This is the lesson many French learners find most exciting — and most surprising! You already know the passé composé with 'avoir', but a special group of verbs form the passé composé with 'être' instead. These are mostly movement and location-change verbs: to go, to come, to arrive, to leave, to stay, to go up, to go down, to go out, to come back. Lucas has just returned from a weekend in Nice, and he is going to tell Camille all about it — using être verbs in almost every sentence. Listen carefully and you will absorb the pattern naturally!
Learning tips
- The verbs that take être in the passé composé are mostly about movement or a change of state. A classic memory trick is 'DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP' — each letter stands for one of these verbs: Devenir, Revenir, Mourir, Rester, Sortir, Venir, Aller, Naître, Descendre, Entrer, Retourner, Tomber, Rentrer, Arriver, Monter, Partir. You don't need to memorise them all today — just focus on the ones in this lesson.
- When you use être as the auxiliary, the past participle must agree with the subject in gender and number, just like an adjective. Masculine singular: allé. Feminine singular: allée (add -e). Masculine plural: allés (add -s). Feminine plural: allées (add -es).
- Compare 'j'ai mangé' (avoir — no agreement) with 'je suis allé/allée' (être — agrees with speaker's gender). This is the key difference between the two types of passé composé.
- In everyday speech, the final -e and -s of agreement are silent — you only hear the difference when there is a vowel after the participle. But in writing, the agreement must always be there.
Warm-up & Active Recall
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| j'ai fini | I finished / I have finished |
| j'ai choisi | I chose / I have chosen |
| j'ai lu | I read / I have read |
| j'ai vu | I saw / I have seen |
| j'ai pris | I took / I have taken |
| j'ai fait | I did / I made / I have done |
| j'ai bu | I drank / I have drunk |
| j'ai eu | I had / I have had |
| j'ai été | I was / I have been |
| le mois dernier | last month |
Dialog
It's Monday morning and Lucas has just returned from a long weekend in Nice. He meets Camille at their favourite café and tells her everything he did — in chronological order: he left on Friday, arrived at noon, went up to his room, went down to the beach, went out for dinner, and came back on Sunday. Almost every verb is an être verb. Notice the forms: je suis parti, je suis arrivé, je suis monté, je suis resté, je suis descendu, je suis sorti, je suis rentré.
Vocabulary
Active words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| je suis allé | /ʒə sɥi a.le/ | I went / I have gone | Passé composé of 'aller' with être. Masculine: je suis allé. Feminine: je suis allée. One of the most used past-tense forms. |
| je suis arrivé | /ʒə sɥi a.ʁi.ve/ | I arrived / I have arrived | Passé composé of 'arriver' with être. arriver is a regular -er verb but takes être. Masculine: arrivé, Feminine: arrivée. |
| je suis parti | /ʒə sɥi paʁ.ti/ | I left / I have left | Passé composé of 'partir' with être. Masculine: parti, Feminine: partie. 'Je suis parti(e) à...' = I left at / for... |
| je suis resté | /ʒə sɥi ʁɛs.te/ | I stayed / I have stayed | Passé composé of 'rester' with être. Masculine: resté, Feminine: restée. 'Je suis resté(e) trois jours' = I stayed three days. |
| je suis monté | /ʒə sɥi mɔ̃.te/ | I went up / I have gone up | Passé composé of 'monter' with être. Masculine: monté, Feminine: montée. 'Je suis monté(e) dans ma chambre' = I went up to my room. |
| je suis descendu | /ʒə sɥi de.sɑ̃.dy/ | I went down / I have gone down | Passé composé of 'descendre' with être. Masculine: descendu, Feminine: descendue. 'Je suis descendu(e) à la plage' = I went down to the beach. |
| je suis sorti | /ʒə sɥi sɔʁ.ti/ | I went out / I have gone out | Passé composé of 'sortir' with être. Masculine: sorti, Feminine: sortie. 'Je suis sorti(e) dîner' = I went out for dinner. |
| je suis rentré | /ʒə sɥi ʁɑ̃.tʁe/ | I came back / I have come back | Passé composé of 'rentrer' with être. Masculine: rentré, Feminine: rentrée. 'Je suis rentré(e) par le train' = I came back by train. |
| la plage | /la plaʒ/ | the beach | Feminine noun. La plage is a key summer travel destination. 'Aller à la plage' = to go to the beach. |
| les bagages | /le ba.ɡaʒ/ | the luggage / bags | Masculine plural noun. Always used in the plural in French: 'les bagages'. 'Prendre ses bagages' = to take one's luggage. |
Passive words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| je suis venu | /ʒə sɥi və.ny/ | ||
| je suis tombé | /ʒə sɥi tɔ̃.be/ | ||
| je suis né | /ʒə sɥi ne/ | ||
| je suis retourné | /ʒə sɥi ʁə.tuʁ.ne/ | ||
| je suis entré | /ʒə sɥi ɑ̃.tʁe/ | ||
| je suis passé | /ʒə sɥi pa.se/ |
Useful chunks
| Word | Translation |
|---|---|
| je suis allé(e) à | I went to (masculine/feminine speaker) |
| il / elle est allé(e) | he / she went |
| ils / elles sont allé(e)s | they (m/f) went |
Grammar: Passé composé with être — movement and state-change verbs — past participle agrees with the subject in gender and number
| Sujet | Participe passé | Exemple |
|---|---|---|
| je (m) | allé | je suis allé à Nice |
| je (f) | allée | je suis allée à Nice |
| tu (m) | allé | tu es allé à la plage |
| tu (f) | allée | tu es allée à la plage |
| il | allé | il est allé au marché |
| elle | allée | elle est allée au marché |
| nous (m/mix) | allés | nous sommes allés |
| nous (f) | allées | nous sommes allées |
| ils | allés | ils sont allés |
| elles | allées | elles sont allées |
Most verbs in the passé composé use 'avoir' as the auxiliary. But a specific group — mostly verbs describing movement from one place to another or a change of state — use 'être' instead. The most common être verbs you will need are: aller (allé) — to go, venir (venu) — to come, partir (parti) — to leave, arriver (arrivé) — to arrive, rester (resté) — to stay, monter (monté) — to go up, descendre (descendu) — to go down, sortir (sorti) — to go out, rentrer (rentré) — to come back/go home, naître (né) — to be born, mourir (mort) — to die, tomber (tombé) — to fall. When you use être as the auxiliary, the past participle must agree with the grammatical subject, just like an adjective: add -e for a feminine subject, -s for a plural subject, -es for feminine plural. So if a woman is speaking: Je suis allée (not allé). If you are talking about a group of women: Elles sont allées. If you are talking about a mixed group or a group of men: Ils sont allés. For a single man: Il est allé. This agreement is written but often not heard in speech because the extra letters are silent.
Exercises
Fill in the Blanks
Complete each sentence with the correct past participle. Pay attention to gender and number agreement.
- Je suis à Nice vendredi matin. (partir)(partir, masculine speaker — je suis ___)
- Elle est à l'hôtel à midi. (arriver)(arriver, feminine subject 'elle' — elle est ___e)
- Nous sommes sur la plage toute la journée. (rester)(rester, mixed plural 'nous' — nous sommes ___s)
- Il est dans sa chambre avec ses bagages. (monter)(monter, masculine 'il' — il est ___)
- Elles sont du restaurant à dix heures. (sortir)(sortir, feminine plural 'elles' — elles sont ___es)
Grammar Application
Build a full passé composé sentence using être for each set of prompts. Remember to apply the correct gender/number agreement.
- je / aller / à Paris (masculin) → (je + aller + à Paris, masculine speaker)
- elle / partir / hier soir → (elle + partir + hier soir)
- ils / descendre / à la plage → (ils + descendre + à la plage — masculine plural)
- nous (féminin) / rentrer / tôt → (nous + rentrer + tôt — feminine plural group)
- tu (féminin) / monter / dans le train → (tu + monter + dans le train — feminine speaker)
Translate into French
Translate each sentence into French using the passé composé with être. Apply agreement where indicated.
- I went to Nice last weekend. (masculine speaker)
- She arrived at the station at nine o'clock.
- We stayed three days in Nice. (mixed group)
- He went out with his luggage in the morning.
- They (feminine) went down to the beach last night.
Build Your Own Sentence
Write your own French sentence using the passé composé with être. Think about a journey or movement you made recently.
Takeaway
A small but important group of movement verbs — aller, partir, arriver, rester, monter, descendre, sortir, rentrer, and a few others — use être (not avoir) in the passé composé, and their past participles agree with the subject's gender and number.