Wiktionary

être

See also: etre and étre

Bourbonnais-BerrichonEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old French estre, from Latin sum.

VerbEdit

être

  1. to be

ConjugationEdit

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

FrenchEdit

EtymologyEdit

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.

PronunciationEdit

VerbEdit

être

  1. to be
    Vous devez être plus clairs.
    You must be clearer.
  2. (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.
  3. (semi-auxiliary) to be (Used to form the passive voice)
    Il peut être battu ce soir.
    He could be beaten this evening.

ConjugationEdit

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 – tu – nous vous –
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:
  • past historic → present perfect
  • past anterior → pluperfect
  • imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive
  • pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive

(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 – tu – nous vous –
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:
  • past historic → present perfect
  • past anterior → pluperfect
  • imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive
  • pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive

(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived termsEdit

Pages starting with “être”.

Related termsEdit

See alsoEdit

NounEdit

être m (plural êtres)

  1. being, creature
  2. (uncountable) being, the state or fact of existence

Related termsEdit

Further readingEdit

LorrainEdit

EtymologyEdit

From Old French estre, from Latin sum.

VerbEdit

être

  1. to be

ConjugationEdit

        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) — —

NormanEdit

PronunciationEdit

  • Audio (Jersey)(file)

VerbEdit

être

  1. (Jersey) Alternative form of êt’
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