Take the fastest path to fluent French
In Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) or conversational past, most verbs use avoir as their auxiliary.
However, a fixed number of verbs use être as their auxiliary verb instead.
They are almost all verbs to do with movement.
Learn how to conjugate coming and going verbs in Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) in French
You say: Je suis allé (I went) and not j'ai allé.
ATTENTION:
Note that the past participle following être agrees with the subject of the verb.
To learn about this, see Agreeing past participle with subject's gender and number with (+ être) verbs in the compound past in French (Le Passé Composé)
To learn about this, see Agreeing past participle with subject's gender and number with (+ être) verbs in the compound past in French (Le Passé Composé)
The verbs to do with coming and going use être
Aller – to go – allé
Venir – to come – venu
Revenir – to come back – revenu
Arriver – to arrive – arrivé
Entrer – to enter – entré
Rentrer – to re-enter – rentré
Retourner – to return – retourné
Sortir – to exit – sorti
Partir – to leave – parti
Tomber – to fall – tombé
For more verbs + être, see Conjugate mourir, naître, décéder, devenir, rester (+ être) in the compound past in French (Le Passé Composé)
There is also a "house diagram" showing these verbs in one easy-to-remember picture on Wikipedia:
La maison être
La maison être
Want to make sure your French sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Brainmap today »
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
