french

In everyday language, “on” is used, instead of “nous”, to express “we”; the verb is always used in the 3rd
person singular. For example, to say "We (are) meeting at 7 o'clock", you could say either “On se rencontre
au cinéma à sept heures.” (colloquial) or “Nous nous rencontrons au cinéma à sept heures.” (formal) (there
are two words "nous"). For more, see the Wikipedia entry.
G: Introduction to Verbs
A verb is a word that describes an action or mental or physical state.
Tenses and Moods
French verbs can be formed in four moods, each of which express a unique feeling. Each mood has a
varying number of tenses, which indicate the time when an action takes place. The conjugations in the
present tense of the indicative mood, the present indicative, is discussed in the next section. There is one
conjugation for each of the six subject pronouns.
Infinitives
The infinitive form is the basic form of a verb. It does not refer to a particular tense, person or subject. In
this book, the infinitive form of the verb is used to identify it. In English, the infinitive form is to ___. In
French, the infinitive is one word. For example, parler translates to to speak, finir translates to to finish, and
aller translates to to go.
Conjugation
French verbs conjugate, which means they take different shapes depending on the subject. English verbs
only have one conjugation; that is the third person singular (I see, you see, he/she sees, we see, they see).
The only exception is the verb "to be" (I am; (thou art); you are; he/she is; we are; they are;). Most French
verbs will conjugate into many different forms. Most verbs are regular, which means that they conjugate in
the same way. The most common verbs, however, are irregular.
G: Être - To Be
Être translates as to be in English. As in most languages, it is an irregular verb, and is not conjugated like
any other verb.
Formation
French Verb • Print version • audio (info •103 kb • help)
être to be
Singular
Plural
first person je suis jeuh swee I am nous sommes noo sum we are
second person tu es too ay you are vous êtes voozett you are
third person
il est eel ay
elle est ell ay
he is
she is
ils sont
eelsohn
they are
(masc. or mixed)
on est ohn ay one is elles sont ellsohn they are (fem.)
Examples