Avoir or Être? Choosing the Passé Composé Auxiliary
Most French verbs use avoir for passé composé - but about 17 movement verbs plus all reflexives use être, and their past participle must agree.
Most French verbs use avoir for the passé composé (j’ai mangé). About 17 movement and state verbs - aller, venir, partir, arriver, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, naître, mourir among them - plus all reflexive verbs, use être instead, and their past participle must agree with the subject: elle est partie, ils sont partis.
Quick answer
Most French verbs use avoir for the passé composé (j’ai mangé). About 17 movement and state verbs - aller, venir, partir, arriver, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, naître, mourir among them - plus all reflexive verbs, use être instead, and their past participle must agree with the subject: elle est partie, ils sont partis.
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See also être conjugation and avoir conjugation.
The default: avoir
Most verbs, no agreement needed: j’ai mangé, elle a fini.
The être group: ~17 movement and state verbs
| Verb | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| naître | to be born |
| mourir | to die |
| retourner | to return |
| rester | to stay |
| tomber | to fall |
| passer (sometimes) | to pass by |
| devenir | to become |
| revenir | to come back |
All reflexive verbs also use être
Je me suis levé(e), elle s’est habillée - a second, separate category from the movement-verb list above. See the reflexive verb s’appeler for a related reflexive example.
The agreement rule
Être-group past participles agree with the subject in gender/number: il est parti, elle est partie, ils sont partis, elles sont parties.
Common mistakes
Forgetting agreement on être-group participles; using avoir with an être verb (a genuine grammatical error, not a style choice).
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Questions about this note
Which verbs use être in the passé composé?
About 17 movement/state verbs (aller, venir, partir, arriver…) plus all reflexive verbs.
Does the past participle change with être verbs?
Yes - it agrees in gender and number with the subject.
How do you say "she left" in French?
Elle est partie (participle agrees, adding -e for feminine).
Do reflexive verbs use avoir or être?
Always être: je me suis levé(e).
What happens if I use avoir with an être verb?
It's a grammatical error - the verb requires être as its auxiliary.