La Conjugaison du Verbe Être 

The Heart of the French Language

The Conjugation of the Verb To Be (être): The Heart of the French Language:

Few verbs in any language carry the weight of the French verb (être) "to be." This is the backbone of French grammar, the most essential and most irregular verb you'll ever learn. Whether you are describing yourself, forming compound tenses or building passive constructions, (être) is unavoidable. You need to make peace with (être) before you can really master French.

What Is Être?

Être is an auxiliary verb and a linking verb, two parts that make it uniquely powerful. Used as a linking verb, it links a subject with a description: Je suis fatigué (" I am tired ") . It is used as an auxiliary to form compound tenses of a certain group of verbs, especially verbs of motion and change of state, such as aller (to go), venir (to come), naître (to be born), and mourir (to die).

It is also one of the oldest and most irregular verbs in the language. Its forms are so different that they seem to come from entirely different words, a feature shared with its English counterpart “to be” which gives us am, is, are, was, and were from entirely different Germanic roots.

The Present Tense the Present Tense

The first conjugation any French student memorizes is the present tense of (être), and for good reason. It is always used in the common language.

Look how different these forms are from each other, radically. Suis, es, sommes . . . those don't have a common stem like regular -er or -ir verbs do. This is an irregular form which must be memorized, but with daily use it will soon become second nature.

Looking for examples in context?

Je suis étudiant. — I am student.

Elle est docteur. — She is a doctor.

Nous sommes en retard. — We are running late.

Vous êtes très aimables. — You are very kind.

L'Imparfait (The Imperfect Tense)

The imperfect indicates past states, habitual actions and continuing conditions in the past. The stem of être is ét- and the endings are entirely regular:

Examples:

_ Quand j'étais enfant, j'étais très timide. 
_ Ils étaient fatigués après le voyage. 

(Le futur simple) The Future Tense

In the simple future, être uses the stem ser-, taken from a Latin root. All the verbs have the same endings.

Examples:

_ Demain, je serai à Paris. 
_ Ce sera une belle journée. 

(Le Conditionnel) The Conditional:

Using the same stem as the future, with imperfect endings: this is used for hypothetical or polite statements.

Examples: Ce serait parfait. Si j'étais riche, je serais heureux.

The Subjunctive:

Le SubjonctifThe subjunctive is used with phrases denoting doubt, emotion, necessity, and a number of conjunctions. Être has an irregular subjunctive stem: soi- for most forms, with soy- for nous and vous.

Examples: Il faut que tu sois là. Je doute qu'elle soit prête.