talking about how you feel, as well as if you want to describe both people and things.

Why do some verbs use être?

Verbs are conjugated with être because they are intransitive (have no direct object).

What are some être verbs?

What do the verbs être avoir and faire mean?

The French verbs avoir ("to have"), être ("to be") and faire ("to do or make") are the three most used and, thus, most important verbs in the French language. They are used in some of the ways that we do in English as well as in many idiomatic expressions. Conjugations for all three of these verbs are irregular.

What are the 16 verbs that use être?

Aller, arriver, entrer, rentrer, rester, retourner, tomber, monter, descendre, partir, sortir, venir, devenir, revenir, naître, mourir, et passer par.

What are the six forms of être in French?