In the question "I went back to see her." I replied J'ai retourné la voir. Wrong.
Whenever I check on some verb sites for the passé composé for Retourner it gives me Avoir as the auxiliary. How do I determine when this type of verb uses être or when it uses avoir?
There is a series of lessons on verbs that can use être or avoir in compound tenses. Most follow the same rule, but beware there is an exception - it’s not retourner!
Link for retourner ( and demeurer, the exception )
See your problem but retourner changes its meaning when used with avoir.. it is not entirely obvious but is well explained in Maarten's links
In your example YOU are returning, être.. you are not acting on an object.. avoir.
(The one that catches me is climbing the stairs..now that one IS illogical unless I were a carpenter!)
Peter, there are a number of good verb conjugation sites on line, but Bescherelle is what I use - it is a descendant of a classic, comprehensive - covering both older and revised spelling, and includes the dual forms of compound verbs such as retourner that use être or avoir.
It is easy to use and exactly the right price !
https://bescherelle.com/conjugueur.php?term=Retourner
In the question "I went back to see her." I replied J'ai retourné la voir. Wrong.
Whenever I check on some verb sites for the passé composé for Retourner it gives me Avoir as the auxiliary. How do I determine when this type of verb uses être or when it uses avoir?
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