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Level 4 - Être 'to be' / Qu'est-ce que c'est?

Verbs are words which describe an action or a state of being. Être is the most important verb in French and it means 'to be'. By far the most common parts of this verb are est ('is') and sont ('are').

je suis
tu es
c'est
il est
elle est
on est
David est
nous sommes
vous êtes
ce sont
ils sont
elles sont
Sophie et Marie sont

  

I am
you are
it is, he is (before noun), she is (before noun)
he is, it is (m.)
she is, it is (f.)
one is
David is
we are
you are
they are (before noun)
they are (m.)
they are (f.)
Sophie and Marie are

Don't worry about the word c' (short for ce) - it means 'he', 'she' or 'it' but only with être, not with any other verbs.

What is the difference between tu and vous? They both mean 'you' but you would only say tu when talking to a friend or family member. Vous is the plural version of 'you' when you are talking to more than one person, or the polite version if you are talking to somebody you don't know very personally. In future we will use the abbreviation 'sg.' to mean singular and 'pl.' to mean plural or polite, along with 'm.' for masculine and 'f.' for feminine. On means 'one', meaning people in general - but French people use it a lot to mean 'we' instead of nous.

Here are some sample sentences of the verb être in action.

je suis un enfant

tu es un élève

c'est un garçon
c'est une fille

il est français

elle est française

le stylo est noir
la table est marron

nous sommes des enfants

vous êtes des élèves

ce sont des garçons
 ce sont des filles

ils sont anglais

elles sont anglaises

les stylos sont noirs
les tables sont blanches

  

I am a child

you are a pupil

he is a boy
she is a girl

he is French

she is French

the pen is black
the table is brown

we are some boys

you are some pupils

they are some boys (noun)
they are some girls (noun)

they are English

they are English

the pens are black
the tables are white

Qu'est-ce que c'est?

Qu'est-ce que c'est? means 'what is it'? (Literally, 'what is it that it is'?)

qu'est-ce que c'est?
c'est un crayon bleu

qu'est-ce que c'est?
c'est une chaise blanche

qu'est-ce que c'est?
c'est un ordinateur noir

  

what is it?
it's a blue pencil

what is it?
it's a white chair

what is it?
it's a black computer


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