sont

Sont is the third-person plural present tense form of the French verb être, meaning “to be.” It is used with the subject pronouns ils or elles to describe a state, identity, or location, as in ils sont médecins (they are doctors) or elles sont en retard (they are late). As a form of être, sont is encountered in a wide range of constructions, including statements of characteristic, origin, profession, and condition.

Etymology and grammar: être is an irregular verb with a long history in the Romance languages. The form sont derives from the Latin sunt, the third-person plural present of esse, and has persisted in modern French as the standard plural present tense ending form. Other present-tense forms of être include suis, es, est, sommes, êtes, forming a highly distinctive paradigm that is central to French grammar. Like other finite verbs, sont agrees with its subject in number (plural) and person.

Usage notes: In negation, sont appears within the standard ne... pas construction (Ils ne sont pas heureux). In questions, a subject-verb inversion can occur (Sont-ils prêts ?). The form is frequently used with adjectives, nouns, prepositional phrases, and subordinate clauses to convey existence, state, or attribution. It is also a common element in everyday speech, literature, journalism, and formal writing.

Common confusions: sont is often mistaken for son, which is a possessive determiner meaning “his,” “her,” or “its” and is placed before a noun (son livre). The two words are homophones in many dialects but have distinct grammatical roles.

See also: être; French verb conjugation; French pronouns.