est
part of speech
verb (French «est» = is); abbreviation (est. = established, estimated; EST = Eastern Standard Time); suffix «-est»
meaning for a pupil
1) (French) «Est» means «is» in French: «il est content» is «he is happy»; the «s» and «t» are silent, so it sounds like «eh». tree →
2) (French) «L'est» also means «the east» in French, and then the «st» is said. tree →
3) (abbreviation) «Est.» is short for «established» (when a shop or school began) or «estimated» (a guess that is close). tree →
4) (abbreviation) «EST» means Eastern Standard Time, the clock time in the eastern USA and Canada. tree →
5) «-est» is also an English ending meaning «the most»: «tallest», «fastest». tree →
6) In Latin, «est» also means «is». tree →
sense in the lessons
In French lessons «est» is one of the forms of «être» (to be): «c'est» means «it is» or «that's». On signs and shop fronts «Est.» shows the year a business started. In maths and science «est.» marks an estimate. In grammar lessons the ending «-est» makes superlatives: «big, bigger, biggest».
examples
- In French, «c'est bon» means «it's good». tree →
- «Elle est ma sœur» means «she is my sister». tree →
- The bakery sign said «Est.» and then the year it opened. tree →
- The table showed «est. 300 people», meaning about 300. tree →
- The football match starts at seven o'clock EST. tree →
- Add «-est» to make the superlative: «fast, faster, fastest». tree →
- French «est» sounds like «eh», not like «east». tree →
- Duplex libelli dos est: quod risum movet, Et quod prudenti vitam consilio monet. tree →
note
As a whole word, «est» is French, not English. In French, «est» (is) and «et» (and) sound the same, «eh», but are different words. In English, «est.» with a dot is an abbreviation, not a word on its own. Spelling trap with «-est»: double the last letter after a short vowel («big – biggest») and change «y» to «i» («happy – happiest»).
In the corpora
- A plural noun takes a plural verb: le cheval est, but les chevaux sont.
- Adjectives agree even after est: il est petit, elle est petite.
- Picture running for the school bus with a French friend who shouts "On est en retard !" - we're late!
- In talk, French people often use on for "we", with the same verb as il: on est.
- C'est is ce plus est squashed together and means "it is" or "that is": C'est super !
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «est» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.