être
See also: etre and étre
Bourbonnais-Berrichon
Etymology
From Old French estre, from Latin sum.
Verb
être
- to be
Conjugation
Conjugation of the verb être in Bourbonnais-Berrichon
| infinitive | être | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gerund | étant | ||||||
| auxiliary | être | ||||||
| past participle | masculine | feminine | |||||
| singular | étâ | étée | |||||
| plural | étâ | étée | |||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||
| indicative | i | tu (t') | i (il), èle, soé, ça | nous (n') | ous | i (il), èles | |
| present | su | es | ét | sons | essez | sont | |
| imperfect | essi | essôs | essôt | essians | essiez | essiant | |
| preterite | fus | fus | fut | fumes | fûtes | furont | |
| future | serai | seras | sera | serons | serez | seront | |
| conditional | seri | seris | serit | serions | seriez | seriont | |
| subjunctive | que je (j') | que tu (t') | qu'ai (el), qu'ale | que je (j') | que vos | qu'ai (el), qu'ales | |
| present | siye | siyes | siye | siyons | siyez | siyont | |
| imperfect | fusse | fusses | fusse | fussions | fussiez | fussiont | |
| imperative | — | tu | — | je (j') | vos | — | |
| present | siye | siyons | siyez | ||||
French
Etymology
From Middle French estre, ultimately from a merger of Latin esse (“to be”) and stare (“to stand”). Some forms additionally derive from sedēre (“to sit”).
Further information
- Old French ester, from Latin stō (“stand, be situated”), supplied imperfect forms that once originally supplied by forms in ier-/er- (also as the future stems due to analogy with future forms containing -r-) in Old French. The forms with initial ét- derive from this verb.
- Old French estre, from Latin sum (“be”), was a highly irregular verb also in Latin, and derives from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- for the forms beginning with f- (see more at fuī), and *h₁es- for the remainder.
- Instead of forming expected *esse from Latin esse (the infinitive form of sum), it has been regularized by adding third conjugation ending -ere, resulting on *essere. Many others also follow this development.
- The first-person singular indicative present form suis seems to be derived from *suī, a modified form of fuī by replacing f- with s-.
- The first-person plural indicative present form sommes is conflated from Latin sumus and Vulgar Latin *esmus (compare Old French esmes, modified from estis (“second-plural indicative present form”), related to êtes).
- Some forms of estre are from conflation of Vulgar Latin *essere and sedēre (infinitive of sedeō (“I sit”)), later sounds similar and resulted on *seēre. The forms with initial soi- and ser- derive from these verbs.
- The present subjunctive forms are from sedeō and develop independently, but -e- in the third-person singular is replaced by -t in Old French (similar to Modern French avoir), but later -e- is completely removed from singular forms. The deletion of -e- is also similarly once happened in the third-person singular imperfect form in Old French (-oie, -oies, -oit). This is likely due to the subjunctive imperfect suffixes -ât/-ît/-ût.
Cognates in regional languages in France include Bourguignon and Franco-Provençal étre; Champenois ètre; Norman and Gallo ête; Picard ète; Occitan èsser; Corsican esse. Other Romance cognates include Italian essere, and some forms of Portuguese and Spanish ser.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɛtʁ/
Audio (Paris) [ɛtχ] (file) - Rhymes: -ɛtʁ
- IPA(key): /ɛːtʁ/ (older, now chiefly Belgium and Canada)
Audio (Montreal) [aɛ̯tχ] (file) Audio (France, West) [ɛːtχ] (file)
- (Louisiana) IPA(key): /ɛtrə/, /dɛt/
- Homophones: aître, aîtres, êtres (general), hêtre, hêtres (aspirated)
- Hyphenation: être
Verb
être
- to be
- Vous devez être plus clairs.
- You must be clearer.
- (auxiliary) Used to form the perfect and pluperfect tense of certain verbs (including all reflexive verbs)
- Après être allé au yoga, je suis rentré chez moi.
- After having gone to yoga, I came back home.
- (semi-auxiliary) to be (Used to form the passive voice)
- Il peut être battu ce soir.
- He could be beaten this evening.
Conjugation
Conjugation of être (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | être | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | étant /e.tɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | été /e.te/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | suis /sɥi/ | es /ɛ/ | est /ɛ/ | sommes /sɔm/ | êtes /ɛt/ | sont /sɔ̃/ |
| imperfect | étais /e.tɛ/ | étais /e.tɛ/ | était /e.tɛ/ | étions /e.tjɔ̃/ | étiez /e.tje/ | étaient /e.tɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | fus /fy/ | fus /fy/ | fut /fy/ | fûmes /fym/ | fûtes /fyt/ | furent /fyʁ/ | |
| future | serai /sə.ʁe/ | seras /sə.ʁa/ | sera /sə.ʁa/ | serons /sə.ʁɔ̃/ | serez /sə.ʁe/ | seront /sə.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | serais /sə.ʁɛ/ | serais /sə.ʁɛ/ | serait /sə.ʁɛ/ | serions /sə.ʁjɔ̃/ | seriez /sə.ʁje/ | seraient /sə.ʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) | present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | sois /swa/ | sois /swa/ | soit /swa/ | soyons /swa.jɔ̃/ | soyez /swa.je/ | soient /swa/ |
| imperfect2 | fusse /fys/ | fusses /fys/ | fût /fy/ | fussions /fy.sjɔ̃/ | fussiez /fy.sje/ | fussent /fys/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | sois /swa/ | — | soyons /swa.jɔ̃/ | soyez /swa.je/ | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Conjugation of s'être (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | s'être | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | s'être + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | s'étant /se.tɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant or étant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | été /e.te/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | me suis /mə sɥi/ | t'es /tɛ/ | s'est /sɛ/ | nous sommes /nu sɔm/ | vous êtes /vu.z‿ɛt/ | se sont /sə sɔ̃/ |
| imperfect | m'étais /me.tɛ/ | t'étais /te.tɛ/ | s'était /se.tɛ/ | nous étions /nu.z‿e.tjɔ̃/ | vous étiez /vu.z‿e.tje/ | s'étaient /se.tɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | me fus /mə fy/ | te fus /tə fy/ | se fut /sə fy/ | nous fûmes /nu fym/ | vous fûtes /vu fyt/ | se furent /sə fyʁ/ | |
| future | me serai /mə sə.ʁe/ | te seras /tə sə.ʁa/ | se sera /sə sə.ʁa/ | nous serons /nu sə.ʁɔ̃/ | vous serez /vu sə.ʁe/ | se seront /sə sə.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | me serais /mə sə.ʁɛ/ | te serais /tə sə.ʁɛ/ | se serait /sə sə.ʁɛ/ | nous serions /nu sə.ʁjɔ̃/ | vous seriez /vu sə.ʁje/ | se seraient /sə sə.ʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) | present perfect | present indicative of s'être + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | me sois /mə swa/ | te sois /tə swa/ | se soit /sə swa/ | nous soyons /nu swa.jɔ̃/ | vous soyez /vu swa.je/ | se soient /sə swa/ |
| imperfect2 | me fusse /mə fys/ | te fusses /tə fys/ | se fût /sə fy/ | nous fussions /nu fy.sjɔ̃/ | vous fussiez /vu fy.sje/ | se fussent /sə fys/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of s'être + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | sois-toi /swa.twa/ | — | soyons-nous /swa.jɔ̃.nu/ | soyez-vous /swa.je.vu/ | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of s'être + past participle | — | simple imperative of s'être + past participle | simple imperative of s'être + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Derived terms
Pages starting with “être”.
- ça a été
- ça y est
- ceci étant
- cela étant
- c’est
- en être
- être à
- il était une fois
- n’est-ce pas
- peut-être
- quel que soit
- quoi que ce soit
- quoi qu’il en soit
- raison d’être
- s’en être
- si ce n’est
Related terms
- ester
See also
- avoir
Noun
être m (plural êtres)
- being, creature
- (uncountable) being, the state or fact of existence
- 1943, Jean-Paul Sartre, L'Être et le néant.
Related terms
- être humain
Further reading
- “être”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Lorrain
Etymology
From Old French estre, from Latin sum.
Verb
être
- to be
Conjugation
Conjugation of être in Lorrain| infinitive | être, estre, yêtre, yestre | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gerund | estant, étant, atant | ||||||
| auxiliary | estre/être or aivoir | ||||||
| past participle | masculine | feminine | |||||
| singular | estu, étu | estue, étue | |||||
| plural | estus, étus | estues, étues | |||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | ||
| indicative | je (j') | tu | el, elle | nos | vos | el, elles | |
| present | seu, seue, seus, seui, soï, sue | as, os | ôt, ât | estans, étans, atans, sans, sons | âtes, atez, étez, étoz, ôtes, sons | sant, sont | |
| distant imperfect (from Latin er-) | ère | ères | ère | înens | înens | înent | |
| distant imperfect (from Latin stab-) | estoie, étoie, étoe, éto, étos, éteue, étaie, étais | estois, étois, étos, éteus, étais | estoit, étoit, étot, était | estins, étins, étains | estins, étins, étains | estint, étint, étaint | |
| near imperfect | estoyor, estoisor, étor, étosor, étaisor | estoisor, étosor, étaisor | estoitor, étotor, étaitor | estinor, étinor, étainor | estinor, étinor, étainor | estintor, étintor, étaintor | |
| preterite | feus | feus | feut | feurens, feussens, feuhhens, funs | feurens, feussens, feuhhens, feustes | feurent, feussent, feuhhent, feustent | |
| future | serâ | serais | serai | serons | seroz | seront | |
| conditional | seroie, seraie, seros, sereue | serois, seros, sereus | seroit, serot | serînens, serins | serînens, serins | serînent, serint | |
| subjunctive | que je / qu'i | que tu | qu'â (al), qu'ale | que je / qu'i | que vos | qu'âs, qu'ales | |
| present | soye, saye, seue, estesse, atesse, éteuhhe | soyes, sayes, seues, estesses, atesse, éteuhhes | soye, saye, sot, soit, estesse, atesse, éteuhhe | sinssens, estinssens, atinssens, étinssens, étinhhens | sinssens, estinssens, atinssens, étinssens, étinhhens | sinssent, estinssent, atinssent, étinssent, étinhhent | |
| imperfect | feusse, feuhhe | feusses, feuhhes | feusse, feuhhe | feussens, feuhhens | feussens, feuhhens | feussent, feuhhent | |
| imperative | — | tu | — | nos | vos | — | |
| present | (soye, saye, sos, seus) | — | — | ||||
Norman
Pronunciation
Audio (Jersey) (file)
Verb
être
- (Jersey) Alternative form of êt’