The two most common verbs in the French language are être (to be) and avoir (to have). Both être and avoir can be used as main verbs or as auxiliary verbs.
Some of the main uses of the verb être (to be) as a main verb:
- To identify things / people (nationality, profession, description, etc.):
- This is Julie. Julie is French. She’s a lawyer > C’est Julie. Julie est française. Elle est avocate.
- With adjectives:
- You are nice. > Tu es sympa.
- To define location:
- Where are you? I’m at the bar. > T’es où? Je suis au bar.
- For dates and times
- Today is April 16th. It’s 8 AM. > Aujourd’hui on est le 16 Avril. Il est huit heures du matin.
Some of the main uses of the verb avoir (to have) as a main verb:
- To express ownership / possession:
- You have a car > Tu as une voiture.
- To talk about age:
- She is 12 years old > Elle a 12 ans.
- Experiencing / suffering from:
- He has a flu. > Il a la grippe.
| Conjugation of the verb être (to be) in the present tense | |
|---|---|
| I am | Je suis |
| You are | Tu es |
| You are (formal, sing.) | Vous êtes |
| He is | Il est |
| She is | Elle est |
| We are | On est (informal) |
| Nous sommes (formal) | |
| You are (plural) | Vous êtes |
| They are | Ils sont (all masc. or mixed) |
| Elles sont (all fem.) | |
| Conjugation of the verb avoir (to have) in the present tense | |
|---|---|
| I have | J’ai |
| You have | Tu as |
| You have (sing, polite form) | Vous avez |
| He has | Il a |
| She has | Elle a |
| We have | On a (informal) |
| Nous avons (formal) | |
| You have (plural) | Vous avez |
| They have | Ils ont (all masc. or mixed) |
| Elles ont (all fem.) | |
In French, there are two auxiliary verbs: être and avoir. Auxiliary verbs help to form compound conjugations (e.g. passé composé / compound past). Compound conjugations are formed by a conjugated form of être or avoir combined with the past participle of the main verb:
I’ve already eaten.
J’ai déjà mangé.
I stayed at home today.
Je suis resté à la maison aujourd’hui.
Avoir or être?
The vast majority of verbs take the auxiliary verb avoir:
parler (to speak) -> j’ai parlé (I spoke)
finir (to finish) -> tu as fini (you finished)
vendre (to sell) -> il a vendu (he sold)
Two main groups of verbs take the auxiliary verb être:
1) Intransitive verbs of movement:
aller (to go) -> ils sont allés (they went)
retourner (to return) -> elle est rentrée (she returned)
venir (to come) -> vous êtes venu (you (plural) came)
2) Reflexive verbs:
se souvenir (to remember) -> Je me suis souvenu (I remembered)
s’asseoir (to sit down) -> il s’est assis (he sat down)
s’entendre (to get along with someone) -> nous nous sommes bien entendus (we got along well)