To Be and To Have
| 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 are They are | Ils sont Elles sont | eel sohn ell sohn |
| 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.
| 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-rah suh-rah suh-rah | They will be They 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.
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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) |
This article was used with permission from:
Indo-European Languages
Last modified: Tuesday, 11 April 2006, 06:55 PM
| 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. Vous 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. |