To Be and To Have

Present tense of être - to be (eh-truh)

I am

Je suis

zhuh swee

We are

Nous sommes

noo sohm

You are

Tu es

tew ay

You are

Vous êtes

voo zett

He is She is One is

Il est Elle est On est

eel ay ell ay ohn ay

They areThey are

Ils sont Elles sont

eel sohn ell sohn

Past tense of être - to be

I was (being)

j'étais

zhay-teh

We were (being)

nous étions

ay-tee-ohn

You were (being)

tu étais

ay-teh

You were (being)

vous étiez

ay-tee-ay

He was (being) She was (being) One was (being)

il était elle était on était

ay-teh ay-teh ay-teh

They were (being)They were (being)

ils étaient elles étaient

ay-teh ay-teh

Note: Je and any verb form that starts with a vowel (or silent h) combine together for ease of pronunciation.

Future Tense of être - to be

I will be

je serai

suh-reh

We will be

nous serons

suh-rohn

You will be

tu seras

suh-rah

You will be

vous seriez

suh-ree-ay

He will be She will be One will be

il sera elle sera on sera

suh-rahsuh-rahsuh-rah

They will beThey will be

ils seront elles seront

suh-rohn suh-rohn

Note: You must use the subject pronouns; but I will leave them out of future conjugations.

Present tense of avoir - to have (ah-vwahr)

I have

j'ai

zhay

We have

avons

ah-vohn

You have

as

ah

You have

avez

ah-vay

He/she has

a

ah

They have

ont

ohn

Past tense of avoir - to have

I had

j'avais

zhah-veh

We had

avions

ah-vee-ohn

You had

avais

ah-veh

You had

aviez

ah-vee-ay

He/she had

avait

ah-veh

They had

avaient

ah-veh

Future tense of avoir - to have

I will have

j'aurai

zhoh-reh

We will have

aurons

oh-rohn

You will have

auras

oh-rah

You will have

aurez

oh-ray

He/she will have

aura

oh-rah

They will have

auront

oh-rohn

Avoir and être are used in many common and idiomatic expressions that should be memorized:

  • avoir chaud - to be hot avoir froid - to be cold
  • avoir peur - to be afraid
  • avoir raison - to be right
  • avoir tort - to be wrong
  • avoir faim - to be hungry
  • avoir soif - to be thirsty
  • avoir sommeil - to be sleepy
  • avoir honte - to be ashamed
  • avoir besoin de - to need
  • avoir l'air de - to look like, seem
  • avoir envie de - to feel like
  • avoir de la chance - to be lucky
  • être de retour - to be back
  • être en retard - to be late
  • être en avance - to be early
  • être d'accord - to be in agreement
  • être sur le point de - to be about to
  • être en train de - to be in the act of
  • être enrhumée - to have a cold nous + être (un jour) - to be (a day)

  • J'ai froid. I'm cold.
  • Tu avais raison. You were right.
  • Il aura sommeil ce soir. He will be tired tonight.
  • Elle a de la chance! She's lucky!
  • Nous aurons faim plus tard. We will be hungry later.
  • Vouz aviez tort. You were wrong.
  • Ils ont chaud. They are hot.
  • Elles avaient peur hier. They were afraid yesterday.
  • Je suis en retard! I'm late!
  • Tu étais en avance. You were early.
  • Elle sera d'accord. She will agree.
  • Nous sommes lundi. It is Monday.
  • Vous étiez enrhumé. You had a cold.
  • Ils seront en train d'étudier. They will be (in the act of) studying.
  • Elles étaient sur le point de partir. They were about to leave.
  • On est de retour. We/you/they/the people are back.

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