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Le passĂ© composĂ© avec ĂȘtre â The Movement Verbs and All Reflexives
đ¶ Le passĂ© composĂ© avec ĂȘtre â The Movement Verbs and All Reflexives
A small but important group of verbs refuse to use avoir in the perfect tense â they insist on ĂȘtre instead. Most of them describe movement or a change of state: going, arriving, leaving, falling, being born, dying. Plus every reflexive verb (anything with se) uses ĂȘtre too. The trick is: with ĂȘtre, the past participle agrees with the subject â it works like an adjective.
Le passĂ© composĂ© avec ĂȘtre
Structure: ĂȘtre (present tense) + past participle (agrees with subject)
Earn the mark scheme marks
đĄ Exam Tips & Common Errors
- If in doubt about ĂȘtre vs avoir: check if the verb is on the DR MRS VANDERTRAMP list, or if it has a reflexive se â if yes, use ĂȘtre.
- In writing tasks, show gender awareness by writing allé(e) when you are writing as yourself.
- Agreement only adds one or two letters â but examiners notice it and reward it at Higher.
- After an ĂȘtre verb in a sentence with multiple verbs, the next verb may switch back to avoir: je suis allĂ© au marchĂ© et j'ai achetĂ© des lĂ©gumes.
â Common error: Je suis allĂ© au magasin et j'ai achetĂ© une veste, et aprĂšs je suis rentrĂ© chez moi et j'ai mangĂ© â then students forget the switch: "et je suis mangĂ©".
â Correct: âŠet j'ai mangĂ© (not je suis mangĂ©). Manger uses avoir.
Why it costs marks: After correctly using ĂȘtre for rentrer, students sometimes carry the pattern forward incorrectly to the next verb. Always ask: is the next verb on the DR MRS VANDERTRAMP list or reflexive? If not, return to avoir.