Le passé composé avec être
Most French verbs build the past with avoir. About fourteen common verbs build it with être instead — and when they do, the past participle agrees with the subject like an adjective. Il est allé = he went. Elle est allée = she went (extra e). Same logic, different helper.
Which verbs use être? The Mrs/Dr Vandertramp list
Mostly verbs of motion or change of state — coming, going, arriving, staying, being born, dying. Memorize them as a set: aller (to go), venir (to come), arriver (to arrive), partir (to leave), entrer (to enter), sortir (to go out), monter (to go up), descendre (to go down), rester (to stay), tomber (to fall), retourner (to return), devenir (to become), naître (to be born), mourir (to die). Plus all reflexive verbs (next bullet).
Past participles of these verbs
aller → allé, arriver → arrivé, entrer → entré, monter → monté, rester → resté, tomber → tombé, retourner → retourné, devenir → devenu, venir → venu, partir → parti, sortir → sorti, descendre → descendu, naître → né, mourir → mort. The first nine follow the regular -er rule; venu/devenu look like -re; né and mort are oddballs.
Agreement: the participle agrees with the subject
Like an adjective: add -e for feminine, -s for plural, -es for feminine plural. Il est allé (he went) → Elle est allée (she went) → Ils sont allés (they-m went) → Elles sont allées (they-f went). You hear the difference rarely — allé, allée, allés, allées all sound the same — but you write it. Exception: mort has a real audible feminine — morte.
Reflexive verbs always take être
Every reflexive from the last lesson — se laver, se lever, se réveiller, s'habiller, s'appeler, se reposer — uses être, not avoir. Je me suis levé (I got up — m.). Elle s'est levée (she got up — extra e). Nous nous sommes lavés (we washed up — m. plural). The reflexive pronoun stays in front of the helper; agreement still happens.
Negation and word order
ne and pas wrap être alone, just like with avoir. Je ne suis pas allé = I didn't go. Elle n'est pas restée = she didn't stay. With a reflexive: Je ne me suis pas levé = I didn't get up — ne and pas wrap the me suis unit. Question forms work the same as last lesson: Tu es allé au cinéma? / Est-ce que tu es allé au cinéma?
avoir or être? A quick test
If your verb is on the Vandertramp list OR is reflexive, use être. Otherwise, use avoir. Tricky cases: monter, descendre, sortir, rentrer are normally être (motion: je suis sorti = I went out), but become avoir when used with a direct object meaning 'to bring/take something up/down/out': j'ai sorti la voiture = I took the car out. Don't sweat this exception today — just know intransitive motion = être.
