In everyday language, ?on? is used, instead of ?nous?, to express ?we?; the verb is always used in the 3rd person singular. For example, to say "We (are) meeting at 7 o'clock", you could say either ?On se rencontre au cinéma à sept heures.? (colloquial) or ?Nous nous rencontrons au cinéma à sept heures.? (formal) (there are two words "nous"). For more, see the Wikipedia entry.
G: Introduction to Verbs
A verb is a word that describes an action or mental or physical state.
Tenses and Moods
French verbs can be formed in four moods, each of which express a unique feeling. Each mood has a varying number of tenses, which indicate the time when an action takes place. The conjugations in the present tense of the indicative mood, the present indicative, is discussed in the next section. There is one conjugation for each of the six subject pronouns.
Infinitives
The infinitive form is the basic form of a verb. It does not refer to a particular tense, person or subject. In this book, the infinitive form of the verb is used to identify it. In English, the infinitive form is to ___. In French, the infinitive is one word. For example, parler translates to to speak, finir translates to to finish, and aller translates to to go.
Conjugation
French verbs conjugate, which means they take different shapes depending on the subject. English verbs only have one conjugation; that is the third person singular (I see, you see, he/she sees, we see, they see).
The only exception is the verb "to be" (I am; (thou art); you are; he/she is; we are; they are;). Most French verbs will conjugate into many different forms. Most verbs are regular, which means that they conjugate in the same way. The most common verbs, however, are irregular.
G: Être - To Be
Être translates as to be in English. As in most languages, it is an irregular verb, and is not conjugated like any other verb.
Formation
French Verb ? Print version ?
audio (info ?103 kb ? help)
être to be
Singular
Plural
first person je suis jeuh swee I am
nous sommes noo sum we are
second person tu es too ay
you are
vous êtes voozett you are
il est eel ay
he is
ils sont
they are
eelsohn
third person elle est ell ay
she is
(masc. or mixed)
on est ohn ay
one is
elles sont ellsohn they are (fem.)
Examples
French Grammar ? Print version ?
audio (info ?87 kb ? help)
To Be Examples Exemples d'Être
Je suis avocat.
I am (a) lawyer.
jzeuh sweez ah voh cah
Tu es à la banque. You are at the bank. too ay ah lah bahnk
Il est beau.
He is handsome.
eel ay boh
Try to learn all these conjugations. They will become very useful in forming tenses.
Idioms
Ça y est! - I've done it! Finished!
J'y suis! - I get it!
Vous y êtes? - Are you ready?
Expressing Agreement
