Practical guide to être and avoir
Etre and avoir verbs can also be a tad confusing, especially for beginning learners in French. You will find them in a lot of online conversations and resources.
Thankfully, we’ve compiled a practical guide to être and avoir so you know exactly how these French verbs work.
Summary :
- Conjugating être and avoir in French
- Using avoir in conversations
- Specific uses of être
- Être or avoir as auxiliary in compound verb tenses
Conjugating être and avoir in French
The two verbs être (to be), and avoir (to have) are the basics in French . You need to understand the use of these verbs in order to master the French language. In addition, they become auxiliary to make compound tenses as we will see a bit later on.
How to conjugate avoir (to have)
As you will see, unfortunately, avoir is pretty irregular. But don’t worry ! Start with the present tense and the stems which are fairly simple. Then conjugate them in imparfait (imperfect) and futur simple as follows :
| Present | Imparfait | Futur simple |
| J’ai | J’avais | J’aurai |
| Tu as | Tu avais | Tu auras |
| Il/Elle/On a | Il/Elle/On avait | Il/Elle/On aura |
| Nous avons | Nous avions | Nous aurons |
| Vous avez | Vous aviez | Vous aurez |
| Ils/Elles ont | Ils/Elles avaient | Ils/Elles auront |
Additionally, you can find in-depth conjugations of these two verbs (and more) of the Futur simple and Futur proche.
How to conjugate être (to be)
Etre is also quite different from one tense to another. This is a lot to remember, so don’t try to memorize all tenses at once.
| Present | Imparfait | Futur simple |
| Je suis | J’étais | Je serai |
| Tu es | Tu étais | Tu seras |
| Il/Elle/On est | Il/Elle/On était | Il/Elle/On sera |
| Nous sommes | Nous étions | Nous serons |
| Vous êtes | Vous étiez | Vous serez |
| Ils/Elles sont | Ils/Elles étaient | Ils/Elles seront |
For additional practice of French conjugation, feel free to also check online the Nouvel Obs website.
Using avoir in conversations
Avoir is one of the most important French verbs. Let’s see how we can use it in every day conversations.
Talking about age
- Quel âge as-tu / quel âge avez-vous ? = How old are you ?
- J’ai 23 ans = I’m 23
People
- Est-ce qu’elle a un enfant ? = Does she have a child ?
- Oui, elle a une fille / Non, elle n’a pas d’enfant = Yes, she has a daughter / No, she has no children
- Vous avez un bon médecin = We have a good doctor
Material objects
- Tu as une voiture / une maison = You have a car / a house
Concepts and notions
- J’ai faim / soif / chaud / froid … = I’m hungry / thirsty / hot / cold
- Tu as rendez-vous à 17 heures = You have an appointment at 5pm
- Ils ont de la chance = They have luck (they are lucky)
Specific uses of être
In addition, être is essential in French and used on a daily basis, especially to describe people.
Job
- Tu es vétérinaire = You are a veterinarian
- Il est avocat = He’s a lawyer
Nationality
- Est-ce que vous êtes française ? = Are you French ?
- Elles sont australiennes = They are Australian
Qualities
- Vous êtes gentils = You are nice
- Il est intelligent = He’s smart
- Je suis patiente = I’m patient
Status
- Je ne suis pas libre vendredi prochain = I’m not available next Friday
- Elle est mariée / divorcée / célibataire = She’s married / divorced / single
- Nous sommes en avance / à l’heure / en retard = We are early / on time / late
Être or avoir as auxiliary in compound verb tenses
In addition to being very common verbs in French, être and avoir have distinct functions outside of their simple meanings. Indeed, when used in conjunction with other verbs, these two verbs are called auxiliaries. They then create many compound tenses in French :
- le passé composé ;
- le plus-que-parfait (pluperfect) ;
- le futur antérieur (the future perfect) ;
- conditionnel passé (the past conditional) ;
- and le subjonctif passé (the past subjonctive).
When to use avoir as an auxiliary
Avoir is used at the Passé Composé with the majority of the verbs. With avoir, the past participle doesn’t change. We will see shortly the exceptions below.
| Manger | Vouloir | Prendre |
| J’ai mangé | J’ai voulu | J’ai pris |
| Tu as mangé | Tu as voulu | Tu as pris |
| Il/Elle/On a mangé | Il/Elle/On a voulu | Il/Elle/On a pris |
| Nous avons mangé | Nous avons voulu | Nous avons pris |
| Vous avez mangé | Vous avez voulu | Vous avez pris |
| Ils/Elles ont mangé | Ils/Elles ont voulu | Ils/Elles ont pris |
The same rules apply for the other compound tenses. So, if a verb is using the auxiliary avoir at the passé composé, then it will be the case for : the plus-que-parfait, the conditionnel passé, the futur antérieur, the subjonctif passé.
Using être as an auxiliary
We use être at the compound tenses for all the verbs of the Maison Etre as well as the reflexive verbs.
In addition, when we use être as an auxiliary, the past participle must agree with the gender and number of the subject. The participle is therefore as an adjective.
How does it work ?
- An -e is added to past participles of feminine subjects ;
- An -s is added to past participles of plural subjects ;
- And for subjects that are both feminine and plural, -e and -s are added to the past participle.
| Partir | Se lever |
| Je suis parti(e) | Je me suis levé(e) |
| Tu es parti(e) | Tu t’es levé(e) |
| Il/Elle/On est parti(e) | Il/Elle/On s’est levé(e) |
| Nous sommes parti(e)s | Nous nous sommes levé(e)s |
| Vous êtes parti(e)(s) | Vous vous êtes levé(e)(s) |
| Ils/Elles sont parti(e)s | Ils/Elles se sont levé(e)s |
Verbs using both auxiliaries être and avoir
Did you know that some verbs can use être and avoir at the passé composé ? You’ll find the list below to avoid any confusion. Indeed, the meaning will change !
- Descendre = with être, got off, went down / with avoir, took down
- Tu es descendu(e) du train = You got off the train.
- J’ai descendu l’escalier = I went downstairs.
- Monter = with être, went down / with avoir, took up
- Elles sont montées = They went upstairs.
- Nous avons monté nos affaires = We took up our things
- Passer = with être, passed by / with avoir, spent
- Je suis passé(e) à la poste = I passed by the post office
- Elle a passé un mois à Bali = He spent a month in Bali
- Rentrer = with être, came in / with avoir, brought in
- Vous êtes rentré(e)(s) tard= You came home late
- Elle a rentré le linge = She brought in the laundry
- Retourner = with être, returned / with avoir, turned over
- Ils sont retourné à Londres = They returned to London
- Ils ont retourné la table = They turned over the table
- Sortir = with être, went out / with avoir, took out
- Elles sont sorties = They went out
- Il a sorti les poubelles = He took out the garbage
Get familiar with the French grammar rules and use these verbs often. That will be easy because they’re used daily in conversations. These two verbs are really essential backbones of French.
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