1.27:_Passe_compose_avec_etre

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To tell what you did in the past, most French verbs form the pass&eacute; compos&eacute; with the pr&eacute;sent tense of avoir. However, some verbs use the present tense of &ecirc;tre as an auxiliary.

The verbs using &ecirc;tre as an auxiliary are:

<ul>
 <li>Verbs of movement (venir, partir, and aller, for example) or have a base that is a verb of movement (devenir comes from venir, so it too takes &ecirc;tre);</li>
 <li>Verbs that shows a change of condition (mourir and na&icirc;tre are the key ones here); or</li>
 <li>Reflexive verbs.</li>
</ul>

For verbs that have &ecirc;tre as an auxiliary, with very few exceptions, the participle will match the gender and number of the subject as if it were an adjective. For example:

&#9758; Elle est all&eacute;e &agrave; Paris . She went to Paris.

<table class="mt-responsive-table" style="border-collapse:collapse;height:155px;">
 <tbody>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">Pr&eacute;sent of &ecirc;tre + past participle</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">je suis all&eacute;</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">tu es all&eacute;(e) </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">il est all&eacute;</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">elle est all&eacute;e</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">on est all&eacute;(e)(s)</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">nous sommes all&eacute;(e)s</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">vous &ecirc;tes all&eacute;(e)s</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:20px;">ils sont all&eacute;s</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">elles sont all&eacute;es</td>
 </tr>
 </tbody>
</table>

Practice

<h3>Participles</h3>

Many of the participles of irregular verbs are irregular, so it&rsquo;s better to memorize those ones, but regular verbs usually have regular participles that look like this:

<table class="mt-responsive-table" style="height:262px;border-spacing:0px;">
 <tbody>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading">aller</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">je suis all&eacute;(e)</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">&nbsp;</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">passer</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">je suis pass&eacute;(e)</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading">arriver</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">je suis arriv&eacute;(e)</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">&nbsp;</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">rentrer</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">je suis rentr&eacute;(e)</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading">descendre</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">je suis descendu(e)</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">&nbsp;</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">rester</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">je suis rest&eacute;(e)</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading">entrer</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">je suis entr&eacute;(e)</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">&nbsp;</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">retourner</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">je suis retourn&eacute;(e)</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading">monter</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">je suis mont&eacute;(e)</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">&nbsp;</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">sortir</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">je suis sorti(e)</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading">mourir*</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">je suis mort(e)</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">&nbsp;</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">tomber</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">je suis tomb&eacute;(e)</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading">na&icirc;tre*</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">je suis n&eacute;(e)</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">&nbsp;</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">venir*</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">je suis venu(e)</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading">partir</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">je suis parti(e)</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">&nbsp;</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">devenir</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">je suis devenu(e)</td>
 </tr>
 </tbody>
</table>

<table class="mt-responsive-table" style="height:108px;border-spacing:0px;">
 <tbody>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading">*mourir</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">il est mort</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading">*na&icirc;tre</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">Il est n&eacute;</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading">*venir</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">Il est venu</td>
 </tr>
 </tbody>
</table>

Practice

As mentioned before, reflexive verbs always use &ecirc;tre in the pass&eacute; compos&eacute;. Note, however, that when a noun follows the verb, no past participle agreement is made.

&#9758; Elle s&rsquo;est lav&eacute;e. She washed up.

but &#9758; Elle s&rsquo;est lav&eacute; les cheveux. She washed her hair.

Practice

To narrate a series of events or actions, use the following expression

<table class="mt-responsive-table" style="border-collapse:collapse;height:75px;">
 <tbody>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">d&rsquo;abord</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">first</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">ensuite</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">next</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">apr&egrave;s</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">after, after that</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">puis</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">then</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">enfin</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">finally</td>
 </tr>
 </tbody>
</table>

&#9758; D&rsquo;abord Paul a pris une douche, ensuite il s&rsquo;est habill&eacute; et puis il a d&eacute;jeun&eacute;. Apr&eacute;s, il s&rsquo;est bross&eacute; les dents et enfin il est parti au travail.

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