Purpose

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to identify which verbs take “être” as their passé composé auxiliary and correctly agree the past participle with the subject.

Lesson Explanation

A specific, genuinely important group of verbs uses être instead of avoir as the passé composé auxiliary — mainly verbs of motion and state change, plus all reflexive verbs (Part 3, Lesson 2), a system directly comparable to the Italian essere/avere and German sein/haben systems from earlier-built Gabal courses.

Often remembered by the mnemonic “DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP” (each letter a verb): devenir (to become), revenir (to come back), monter (to go up), rester (to stay), sortir (to go out), venir (to come), aller (to go), naître (to be born), descendre (to go down), entrer (to enter), retourner (to return), tomber (to fall), rentrer (to go back in), arriver (to arrive), mourir (to die), partir (to leave).

The genuinely crucial rule that sets this group apart: when être is the auxiliary, the past participle MUST agree in gender and number with the subject, exactly like an adjective (Part 1, Lesson 5): Il est allé au marché. (masc. singular) versus Elle est allée au marché. (fem. singular, “allée” with an added “-e”) versus Elles sont allées au marché. (fem. plural, “allées”).

A genuinely important pronunciation note: this agreement is often SILENT in speech for many verbs — “allé/allée/allés/allées” can all sound identical — meaning the agreement is primarily a written convention, though it remains fully required in formal writing.

Practice Questions