Take the fastest path to fluent French
French verb apparaître is very unusual in Le Passé Composé (Indicatif), in that it can take either avoir or être as its auxiliary.
Conjugations of APPARAÎTRE (to appear) in Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) in French
j'/je |
suis apparu(e) |
ai apparu |
tu |
es apparu(e) |
as apparu |
il / elle / on |
est apparu(e)(s) |
a apparu |
nous |
sommes apparu(e)s |
avons apparu |
vous |
êtes apparu(e)(s) |
avez apparu |
ils / elles |
sont apparu(e)s |
ont apparu |
To conjugate apparaître in Le Passé Composé (Indicatif), both auxiliaries avoir and être are perfectly valid and interchangeable while the meaning remains the same.
In terms of usage, être is used more often than avoir in colloquial speech.
Of course, the auxiliaries behave as usual, meaning that with être, you need to agree the past participle with the subject. With avoir, there is no agreement.
Here are some more examples:
Tu aurais vu sa tête quand je suis apparu devant lui !You should have seen his face when I appeared in front of him!
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 »