Être vs Avoir
Choosing être or avoir as the auxiliary in compound tenses like the passé composé shapes meaning and grammatical agreements. This guide highlights when to use each and how they affect sentence structure.
Être
Être serves as the auxiliary for all reflexive verbs and for a set of typically motion- or change-of-state verbs often taught as "Dr & Mrs Vandertramp." When you use être, the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject.
Examples
| French Example | English Translation |
|---|---|
| ☁️ Je suis monté sur le toit pour attraper le cerf-volant. | I went up onto the roof to catch the kite. |
| 🌳 Elle est descendue sous l’arbre pour lire à l’ombre. | She went down under the tree to read in the shade. |
| 🚪 Nous sommes sortis par la porte du jardin. | We went out through the garden gate. |
| 🏠 Ils sont entrés dans la maison pour se réchauffer. | They went inside the house to warm up. |
Key Verbs
| French Example | English Translation |
|---|---|
| ☝️ Je suis allé au sommet de la colline. | I went up to the top of the hill. |
| 👇 Elle est partie de la plage au coucher du soleil. | She left from the beach at sunset. |
| 🔄 Nous sommes revenus au parc après la promenade. | We came back to the park after the walk. |
| 🛬 Ils sont arrivés en ville en fin d’après-midi. | They arrived in town late in the afternoon. |
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Avoir
Most verbs use avoir as their auxiliary in compound tenses. When avoir is the helper, the past participle usually does not agree with the subject—agreement happens only if there is a preceding direct object.
Examples
| French Example | English Translation |
|---|---|
| 🪁 J’ai un cerf-volant rouge et jaune. | I have a red and yellow kite. |
| 🧺 Tu as un panier plein de fruits. | You have a basket full of fruit. |
| 🐕 Elle a un chien qui court dans le champ. | She has a dog running in the field. |
| 📚 Nous avons des livres pour le pique-nique. | We have books for the picnic. |
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Reflexive Verbs
All reflexive verbs use être as their auxiliary in compound tenses, and the past participle normally agrees with the reflexive pronoun when it functions as a direct object.
Examples
| French Example | English Translation |
|---|---|
| ☁️ Le ballon est monté dans le ciel. | The balloon went up into the sky. |
| 🌊 La barque est partie avec le courant. | The boat went away with the current. |
| 🌅 Le soleil est resté caché derrière les nuages. | The sun stayed hidden behind the clouds. |
| 🌳 Les feuilles sont tombées dans l’herbe. | The leaves fell into the grass. |
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Agreement
With être as the auxiliary, the past participle agrees with the subject in gender and number. With avoir, agreement occurs only if a preceding direct object matches the participle.
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Summary
Use être for reflexive verbs and the "Dr & Mrs Vandertramp" verbs, and remember to agree the past participle with the subject. Use avoir for most other verbs, and make the participle agree only when there is a preceding direct object.
Last updated: Sun Sep 14, 2025