Se présenter (Introducing yourself)
Primary 5 · French
Se présenter (Introducing yourself)
Lesson 2 of 3
14 min
Let's begin
Uwase can already say « Je m'appelle Uwase. » But in class she wants to say more: She is my friend. We are pupils. They are from Musanze.
To say all of that she needs one small verb — the busiest verb in the whole French language.
It is called être, and it means to be. Today you learn it, and the eight little words that stand in front of it.
A pronoun is the short word that stands in for a name. Instead of saying « Mugisha, Mugisha, Mugisha » all day, you say he. French has eight of these words.
| French | English | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| je | I | Yourself |
| tu | you | One friend, one classmate, one brother |
| il | he | One boy or man |
| elle | she | One girl or woman |
| nous | we | You and other people |
| vous | you | Many people — or one adult, politely |
| ils | they | Boys, or a mixed group |
| elles | they | Girls only |
Two of these need a closer look.
tu and vous both mean you. Use tu when you speak to one friend. Use vous when you speak to more than one person — and also when you speak to a single adult you must be polite to, such as the head teacher or a trader you do not know. That is the famous polite vous.
ils and elles both mean they. Use elles only when every single person in the group is female. If there are ten girls and one boy, French still says ils. That rule is not fair — but it is the rule.
Watch how être changes for each pronoun. English does this too: I am, you are, he is. French is doing the same job.
| French | Say it like | English |
|---|---|---|
| je suis | zhuh SWEE | I am |
| tu es | tü AY | you are |
| il est | eel AY | he is |
| elle est | el AY | she is |
| nous sommes | noo SOM | we are |
| vous êtes | voo ZET | you are |
| ils sont | eel SON | they are |
| elles sont | el SON | they are |
Look closely and the job gets easier. Il and elle share the same form, est. Ils and elles share the same form, sont. So there are really only six forms to learn: suis, es, est, sommes, êtes, sont.
Mutesi wants to say, in French: We are pupils in Nyamata. Here is exactly how she builds it.
« Nous sommes élèves à Nyamata. »
French even gives her a small gift here. She did not write des élèves. When you say what someone is — a pupil, a teacher, a farmer — French drops the little word in front. « Je suis élève. » « Il est professeur. » Short and clean.
To say not, French puts the verb inside a sandwich: ne goes before it and pas goes after it.
« Je suis fatigué. » (I am tired) becomes « Je ne suis pas fatigué. » (I am not tired)
Before a vowel, ne shortens to n': « Il n'est pas à l'école. » — He is not at school.
Tip
Learn être as a little song. Clap once on each word and say it fast, three times:
je suis, tu es, il est,
nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont.
Six forms, always in that order. Once the song is in your head you stop thinking — you just sing the line and take the word you need.
Try first, then tap Show answer to check.
Fill the gap: « Je ___ élève. »
Answer: suis. « Je suis élève. » — je always takes suis.
Fill the gap: « Nous ___ rwandais. »
Answer: sommes. « Nous sommes rwandais. »
Keza and Mutesi are friends — two girls. Say They are friends in French.
Answer: « Elles sont amies. » Everyone in the group is a girl, so the pronoun is elles, and elles takes sont.
You are speaking to your head teacher. Do you use tu or vous?
Answer: vous. It is only one person, but she is an adult you must be polite to — so French uses the polite vous: « Vous êtes… »
Find and fix the mistake: « Ils est mes amis. »
Answer: ils is plural, so the verb must be sont, not est. The correct sentence is « Ils sont mes amis. »
What you learned today
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