🔗 Et or est: the 'était' trick to never get it wrong again

Et or est? These two little words sound so similar that they often get mixed up in dictations from as early as CP, and even adults sometimes swap them by mistake. Yet the difference is clear, and a 7- or 8-year-old can learn to tell them apart on their own with a quick test.

This test uses two substitutions: 'était' and 'et puis'. Here’s how to explain it simply to your child, with step-by-step examples, a few common pitfalls to watch out for, a game to practise, and a corrected exercise you can do together at home tonight.

Et or est: one word joins, one word describes

When spoken, they’re easy to confuse: in many regions, they’re pronounced almost the same. But in writing, they’re completely different.

• et, two letters, is a coordinating conjunction. It’s a little joining word, always the same, that links two words or parts of a sentence: « du pain et du beurre », « Lina et son frère », « Il pleut et il fait froid. » It adds one thing to another.
• est, three letters, is the verb être (to be) in the present tense, used with il, elle, on or a singular noun: « Le chat est sur le lit », « Ma sœur est contente », « Il est huit heures. »

For a child, you can sum it up like this: 'et' is a staple that fastens two things together; 'est' is a verb that says what someone is like, or where they are. There’s a third cousin worth mentioning: es, with just an s, only used with tu: « tu es en retard ». « Tu est » is always wrong.

The 'était' and 'et puis' trick

When your child hesitates, they can swap the tricky word, in their head or quietly, for two things in turn.

1. Try 'était'. If the sentence still makes sense, it’s the verb: write est. « Le chat est sur le lit » becomes « Le chat était sur le lit »: it works.
2. Try 'et puis'. If the sentence still makes sense, it’s the joining word: write et. « Lina et son frère » becomes « Lina et puis son frère »: it’s a bit clunky, but the meaning is the same.

Full example: « Le ciel … gris … il pleut. » First gap: « Le ciel était gris » works, so est. Second gap: « Le ciel est gris était il pleut » makes no sense, but « Le ciel est gris et puis il pleut » does: so et. Result: « Le ciel est gris et il pleut. »

Remind your child that this test checks grammar, not style. 'Et puis' makes the sentence heavier, and 'était' puts it in the past — that doesn’t matter. The only question is: is the sentence still correct French?

The 'était' test is the most reliable, because it gives a clear answer: it works or it doesn’t. The 'et puis' test is a backup. For those who need extra help, there’s a third check: change the subject to plural. « Il est content » becomes « Ils sont contents »: the word changes, so it was the verb. « Un chat et un chien » becomes « Des chats et des chiens »: 'et' stays the same, because it never changes.

Checked examples, from the simplest to the trickiest

Here are sentences tested one by one. Read them aloud with your child and let them guess before checking the last column.

The sentence Elle est partie tôt can sometimes surprise you: here, est is used to form the past tense of the verb partir. It's always the verb être, and the 'était' test works perfectly. Another fun example: Mon amie est et restera fidèle. The two words appear together, but the first is the verb être (the 'était' test works), while the second links est and restera.

Tricky situations to watch out for

The test works almost every time. Here are the rare cases where your child will need an extra clue.

• « C'est » and « n'est ». Always the verb: C'est mon livre becomes C'était mon livre, Il n'est pas là becomes Il n'était pas là.
• « Est-ce que » and « qu'est-ce que ». These are set phrases for asking questions. You always write est, and it's best to learn them as a whole, without trying to apply the test.
• L'est, the compass point. Le soleil se lève à l'est. Here, est is a noun, the opposite of ouest, and you pronounce the s and t. Neither the 'était' nor the 'et puis' test works. The clue: there's an l' in front, just like l'ouest.
• A pronoun before isn't enough. The habit of thinking 'after elle, you write est' can be misleading: in Toi et elle, vous êtes cousines, it's actually et. Only the test gives you the answer.
• Numbers and telling the time. Vingt et un, trente et un, une heure et demie, midi et quart: it's always et, as you're adding things together.

One last clue, this time by ear: et is never linked to the next word. You say un chat et un chien with no sound between et and un. Est, on the other hand, can make a [t] sound before a vowel: c'est un ami is often pronounced c'es-t-un ami. If you hear this [t], it's est. This clue is helpful, but it doesn't replace the test: many sentences don't have any linking sound.

A domino game and a paper chain for practice

Rules stick better when your child is using their hands too. Here are two simple activities with paper and scissors.

The « et » and « est » dominoes. Cut a dozen paper rectangles and draw a line down the middle of each. On the left half, write et or est; on the right, a sentence with a gap, for example La soupe … chaude. The first domino goes on the table; your child has to find the domino whose word completes the previous sentence, and so on. When the chain is finished, they read all the sentences out loud.

The sentence paper chain. Prepare some coloured strips of paper. Your child writes one idea on a strip (J'aime les pommes), another idea on a second (j'aime les poires), and closes each into a ring. They can only link them together with a ring that says et. It's a clear image: et is literally what connects. The chain can then decorate their room, and each new ring added is another correct sentence.

Corrected exercise to try tonight

Copy these sentences onto a sheet, leaving the answers out. Your child fills in et, est or es, saying which test they used each time.

1. Le ciel … bleu … il fait chaud.
2. Où … ta trousse ?
3. Léo … Sarah jouent au ballon.
4. Ma grand-mère … arrivée hier soir.
5. Le vent souffle de l'… .
6. Il … midi … quart.
7. Ce livre … drôle … facile à lire.
8. Tu … prêt pour partir ?

Answers: 1. est, et. 2. est. 3. et. 4. est. 5. est (the compass point). 6. est, et. 7. est, et. 8. es (with tu, you always write « es »).

If your child makes a mistake, don't give them the answer: ask them to do the test out loud again. Hearing for themselves that Le ciel était bleu works helps them build the right habit.

What next? Other homophones follow the same logic

Once your child has mastered the 'était' test, they have a method they can use everywhere: replace the tricky word with another to see if the sentence still makes sense. That's exactly how the 'avait' trick works for a ou à, and the tests for choosing between ces ou ses. At the end of primary school, all these pairs are reviewed together; our guide to homophones grammaticaux au CM2 brings them all together in one place.

To keep the rules handy without getting out the lesson book, our Memory Tricks bring together these tips on illustrated cards you can hang near the desk. Tackle one pair at a time, wait until it's solid, then move on to the next.