Passe Composé verbs needing être

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What verbs use être in the passé composé?

Do you struggle to remember whether to use “avoir” or “être” in the passé composé?

Here’s an easy way to remember with an acronym: MRS VANDERTRAMP

Monter→monté(went up)
Retourner→retourné(returned)
Sortir→sorti(went out)
Venir→venu(came)
Arriver→arrivé(arrived)
Naître  →né(was born)
Descendre →descendu(went down)
Entrer→entré(entered)
Rester  →resté(stayed)
Tomber→tombé(fell)
Rentrer→rentré(went back in)
Aller→allé(went)
Mourir→mort(died)
Partir   →parti(left)

Here’s another visual representation of these verbs.

Here are some examples:

  1. Il est monté au grenier =  He went up into the attic
  2. Il est né en 1975 = He was born in 1975
  3. Elle est tombée = She fell over
  4. Je suis arrivé lundi = I arrived on Monday
  5. Nous sommes allés à la bibliotèque pour emprunter un livre = We went to the library to borrow a book
  6. Il est retourné en Afrique du sud = He went back to South Africa
  7. Il est entré sans rien dire = He came in without saying anything
  8. Ils sont venus me voir = They came to see me
  9. Nous sommes restés chez nous = We stayed at home
  10. Tu es sorti voir tes amis = You went out to see your friends

Maintenant, à vous ! Traduisez ces phrases en Français:

  1. We arrived late

__________________________________________________________

  1. Her baby was born in May

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  1. He went out with a girl called Anna

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  1. We didn’t come home late

__________________________________________________________

  1. Elise fell over at her gym lesson

__________________________________________________________

  1. I stayed at home last night

__________________________________________________________

  1. We went to see our parents at the weekend

__________________________________________________________

  1. Jean and Marie came together

__________________________________________________________

  1. His parents died in an accident on the motorway

_________________________________________________________

  1. I came back from holiday last night

__________________________________________________________

Reflexive verbs also take “être” in the passé composé.

Here’s an example with “se laver” (to get washed)

Je me suis lavé(e)→I got washed
Tu t’es lavé(e)→you got washed
Il s’est lavé→he got washed
Elle s’est lavée→she got washed
On s’est lavé→we got washed
Nous nous sommes lavé(e)s→we got washed
Vous vous êtes lavé(e)s→you got washed
Ils se sont lavés→they got washed
Elles se sont lavées→they got washed

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