êtrele français 1

Être - Discussion

What do you think these sentences mean? What is the verb in each sentence? Why is the verb spelled differently?

Claire est sympa.

Noah est intelligent.

Nous sommes américains.

Pierre et Jacques sont français.

Verbs

Verbs show the action in the sentence

Claire plays soccer.

Sam is creative.

Verbs change their form to agree with the subject.

Sam is creative.

We are creative.

I am creative.

An infinitive is a verb that doesn’t agree with a subject.

It is the action itself. No one is doing the action yet.

Examples: to be, to play

Conjugation

Conjugation is changing the forms of a verb to make it agree with the subject.

In English…

“To be” is the infinitive. The forms of the verb in the chart show the conjugation of “to be.”

to be

I am We are

You are You are

He isShe isIt is

They are

In French…

You also have to conjugate verbs in French. The form of the verb that you use always has to agree with the subject!

ÊTRE

“être” is an infinitive

“to be”

used to describe or identify

êtreje suis nous sommes

tu es vous êtes

ilelle eston

ils sontelles

In a sentence

How do you know which form of “être” to use?

Use the form that matches the subject!

What if your subject is “Lucie?”

“est” (because Lucie = elle)

What if your subject is “Lucie et moi?”

“sommes” (because “Lucie et moi” = nous)

What if your subject is “Lucie et toi?”

“êtes” (because “Lucie et toi” = vous)

What if your subject is “Lucie et Claire?”

“sont” (because “Lucie et Claire” = elles)

Fill-In

Fill in the missing forms of the verb “être.

1. Marie ____________ fatiguée.

2. Guy ____________ sympa.

3. Monique et moi ____________ des amis.

4. Mme Calabrese ____________ une prof de français.

5. Mme Vogel et M. Shields ____________ des profs

d’anglais.

6. Tu ____________ d’où?

7. Vous ____________ d’où?

Examples

Write a sentence to describe yourself

example: Je suis intelligente.

Write a sentence to describe one of your friends

example: Julie est petite.

Write a sentence to describe your friends and you

example: Nous sommes amusants.

Write a sentence to describe your teachers

example: Mes profs sont sympas.