The verbs être and avoir
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prof_frenchtastic, on July 25, 2009, at 12:52 pm | | 1,751 views
The French auxiliary verbs are called so because they help conjugate another (main) verb. For example, ÊTRE and AVOIR are used in many verb tenses such as the French passé composé tense; Look at this example: “Je suis allé au campus ce matin” (I went to campus this morning). As you can see, the auxiliary verb suis (from the infinitive “être”) is attached to the main verb allé to form the passé composé tense.
Another example: “Elle a fini son devoir” (She (has) finished her homework), where the auxiliary a (from the infinitive “avoir”) is attached to the main verb fini. In any case, it is therefore absolutely necessary for anyone serious about studying French to know these important verbs.
The French auxiliaries être and avoir, among other things, are also used in many common expressions such as avoir faim, avoir soif, avoir de la chance, être fatigué(e), être content(e), etc. Therefore, knowing them will also help you better master these other expressions and lead you to the path of French language fluency. Now, I am going to conjugate these 2 verbs using 3 important verb tenses: the present tense, the past tense and the future. Please pay special attention to way these verb are spelled in the present tense as they don’t follow any particular pattern.
Conjugation of Être in the present, past and future tenses.
| MP3: Present tense of être |
| je suis (I am) |
nous sommes (we are) |
| tu es (you are) |
vous êtes (you are) |
il est (he is)
elle est (she is)
on est (one is) |
ils sont (they are)
elles sont (they are)
|
|
| MP3: Past tense of être |
| j’étais (I was) |
nous étions (we were) |
| tu étais (you are) |
vous étiez (you were) |
il était (he was)
elle était (she was)
on était (one was) |
ils étaient (they were)
elles étaient (they were)
|
|
| MP3: Future tense of être |
| je serai (I will be) |
nous serons (we will be) |
| tu seras (you will be) |
vous serez (you will be) |
il sera (he will be)
elle sera (she will be)
on sera (one will be) |
ils seront (they will be)
elles seront (they will be)
|
|
Note: Je and any verb that begins with a vowel or (silent h) will combine to become j’. For example: j’aime (I love/like); j’adore (I adore); j’habite (I live/reside)
Conjugation of Avoir in the present, past and future tenses.
| MP3: Present tense of avoir |
| j’ai (I have) |
nous avons (we have) |
| tu es (you have) |
vous avez (you have) |
il a (he has)
elle a (she has)
on a (one has) |
ils ont (they have)
elles ont (they have)
|
|
| MP3: Past tense of avoir |
| j’avais (I had) |
nous avions (we had) |
| tu avais (you had) |
vous aviez (you had) |
il avait (he had)
elle avait (she had)
on avait (one had) |
ils avaient (they had)
elles avaient (they had)
|
|
| MP3: Future tense of avoir |
| je aurai (I will have) |
nous aurons (we will have) |
| tu auras (you will have) |
vous aurez (you will have) |
il aura (he will have)
elle aura (she will have)
on aura (one will have) |
ils auront (they will have)
elles auront (they will have)
|
|
magnifique
J’ai la chance d’apprendre le français dans ce site. Où sont les amis???!!!!!
Salut.
Je pense que c’est “j’aurai”, non?
Merci beaucoup pour FrenchtasticPeople!!
À bientôt
I’m a bit confused with the use of ËTRE as aux. specially useing them for the past, Is there a list of verbs that must be used with aux. Aller; 1, Garer…. ? Merciii
Bonjour Paulina,
There is a list of common verbs to use with “être” in the passé composé. Usually, I tell my students to remember the verbs that belong to “La Maison d’être” (here is a link): http://www.ithaca.edu/faculty/kaplan/images/maison_etre.jpg
Also, all reflexive verbs (for example, se laver, se brosser, se doucher, se raser, etc.) will also take “être” as an auxiliary in the passé composé.
Some verbs, such as, “garer” (to park), could be conjugated with either AVOIR or ÊTRE, depending on the meaning and form they take (je me suis garé devant la boutique –> I parked (myself) in front of the shop) or (j’ai garé la voiture devant la boutique –> (I parked the car in front of the shop).
This could also happen with the verb MONTER as well. Je suis monté.–> (I climbed up (the stairs)) or (j’ai monté ma valise) –> I took/brought my suitcase up to the room (upstairs)).
I hope this helps.
why is you have…tu as spelt tu es?
also should je auria not be j’aurai