Most French verbs use the ending -ez with vous in the present tense.

Examples:

• Vous parlez français. “You speak French.”
• Vous regardez la télévision. “You watch television.”
• Vous aimez ce livre. “You like this book.”

Yet three very common verbs do not follow this pattern:

• vous êtes
• vous faites
• vous dites

These forms end in -tes instead of -ez.

This is not a random quirk of modern French. These forms are very old. They come from Latin forms that already contained a t sound in the second person plural.

French later simplified most verb endings, but these three common verbs kept older forms.

The normal vous ending in French

Most French verbs form the present tense vous form with -ez.

Examples:

• Vous travaillez ici. “You work here.”
• Vous mangez dehors ce soir. “You are eating outside tonight.”
• Vous choisissez le vin. “You choose the wine.”

This ending comes from older Latin endings in -tis.

Over many centuries, French sound changes wore these endings down:

• Latin -tis
• Old French -tes
• modern French -ez

That is why modern French usually has -ez.

Why êtes, faites and dites are different

The verbs être, faire and dire are among the oldest and most common verbs in French.

Very common verbs often keep older forms while less common verbs become more regular over time.

These three verbs kept an older t sound that disappeared from most other verbs.

Vous êtes

The verb être

The verb être means “to be.”

Its present tense forms are:

• je suis
• tu es
• il est
• nous sommes
• vous êtes
• ils sont

The form êtes comes from the Latin form estis.

Examples:

• Vous êtes en retard. “You are late.”
• Vous êtes prêts ? “Are you ready?”
• Vous êtes très calme aujourd’hui. “You are very calm today.”
• Vous êtes de Lyon ? “Are you from Lyon?”
• Vous êtes déjà partis ? “Have you already left?”
• Vous êtes ici pour le concert ? “Are you here for the concert?”

From Latin estis to French êtes

The Latin verb esse “to be” already had an irregular second person plural form estis:

• sum “I am”
• es “you are”
• est “he is”
• sumus “we are”
• estis “you are”
• sunt “they are

Over time, spoken Latin changed into Old French:

• Latin estis
• Old French estes
• modern French êtes

The circumflex accent marks the loss of an older s sound.

The same thing happened in words like:

• forêt from older forest
• hôpital from older hospital

So êtes preserves a very old pattern that already existed in Latin.

Vous faites

The verb faire

The verb faire means “to do” or “to make.”

Its present tense forms are:

• je fais
• tu fais
• il fait
• nous faisons
• vous faites
• ils font

The form faites comes from the Latin form facitis.

Examples:

• Vous faites du sport ? “Do you play sport?”
• Vous faites quoi ce soir ? “What are you doing tonight?”
• Vous faites un excellent travail. “You are doing excellent work.”
• Vous faites souvent la cuisine ? “Do you often cook?”
• Vous faites trop de bruit. “You are making too much noise.”
• Vous faites bien de venir. “You are right to come.”

From Latin facitis to French faites

Latin used forms such as:

• facio “I do”
• facis “You do”
• facit “He does”
• facimus “We do”
• facitis “You do”
• faciunt “They do”

Over time, the sounds changed and simplified.

But faire kept the old t sound more clearly than most verbs.

That is why French has:

• vous faites

instead of a regularised form like:

• vous faisez

In fact, forms like faisez existed in older speech, but standard French kept faites.

Vous dites

The verb dire

The verb dire means “to say” or “to tell.”

Its present tense forms are:

• je dis
• tu dis
• il dit
• nous disons
• vous dites
• ils disent

The form dites comes from Latin dicitis.

Examples:

• Vous dites la vérité. “You are telling the truth.”
• Vous dites toujours ça. “You always say that.”
• Vous dites quoi ? “What are you saying?”
• Vous dites cela sérieusement ? “Are you saying that seriously?”
• Vous dites son nom correctement. “You say his name correctly.”
• Vous dites la même chose que moi. “You are saying the same thing as me.”

From Latin dicitis to French dites

Latin forms included:

• dico “I say”
• dicis “You say”
• dicit “He says”
• dicimus “We say”
• dicitis “You say”
• dicunt “They say”

Again, French later simplified many verb endings, but dire kept the older t sound in the vous form.

That is why standard French has:

• vous dites

instead of a more regular form like:

• vous disez

Forms like disez appeared at times in popular speech, but they never became standard.

Why common verbs stay irregular

Very common verbs resist change.

People hear and use them constantly, so older forms survive for centuries.

The same thing happens in English:

• go → went
• be → was
• do → did

French core verbs also kept many old forms:

• être
• avoir
• faire
• dire
• aller

Pronunciation

Êtes

Êtes is pronounced roughly like “ett.”

Examples:

• Vous êtes ici. “You are here.”
• Vous êtes malade ? “Are you ill?”

Faites

Faites is pronounced roughly like “fet.”

Examples:

• Vous faites attention. “You are paying attention.”
• Vous faites erreur. “You are mistaken.”

Dites

Dites is pronounced roughly like “deet.”

Examples:

• Vous dites non. “You are saying no.”
• Vous dites cela souvent. “You say that often.”

Comparing regular and irregular forms

Regular vous forms

• Vous regardez la mer. “You look at the sea.”
• Vous écoutez la radio. “You listen to the radio.”
• Vous habitez ici. “You live here.”

Irregular -tes forms

• Vous êtes fatigués. “You are tired.”
• Vous faites du café. “You are making coffee.”
• Vous dites bonjour. “You say hello.”

Common learner mistakes

Vous faisez

Incorrect:

• Vous faisez du sport.

Correct:

• Vous faites du sport.

Vous disez

Incorrect:

• Vous disez la vérité.

Correct:

• Vous dites la vérité.

Forgetting the accent in êtes

Incorrect:

• Vous etes prêts.

Correct:

• Vous êtes prêts.

Fixed expressions

With êtes

• Vous êtes les bienvenus. “You are welcome.”
• Vous êtes sûr ? “Are you sure?”
• Vous êtes au courant ? “Are you aware?”

With faites

• Vous faites exprès ? “Are you doing it on purpose?”
• Vous faites comme vous voulez. “Do as you wish.”
• Vous faites bien. “You are doing the right thing.”

With dites

• Vous dites ? “Pardon?” or “What did you say?”
• Vous dites n’importe quoi. “You are talking nonsense.”
• Vous dites ça pour rire ? “Are you saying that as a joke?”

Summary

• Most French verbs use -ez with vous.
• Être, faire and dire use older forms ending in -tes.
• These forms come from Latin:
  • estis → êtes
  • facitis → faites
  • dicitis → dites
• Most French verbs later simplified their endings.
• These very common verbs kept older patterns.
• The t in these forms is ancient and goes back to Latin.