Learn French: Non, tu es un étudiant.

Non, tu es un étudiant.

No, you are a student.

Breakdown of Non, tu es un étudiant.

être

to be

a / an (masculine)

you (informal singular)

l'étudiant

the student (m)

Questions & Answers about Non, tu es un étudiant.

Why is tu used here instead of vous?

Tu is the informal, singular word for 'you.' It is used because the speaker is talking to one person they know well, like a friend, family member, or a fellow student. If they were speaking to a stranger, an authority figure, or multiple people, they would use vous instead.

Why do we use the verb form es instead of est?

Es is the specific form of the verb être (to be) that always matches with tu. You would use est when talking about a third person, like il est (he is) or elle est (she is).

Can I shorten tu es to t'es in writing?

In proper written French, you should always keep them as two separate words: tu es. Unlike je which forces a spelling change before a vowel (like j'aime), tu never officially drops its vowel. However, in casual everyday speaking, native speakers will very often pronounce it as t'es.

Why is un used here? I thought French dropped 'a' or 'an' for professions.

You are right! Usually, French drops the words for 'a' or 'an' (un or une) when stating a profession or a status, making tu es étudiant the most natural and common way to say this. Including un as seen in this sentence is still grammatically correct but usually adds extra emphasis, strongly pointing out 'you are a student' (as opposed to something else, like a teacher).