Compound past formed with "être" (including reflexive verbs)

Passé Composé with Être (including reflexives)

What is the passé composé with être?

The passé composé is one of the main past tenses in French. It is a compound tense: it uses an auxiliary (helper) verb in the present + the past participle of the main verb. Most verbs use the auxiliary avoir, but some verbs use être. "Passé composé with être" means the auxiliary verb is être (to be) rather than avoir (to have).

When être is the auxiliary, the past participle usually agrees in gender and number with the subject (see agreement rules below). Reflexive (pronominal) verbs always use être in the passé composé.

Examples:
- Je suis allé au marché. — I went to the market. (auxiliary: être)
- Elle est née en 1990. — She was born in 1990. (être)
- Nous nous sommes lavés. — We washed ourselves. (reflexive + être)

When do I use être instead of avoir?

Use être as the auxiliary in two main situations:

1) All reflexive (pronominal) verbs
- Verbs like se laver, se réveiller, s'habiller, se souvenir, se rencontrer, etc.: they form the passé composé with être.
- Example: Tu t'es levé tôt. — You (informal) got up early.

2) A limited set of mostly intransitive verbs (movement or change of state)
- These are commonly memorized with mnemonics like "Dr & Mrs VANDERTRAMP" or "DR MRS P. VANDERTRAMP". They include verbs such as:
- Devenir (devenu) — to become
- Revenir (revenu) — to come back
- Monter (monté) — to go up
- Rentrer (rentré) — to return home / re-enter
- Sortir (sorti) — to go out
- Venir (venu) — to come
- Aller (allé) — to go
- Naître (né) — to be born
- Descendre (descendu) — to go down
- Entrer (entré) — to enter
- Retourner (retourné) — to return
- Tomber (tombé) — to fall
- Rester (resté) — to stay
- Arriver (arrivé) — to arrive
- Mourir (mort) — to die
- Partir (parti) — to leave
- Passer (passé) — to pass by / go by (see note below)

Examples:
- Il est arrivé hier. — He arrived yesterday.
- Elles sont parties à midi. — They (fem.) left at noon.
- Je suis venu te voir. — I came to see you.

Note: Some verbs from this group can also use avoir when they are transitive (i.e., when they take a direct object). See the dedicated section below.

How do I form the passé composé with être?

Step 1: Conjugate être in the present tense
- je suis
- tu es
- il/elle/on est
- nous sommes
- vous êtes
- ils/elles sont

Step 2: Add the past participle of the main verb
- Regular past participles: -er → -é (parler → parlé), -ir → -i (finir → fini), -re → -u (vendre → vendu).
- Irregular past participles vary: aller → allé, venir → venu, naître → né, mourir → mort, devenir → devenu, etc.

Example conjugations (être + past participle):
- Je suis allé / Je suis allée. — I went. (male / female speaker)
- Tu es parti / Tu es partie. — You left.
- Il est tombé. — He fell.
- Elle est tombée. — She fell.
- Nous sommes arrivés / Nous sommes arrivées. — We arrived. (m / f or mixed / all female)
- Vous êtes venu / Vous êtes venue / Vous êtes venus / Vous êtes venues. — You came. (depend on singular/plural & gender)
- Ils sont sortis. — They (m or mixed) went out.
- Elles sont sorties. — They (f) went out.

Agreement rules with être

When the auxiliary is être, the past participle normally agrees in gender and number with the subject.

Endings to add to the past participle (default is masculine singular):
- add -e for feminine singular (allé → allée)
- add -s for masculine plural (allé → allés)
- add -es for feminine plural (allé → allées)

Examples:
- Il est allé. — He went.
- Elle est allée. — She went.
- Ils sont partis. — They (m) left.
- Elles sont parties. — They (f) left.

Important: For verbs using avoir as the auxiliary, agreement is with a preceding direct object (if there is one). But when auxiliary = être, agreement is with the subject (except special reflexive cases below).

Reflexive verbs: formation and special agreement rules

1) Formation
Reflexive verbs use a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous, se) placed before the auxiliary être in passé composé:
- Je me suis lavé(e). — I washed myself.
- Tu t'es brossé les dents. — You brushed your teeth.
- Nous nous sommes amusés. — We had fun.

2) Agreement rules for reflexive verbs
Reflexive verbs usually use être as the auxiliary. Agreement of the past participle depends on whether the reflexive pronoun is a direct object or an indirect object and whether there is another direct object after the verb.

Simple rule (useful shorthand):
- If the reflexive pronoun (se / me / te / nous / vous) is the direct object of the verb, the past participle agrees with the subject.
- If the reflexive pronoun is an indirect object (the verb uses 'à' or another preposition), or if a direct object follows the verb, then the past participle does not agree with the subject.

Clear examples:
- Elle s'est lavée. — She washed herself. ('se' is the direct object → agreement: lavée)
- Elle s'est lavé les mains. — She washed her hands. ('les mains' is the direct object after the verb → no agreement: lavé)
- Ils se sont rencontrés. — They met each other. (reciprocal: 'se' = direct object → agreement: rencontrés)
- Ils se sont parlé. — They talked to each other. ('parler à' → 'se' is indirect → no agreement: parlé)

Agreement with a direct object placed before the verb
If the direct object that the reflexive pronoun refers to is placed before the auxiliary (for example, with a relative pronoun like que), the past participle agrees with that preceding direct object.
- La main qu'elle s'est coupée saignait. — The hand that she cut bled. ('la main' is before the verb, so 'coupée' agrees)

Short examples contrasting cases:
- Elle s'est coupé les cheveux. — She cut her hair. (no agreement: coupé)
- Les cheveux qu'elle s'est coupés étaient courts. — The hair that she cut was short. (agreement with "les cheveux" preceding → coupés)

Verbs that can take être or avoir (meaning matters)

Some verbs can use either être or avoir in the passé composé depending on whether they are used transitively (with a direct object) or intransitively (no direct object). The most common examples:

- Monter
- Il est monté. — He went up. (intransitive → être)
- Il a monté la valise. — He took the suitcase up. (transitive → avoir)
- Sortir
- Elle est sortie. — She went out. (intransitive → être)
- Elle a sorti le chien. — She took the dog out. (transitive → avoir)
- Descendre
- Nous sommes descendus. — We went down. (intransitive → être)
- Nous avons descendu les valises. — We brought the suitcases down. (transitive → avoir)
- Passer
- Il est passé chez moi. — He stopped by my place. (intransitive → être)
- Il a passé l'examen. — He took the exam. (transitive → avoir)
- Retourner / Rentrer / Remonter (same idea)

When these verbs use avoir, the past participle follows the agreement rule for avoir: it only agrees if there is a preceding direct object pronoun.

Negative forms and questions

Negation
Place the negation around the auxiliary (être). With reflexive verbs, the reflexive pronoun stays before the auxiliary.
- Je ne suis pas allé(e). — I didn't go.
- Elle ne s'est pas réveillée. — She didn't wake up.
- Nous ne nous sommes pas rencontrés hier. — We didn't meet yesterday.

Questions
You can form questions with est-ce que or inversion.
- Est-ce que tu es allé au marché ? — Did you go to the market?
- Es-tu allé au marché ? — Did you go to the market? (inversion)
- Est-ce que tu t'es levé ce matin ? — Did you get up this morning?
- T'es-tu levé ce matin ? — Did you get up this morning? (inversion, more formal)

Common mistakes to avoid

- Forgetting to agree the past participle with the subject when the auxiliary is être.
- Incorrect: Elle est allé au cinéma. Correct: Elle est allée au cinéma.
- Adding agreement when the auxiliary is avoir (unless a preceding direct object requires it).
- Incorrect: *Elle a allée. Correct: Elle a allé (but note: 'aller' does not normally use avoir in that sense).
- For reflexive verbs, wrongly adding agreement when a direct object follows the verb.
- Incorrect: *Elle s'est lavée les mains. Correct: Elle s'est lavé les mains.
- Confusing verbs that take être intransitively and avoir transitively (see monter, sortir, descendre, passer).
- Assuming English patterns: in English there is no gender/number agreement for past participles — remember French requires it with être.

Quick reference: être (present) + a few common past participles

Être (present):
- je suis, tu es, il/elle/on est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils/elles sont.

Common past participles used with être:
- aller → allé
- venir → venu
- naître → né
- mourir → mort
- tomber → tombé
- arriver → arrivé
- partir → parti
- entrer → entré
- sortir → sorti
- monter → monté
- descendre → descendu
- rester → resté
- revenir → revenu
- devenir → devenu
- passer → passé

Glossary

Auxiliary (helping) verb — a verb (avoir or être) used with a past participle to form compound tenses like the passé composé.

Past participle — the form of the verb that combines with the auxiliary in compound tenses (parlé, fini, vendu, allé, etc.).

Reflexive (pronominal) verb — a verb with a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous) showing the subject acts on itself (se laver = to wash oneself).

Direct object / Indirect object — direct object receives the action directly (je mange la pomme — la pomme = direct object). Indirect object is linked with a preposition (je parle à Pierre — à Pierre = indirect object).

Intransitive verb — a verb that does not take a direct object (e.g., aller, arriver). Often these use être in the passé composé.

Transitive verb — a verb that takes a direct object (e.g., manger, acheter). These usually use avoir in the passé composé.

Summary and practical tips

- Passé composé = present of auxiliary (avoir or être) + past participle.
- Use être as auxiliary for all reflexive verbs and for a specific group of mostly motion/change-of-state verbs (Dr & Mrs Vandertramp list).
- When using être, make the past participle agree in gender and number with the subject (add -e, -s, or -es when needed).
- For reflexive verbs, decide whether the reflexive pronoun is a direct object (then agree) or indirect (no agreement). If another direct object follows the verb, do not agree.
- Watch verbs that can take être or avoir depending on whether they are used intransitively or transitively (e.g., monter, sortir, descendre, passer, retourner, rentrer).

If in doubt: identify the auxiliary first (être or avoir), then identify the subject gender/number (for être) or any preceding direct object (for avoir). That will tell you whether to add -e / -s / -es to the past participle.

Further examples (compact list)

- Je suis tombé hier. — I fell yesterday. (m)
- Je suis tombée hier. — I fell yesterday. (f)
- Elle est rentrée tard. — She returned late.
- Ils sont devenus amis. — They became friends.
- Nous nous sommes réveillés à huit heures. — We woke up at eight. (m or mixed group)
- Nous nous sommes réveillées à huit heures. — We woke up at eight. (all female)
- Il s'est arrêté. — He stopped.
- Il s'est arrêté le bras. — He stopped his arm? (avoid this: here you would say "Il s'est arrêté" or "Il s'est arrêté la voiture" is incorrect — use clear direct objects)
- Elle s'est souvenu(e) de la date. — She remembered the date. ('se souvenir de' — no agreement: souvenu)