We’ve already seen how être can be used with verbs to express some sort of movement or change what happened in the past (for example, Elle est allée…).
We can also use être with verbs that show someone’s state of being (for example, mourir, naître, devenir, rester).
Elle est devenue célèbre.
She became famous.
Nous sommes restés à Paris pendant trois semaines.
We stayed in Paris for three weeks.
Mon grand‑père est mort récemment.
My grandfather died recently.
Ma mère est née en France.
My mother was born in France.
As you’ve seen, when you say that something happened in a particular year, you use the word en.
Tu es né en 1985.
You were born in 1985.
But to say in a century, we use au siècle.
Mon fils est né au vingt et unième siècle.
My son was born in the twenty‑first century.
And, to say in a decade (the sixties, the seventies), in French we will use dans les années…
Although les années is plural, the number that comes after remains unchanged.
Mon grand‑père est allé à la guerre dans les années quarante.
My grandfather went to war in the forties.
Dans les années quatre‑vingt‑dix, nous achetions beaucoup de CD.
In the nineties, we used to buy many CDs.
If you want to say to talk about…, you will use parler de…
Il me parle de ses études.
He is talking to me about his studies.
Nous parlons souvent de nos problèmes.
We often talk about our problems.
Elle parle de sa famille.
She is talking about her family.