Passé composé with être
To talk about recent events in French, you use the passé composé. Most verbs build it with avoir, but a small group of common verbs uses être instead. These are mostly verbs of movement and change of state: to go, to come, to arrive, to leave, to be born, to die. When you narrate what you did yesterday or this morning, you will need both groups, so knowing which verbs take être is essential.
The structure is simple: subject + present tense of être + past participle. For example, je suis allé (I went), elle est partie (she left), nous sommes arrivés (we arrived). The tricky part is the agreement, which we cover below.
| aller (allé) | to go (went) |
| venir (venu) | to come (came) |
| arriver (arrivé) | to arrive (arrived) |
| partir (parti) | to leave (left) |
| entrer (entré) | to enter (entered) |
| sortir (sorti) | to go out (went out) |
| monter (monté) | to go up (went up) |
| descendre (descendu) | to go down (went down) |
| rester (resté) | to stay (stayed) |
| tomber (tombé) | to fall (fell) |
| naître (né) | to be born (was born) |
| mourir (mort) | to die (died) |
| rentrer (rentré) | to return home (returned) |
| devenir (devenu) | to become (became) |
Associez chaque verbe à son sens.
Match each verb to its meaning.
Quel auxiliaire utilisent ces verbes ?
Which auxiliary do these verbs use?
Complétez avec être au présent.
Complete with être in the present tense.
Je ____ allé au cinéma.
With être, the past participle agrees with the subject, exactly like an adjective. Add -e if the subject is feminine, -s if it is plural, and -es if it is feminine plural. So a man says je suis allé and a woman says je suis allée; both sound the same but they are spelled differently. For nous and vous, look at who the group is: elles sont arrivées (a group of women).
Faites l'accord : le sujet est féminin.
Add the agreement: the subject is feminine.
Marie est ____ à neuf heures.
Choisissez la phrase correcte.
Choose the correct sentence.
Écoutez et écrivez la phrase.
Listen and type the sentence.
Mettez les mots dans l'ordre.
Put the words in order.
Complétez avec l'accord pour un groupe de femmes.
Complete with the agreement for a group of women.
Mes amies sont ____ en France.
Traduisez en français.
Translate into French.
We arrived at the station.
Quel participe passé est correct pour « ils sont... » (venir) ?
Which past participle is correct for 'they (m.) came'?
Construisez la phrase.
Build the sentence.
Traduisez en anglais.
Translate into English.
Je suis restée à la maison ce matin.
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