Day 5: être (to be)

je suis / tu es / il·elle est + adjectives + building sentences · 30 min

Verbs start today. être is the most-used verb in French and also the most irregular. There is no trick — you memorise the six forms. In exchange you can suddenly say "I am / you are / it is" about anything.

1. Subject pronouns first

⚠️ English lost the tu/vous distinction 400 years ago, so you have to rebuild it.Using tu with a stranger, a shop assistant or anyone senior is rude. If in doubt, vous.When they say "On peut se tutoyer" ("we can use tu"), then you switch.⚠️ il/elle and ils/elles sound identical. The plural -s is silent, so you cannot hear the difference — only the verb tells you (il est eel-EH vs ils sont eel-SOHN).⚠️ French has no "it". Every object is either il or elle depending on its gender.A table is elle. A book is il. There is no neutral option to fall back on.

2. être conjugation — today's core

Memory rhythm (say it 5×):

zhuh-SWEE · tew-EH · eel-EH · noo-SUM · voo-ZET · eel-SOHN

★ Three liaisons you must make:

• vous_êtes → voo-ZET (never voo ET)
• il_est → eel-EH
• ils_sont → eel-SOHN (run them together)

⚠️ Do not pronounce the final -s of je suis — it is swee, not swees.

3. C'est — the form you will use most

C'est (seh) = "it is / that's". You never have to work out a subject, which makes it a beginner's best friend.

The plural is Ce sont (suh SOHN) — Ce sont mes amis. (They're my friends.)

4. Adjectives — masculine / feminine / plural

A French adjective matches the noun it describes in gender and number. Same rule as the nationalities on Day 3.

The plural adds -s, which is silent — so it changes nothing you can hear:

• Il est grand. → Ils sont grands. (both grahn)
• Elle est grande. → Elles sont grandes. (both grahnd)

★ Adjectives that already end in -e (facile, rouge) don't change for the feminine.That is a lot less to memorise than it first looks.

⚠️ English has zero adjective agreement, so this feels like pointless bookkeeping.Two things make it worth doing: half of them change the sound (grand → grande), and getting it wrong is the fastest way to mark yourself as a beginner in writing.⚠️ And French adjectives usually come after the noun — une voiture rouge, not a red car. A handful of very common ones (grand, petit, bon, beau) go before.Full rule on Day 10; for now just notice it.

5. Building sentences — one skeleton, twenty sentences

[subject] + [être form] + [adjective / noun]

★ être also means "to be located". Je suis à Londres. (I'm in London.)Où êtes-vous ? (Where are you?) English uses "be" the same way, so this one is free.

6. Dialogue

A: Vous êtes fatigué ?voo zet fa-tee-GAY?Are you tired?B: Oui, un peu. Je suis très fatigué aujourd'hui.wee, uhn PUH. zhuh swee treh fa-tee-GAY oh-zhoor-DWEE.Yes, a little. I'm very tired today.A: C'est difficile, le français ?seh dee-fee-SEEL, luh frahn-SEH?Is French hard?B: Non, ce n'est pas difficile ! C'est amusant.nohn, suh neh pa dee-fee-SEEL! seh za-mew-ZAHN.No, it's not hard! It's fun.A: Vous êtes prêt pour demain ?voo zet PREH poor duh-MAN?Ready for tomorrow?B: Oui, je suis prêt !wee, zhuh swee PREH!

★ très (treh, very), un peu (uhn PUH, a little), trop (troh, too) — the three words you put in front of an adjective. ⚠️ trop is "too much", not "very" — c'est trop cher means it is beyond your budget, not that it is very nice.

7. Exercises

A. Conjugate être.

1. Je ___ américain.
2. Vous ___ français ?
3. Il ___ fatigué.
4. Nous ___ à Paris.
5. Elles ___ étudiantes.

B. Put the adjective in the right form.

1. Elle est (grand) ___.
2. Ils sont (content) ___.
3. Marie est (français) ___.
4. C'est (facile) ___.

C. Say it in French.

1. I'm tired. 2. It's expensive. 3. We're students. 4. Are you ready?

D. ⚠️ Fix the English-speaker error.

1. Elle est grand.
2. C'est une rouge voiture.

E. Write 5 sentences about yourself using être.

8. Today's 10 sentences

1. Je suis fatigué. — I'm tired (zhuh swee fa-tee-GAY)
2. Je suis content. — I'm happy (zhuh swee kohn-TAHN)
3. Vous êtes français ? — Are you French? (voo zet frahn-SEH)
4. Il est grand. — He's tall (eel eh GRAHN)
5. Nous sommes à Londres. — We're in London (noo sum a LOHN-druh)
6. C'est bon ! — It's good! (seh BOHN)
7. C'est cher. — It's expensive (seh SHAIR)
8. Ce n'est pas grave. — No worries (suh neh pa GRAV)
9. C'est très facile. — It's very easy (seh treh fa-SEEL)
10. Vous êtes prêt ? — Are you ready? (voo zet PREH)

9. 📲 Upload to LangNote

Upload the conjugation table (section 2) together with the dialogue (section 6). With a conjugation table in the file, the grammar mission comes out as proper fill-in-the-blank drills.

langNote is a paid subscription and this course recommends it. The 30 lessons are free and complete either way.