While preparing for our retreat I have been refreshing my French skills. Practicing simple phrases such as “Pardon” “Merci” and “S’il vous plaît” is both practical and greatly appreciated by native speakers. As I progress further into the language, deeper patterns and meanings emerge from within the grammatical structure. As a yoga teacher I am intrigued by the significant role that presence and spatial awareness play in French, especially using the verb “être” meaning “to be.” At times the language seems to encompass a concept of “being” that represents an embodied existence of the self, with actions simultaneously influencing all states of change, past, present and future.
In French, a grammatical tense known as passé composé is constructed similarly to the English present perfect tense, using a subject and two verbs, an auxiliary verb and a past participle. English and French follow the same construction combining the auxiliary verb “to have” or “avoir” with a past particle. The passé composé also uses another auxiliary verb “être” or “to be.”
Passé Composé vs Passé Simple
In English and French, we say, “I have eaten” which translates to “J’ai mangé.” The “J” stands for the first-person singular “I,” and “ai” is the first-person singular conjugation of the auxiliary verb “avoir,” “to have.” It is followed by “mangé,” the past participle of “to eat” which is either “eaten” or “ate.” In passé composé we use “eaten” to express that this is not a simple past tense or passé simple which would change the statement to “I ate” or “je mangé.”
Consider these two sentences: “I have taught yoga for 25 years” “J’ai enseigné yoga pour vingt-cinq ans” and “I taught yoga for 25 years” and “J’enseigné yoga pour vingt-cinq ans.” The difference is subtle yet significant: the former uses passé composé and implies that I am still teaching yoga; the latter uses passé simple and indicates that my teaching took place in the past. Thus, passé simple defines actions only completed in the past while the present perfect and passé composé highlight a past action with a current relevance or consequence.
Passé Composé and “Être”
French uses another auxiliary verb “être” or “to be” in passé composé which sets it apart from an English equivalent. Here we are no longer using the verb “avoir” or “to have” as “être” does not convey possession, quantity or parts. Instead, “être” suggests a wholeness tied to the action itself. Furthermore, “être” can only be combined with 17 specific verbs which describe actions that involve a transition of location or state of being. When used with “être” or its conjugations these verbs are considered intransitive, meaning they do not take a direct object, thereby focusing solely on the subject performing the action. Passé composé using “être” indicates a past action with present consequences for a subject who is in a state of movement, transformation or state of being that remains in effect in its completeness.
“Être” in Action
The phrase “Je suis allé” translates to “I went”. Here, “Je” represents the first-person singular “I” and “suis” is the first-person singular conjugation of the verb “être” “to be.” Although “Je suis” literally means “I am,” when paired with the past participle “allé,” it forms a present perfect tense “I am went.” This construction highlights a key difference from English, where the word “am” is omitted, simply stating “I went.” French retains the “am,” signifying a focus on the continuity of the subject while expressing an ongoing effect of past actions, embodying both a past and present state of being.
“Être” in Transformation
“Je suis devenu professeur de yoga” translates literally to “I am became a yoga teacher.” Here, the conjugated verb “être” is followed by the past participle “devenu” meaning “became.” This construction continues to highlight the difference from English, omitting the ‘am-ness’ of the subject and focusing on the effect of the change: “I became a yoga teacher.” In French the subject retains its past and present and integrates it with the transformative verb “to become.” The usage reflects the present perfect tense, emphasizing a transformation that has ongoing implications in the current state of “being.”
“Être” in Changing State of Being
The dynamic nature of these states is very interesting to explore. In the sentence “Je suis tombé”, “Je suis” meaning “I am,” is followed by the past participle “to fall.” In English, this translates to “I fell,” but it literally means “I am fell.” This format of a present perfect construction illustrates how a fall impacts “I am.” I am still me, but I am also now fell…I carry the experience and trauma into the present. “I am” acknowledges the current state of being, influenced by the past, while considering the innumerable implications of future actions. In other words, French remembers – past affects present and also future. In practical purposes, our experiences affect our behaviors, making us more cautious, or less; possibly avoiding actions that might lead to further traumas, or actually causing them in the first place. In French, we change constantly but remain a whole embodied being.
Taking this a step further, adding the phrase “en panne,” which translates to “breakdown,” changes the sentence to “Je suis tombé en panne.” The literal translation is “I am broken down” meaning “I had a breakdown.” English omits the “I am” replacing the “am” with the possessive “to have” and a direct object. In French, “être” cannot imply possession or contain a direct object while in passé composé. Therefore, saying “I had a breakdown” doesn’t fully capture the meaning in French. Instead “I am” is broken-down, conveying a past, present, and future with direct implications of an ongoing change in state, a transition. In other words, this is not permanent.
These subtle yet significant differences appear throughout the language. “Je suis tombé malade” translates to “I fell sick,” and “Je suis tombé amoureux” to “I fell in love.” These examples demonstrate that the consequences of the action affect not only the past, present, and future but also acknowledge “I am” as a subject that is in a transformative state of being.
Conclusion
In French grammar, the verb “être,” meaning “to be,” provides a more nuanced understanding of “I am,” often omitted in English grammatical structures. “I am” encapsulates a state of being influenced simultaneously by the past, present and future, while the grammatical application of “être” seems to capture the essence of change. I find myself wondering if this interpretation of “I am” could encompass the Buddhist concept of impermanence, where embracing the transient nature of interconnected things leads to a state of non-suffering. Perhaps by learning French we can reveal new insights into “I am,” and more specifically, our personal journey of accepting impermanence and overcoming suffering.
