Spot the mistake: avoir or être in the passé composé
J'ai allé, elle a venue, nous avons resté: tap the wrong auxiliary in eight passé composé sentences, then review the être verbs and agreement.
- A2
- 8 sentences
- Tap the wrong word
- Learn this in the A2 notebook →
In short
Most verbs take avoir in the passé composé, but about fifteen verbs of movement and change of state take être (aller, venir, partir, arriver, rester, naître, mourir, tomber…), as do all pronominal verbs (se lever). With the non-pronominal être verbs in this activity, the participle agrees with the subject. Pronominal agreement is a separate question: elles se sont lavées, but elles se sont parlé because the pronoun is indirect.
Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learnRed watch out
Tap the word that's wrong in each sentence.
Yesterday I went to the cinema.
Aller takes être.
She came with her brother.
Venir takes être.
We stayed at home.
Rester takes être.
They left at eight.
Partir takes être.
I got up early.
Pronominal verbs take être: je me suis levé.
He fell down the stairs.
Tomber takes être.
My grandparents were born in Italy.
Naître takes être.
Did you eat at the canteen?
Manger takes avoir.
Avoir or être in the passé composé?
| Verb | Passé composé |
|---|---|
| aller / venir | je suis allé(e) / venu(e) |
| arriver / partir | je suis arrivé(e) / parti(e) |
| entrer / sortir | je suis entré(e) / sorti(e) |
| monter / descendre | je suis monté(e) / descendu(e) |
| naître / mourir | il est né / mort |
| rester / tomber / retourner / devenir | je suis resté(e) / tombé(e)… |
| all pronominal verbs | je me suis levé(e) |
A popular memory aid imagines a house: you arrive, go in (entrer), go up (monter), stay (rester), fall (tomber), come down, go out and leave. Careful: monter, descendre, sortir, passer and rentrer take avoir when they have a direct object: J'ai monté les valises.
- Collègue
Tu as fait quoi ce week-end ?
What did you do this weekend?
- Toi
Je suis allée à Lyon. Je suis partie samedi et je suis rentrée hier soir.
I went to Lyon. I left on Saturday and got back last night.
- Collègue
Et tu as visité quoi ?
And what did you visit?