Difference between et / est
et and est are not really homophones because they sound slightly different. However, it can be easy to confuse them in writing. Again, their grammatical function should be examined.
et is first and foremost a coordination conjunction , i.e. it is used to make the connection between words and ideas: le chien et le chat.
est is a verb just "être". It is found in the conjugation : il est.
- Paul et Virginie
- Le chien et le char
- Il est venu.
A first way to differentiate them is to put the sentence in the past tense: "est" becomes "était" while and does not change.
A second method consists in replacing and by or: le chien ou le chat. If the sentence doesn't make sense anymore, it's probably because it's about is.
In the beginning of a sentence, we write "Eh bien" with a h
e.g.: Eh bien! Qu'allez-vous faire maintenant?
- ET is used to link words between them and can be replaced by OU.
- EST is the verb "être" and can be replaced by ÉTAIT.