This cheat sheet explains when to use avoir and when to use être as auxiliary verbs in the passé composé. Students need this reference because the choice of auxiliary changes how a past-tense sentence is formed. It also helps students remember the common être verbs and avoid agreement mistakes.
The goal is to make French past tense clearer and easier to check while writing or speaking.
Most French verbs use avoir in the passé composé, using the pattern subject + avoir + past participle. A smaller group of movement and change-of-state verbs use être, using the pattern subject + être + past participle. With être verbs, the past participle agrees with the subject in gender and number.
Reflexive verbs also usually use être and often require agreement with the subject.
Key Facts
- Most verbs form the passé composé with avoir: subject + avoir + past participle, as in J'ai parlé.
- DR/MRS VANDERTRAMPP verbs use être in the passé composé: subject + être + past participle, as in Elle est allée.
- The common être verb list is devenir, revenir, monter, rester, sortir, venir, aller, naître, descendre, entrer, rentrer, tomber, retourner, arriver, mourir, partir, passer.
- With être, the past participle agrees with the subject: add e for feminine singular, s for masculine plural, and es for feminine plural.
- With avoir, the past participle usually does not agree with the subject: Ils ont mangé and Elle a fini.
- Reflexive verbs usually use être in the passé composé: subject + reflexive pronoun + être + past participle, as in Je me suis levé.
- Some movement verbs use avoir when they take a direct object, such as J'ai monté les valises, but use être when there is no direct object, such as Je suis monté.
- The passé composé of être and avoir themselves uses avoir: J'ai été means I was or I have been, and J'ai eu means I had or I have had.
Vocabulary
- Auxiliary verb
- An auxiliary verb is a helping verb, such as avoir or être, used with a past participle to form the passé composé.
- Passé composé
- The passé composé is a French past tense formed with an auxiliary verb plus a past participle.
- Past participle
- A past participle is the verb form used after avoir or être, such as parlé, fini, vendu, allé, or fait.
- DR/MRS VANDERTRAMPP
- DR/MRS VANDERTRAMPP is a memory tool for common French verbs that use être in the passé composé.
- Agreement
- Agreement means changing the ending of a past participle to match gender and number, usually by adding e, s, or es.
- Reflexive verb
- A reflexive verb is a verb used with a reflexive pronoun, such as me, te, se, nous, or vous, and it usually uses être in the passé composé.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Using avoir with aller is wrong because aller is an être verb in the passé composé. Write Je suis allé or Je suis allée, not J'ai allé.
- Forgetting agreement with être is wrong because the past participle must match the subject. Write Elles sont parties, not Elles sont parti.
- Adding agreement to every avoir verb is wrong because avoir verbs usually do not agree with the subject. Write Elle a mangé, not Elle a mangée, unless a preceding direct object requires agreement in more advanced grammar.
- Confusing être verbs with all movement verbs is wrong because not every verb of motion uses être. For example, courir and marcher normally use avoir, as in J'ai couru and Nous avons marché.
- Using the infinitive after the auxiliary is wrong because the passé composé needs a past participle. Write Tu as fini, not Tu as finir.
Practice Questions
- 1 Choose the correct auxiliary and complete the sentence: Nous ___ arrivé___ à huit heures.
- 2 Rewrite in the passé composé: Elle va au cinéma.
- 3 Choose the correct form: Ils ont sorti or Ils sont sortis? Translate your answer into English.
- 4 Explain why Elle est montée and Elle a monté les valises use different auxiliary verbs.
Understanding Avoir vs Être Auxiliary Reference
The auxiliary is the part of the passé composé that changes to match the person speaking or being discussed. The past participle carries the main action, but it stays the same in many sentences. This means students should first identify the subject, then choose the correct present-tense form of the auxiliary.
A sentence about yesterday, last weekend, or a completed event usually needs this two-part structure. Time words can help reveal the meaning.
Hier, soudain, déjà, and enfin often appear in accounts of completed actions. In conversation, this tense helps people tell what happened, describe a trip, report a result, or explain why they are late.
Past participles need their own careful study. Regular verbs often follow useful patterns. Verbs ending in er usually form a past participle ending in é.
Verbs ending in ir often end in i, while many verbs ending in re end in u. These patterns do not cover every verb. Students need to learn common irregular forms such as fait, pris, vu, dit, écrit, and ouvert.
A good habit is to learn each new verb as a set. Learn its infinitive, its meaning, its auxiliary, and its past participle. This prevents a common error where a student knows the verb but guesses the wrong completed form.
Agreement becomes more detailed once sentences include objects. With avoir, the past participle can agree when a direct object comes before it. In Les lettres que j’ai écrites, the letters appear before écrites, so the ending matches letters.
This rule is often introduced later because it requires students to find the direct object first. Reflexive verbs need similar attention. In Elle s’est lavée, the person receives the action, so lavée agrees with elle.
In Elle s’est lavé les mains, the hands receive the action. The word se acts indirectly, so lavé does not change.
Students should not add endings automatically. They should first decide who or what receives the action directly.
Several verbs can use different auxiliaries because their meaning changes. Je suis sorti means that I went out. J’ai sorti le chien means that I took the dog out.
The dog is a direct object, so the verb works differently. The same idea appears with monter, descendre, passer, retourner, and rentrer. Look for a noun that receives the action.
If the person simply moves, the verb often describes a change of place. If the subject causes something to move or handles something, the verb may take a direct object.
Word order matters in longer sentences. In negatives, ne and pas go around the auxiliary, as in Je ne suis pas arrivé. Short object pronouns come before the auxiliary, as in Je l’ai vu.
Adverbs such as beaucoup and déjà often come after the auxiliary and before the past participle. Reading short diary entries, travel stories, and text messages helps students see these patterns in real French. When checking work, find the auxiliary first, locate the past participle next, then check agreement only after identifying the subject and any direct object.