1. Passé Composé avec Etre ou Avoir
Ted Raymer

2. Passé Composé Passé composé is one of the French past tenses
It is formed by combining the conjugated form of either “être” or “avoir” with the past participle of a verb
For regularly conjugated past participles:
-ER verbs: change “er” to “é”
-IR verbs: change “ir” to “i”
-RE verbs: change “re” to “u”
The past tenses of some verbs are formed irregularly, and must be memorized separately

3. Premier Check if the verb is Reflexive
If it is, use “être” and go to the final step
If it isn’t, go to step two
For example: Je me suis levé à six heures.

4. Deuxième Check to see if it is on the list (on the next slide)
“Dr. & Mrs. Vandertrampp”
If it is, go to step three
If it is not, use “avoir”
Examples:
J’ai raté le bus. (Not on the list)
Je suis sorti avec mes copains. (On the list)

5. List of Verbs that use Etre
D: Devenir Devenu To become
R: Rester Resté To stay
M: Monter Monté To go up, to climb
R: Retourner Retourné To return, to go back
S: Sortir Sorti To go out
V: Venir Venu To come
A: Aller Allé To go
N: Naître Né To be born
D: Descendre Descendu To go down, to get off
E: Entrer Entré To enter
R: Rentrer Rentré To return, to go home
T: Tomber Tombé To fall
R: Revenir Revenu To come back
A: Arriver Arrivé To arrive
M: Mourir Mort To die
P: Partir Parti To leave
P: Passer Passé To pass by

6. Troisième Check to see if the verb has an object after it
If it does, use avoir
If it doesn’t use être and proceed to step four
Example:
Le prof a rentré les interros. (“les interros” is an object)
Il est né hier.

7. Finalement
If you are using “être,” you have to change the verb so that it agrees with the subject
If the subject is feminine, add an “e” to the end of the verb
If it is plural, add an “s” to the end
For feminine plural subjects, add an “es” to the end
Examples:
Elle est allée au cinéma.
Ils ne sont pas venus ce matin.
Elles sont entrées le châteaux.