Le passé composé (avec être)

ÊTRE AS AUXILIARY: used with a specific group of verbs + all reflexive verbs

THE 16 ÊTRE VERBS (mnemonic: DR MRS VANDERTRAMP or La Maison d'Être):

Devenir (become), Revenir (come back) | Monter (go up), Rester (stay), Sortir (go out) | Venir (come), Aller (go), Naître (be born) | Descendre (go down), Entrer (enter), Rentrer (go home), Tomber (fall), Retourner (return/go back), Arriver (arrive), Mourir (die) | Partir (leave)

AGREEMENT RULE: with être, the past participle ALWAYS AGREES with the SUBJECT in gender and number: Marc est allé (Marc went) (m.sg). Marie est allée (Marie went) (f.sg, +E). Ils sont allés (they went) (m.pl, +S). Elles sont allées (they went) (f.pl, +ES).

MNEMONIC TIP: 'La Maison d'Être' (The House of Being): imagine a house. You arrive (arriver), enter (entrer), go up (monter), stay (rester), come back down (descendre), leave (partir), go out (sortir), return (retourner, rentrer, revenir), fall (tomber), and eventually die (mourir) and are born (naître). Also become (devenir), come (venir), go (aller)

REFLEXIVE VERBS: ALL reflexive/pronominal verbs use être in PC: je me suis levé(e) (I got up), tu t'es habillé(e) (you got dressed), il s'est couché (he went to bed), elle s'est couchée (she went to bed).

Some verbs can be TRANSITIVE (→ avoir) or INTRANSITIVE (→ être): Il est monté (he went up) (he went up). Il a monté les valises (he brought the suitcases up) (he took the bags up: transitive, avoir!).

Common mistake: 'il a allé': aller ALWAYS uses être: 'il est allé'

Common mistake: forgetting agreement: 'elle est parti' → 'elle est partie' (E added for feminine)

• Il EST ALLÉ à la banque ce matin. — He went to the bank this morning.
• Elle EST ALLÉE au cinéma avec ses amies. — She went to the cinema with her friends (f).
• Mes parents SONT ARRIVÉS hier soir. — My parents arrived last night.
• Sophie EST NÉE à Lyon en 1995. — Sophie was born in Lyon in 1995.
• Ils SONT RESTÉS à la maison hier. — They stayed at home yesterday.