Passé composé with être: which French verbs use être?

Most French verbs form the passé composé with avoir: j’ai mangé, tu as vu. Use être with two important groups: common movement or change-of-state verbs such as aller, venir, arriver, partir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, naître, mourir, and all reflexive verbs such as se lever. With être, the past participle agrees with the subject: elle est partie, ils sont arrivés.

Verb type Helper Example
most verbs avoir J’ai mangé.I ate.
movement/change verbs être Elle est partie.She left.
reflexive verbs être Je me suis levé.I got up.

The core être verbs

The être verbs are a small, high-frequency set. Instead of memorizing a long mnemonic first, learn them as pairs of movement and state change.

Meaning Infinitive Example
go / come aller / venir Je suis allé. Elle est venue.I went. She came.
arrive / leave arriver / partir Ils sont arrivés. Nous sommes partis.They arrived. We left.
enter / go out entrer / sortir Il est entré. Elle est sortie.He came in. She went out.
go up / go down monter / descendre On est montés.We went up.
return / fall retourner / tomber Tu es tombé ?Did you fall?
be born / die naître / mourir Elle est née en 2001.She was born in 2001.
stay rester Je suis resté ici.I stayed here.

These verbs usually describe motion into, out of, toward, away from, up, down, or a change of state.

Reflexive verbs always use être

Any verb with a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous) uses être in the passé composé.

Je me suis levé tôt. Elle s’est réveillée à sept heures.
I got up early. She woke up at seven.

The reflexive pronoun stays before the helper: je me suis, tu t’es, elle s’est, nous nous sommes.

Agreement comes with être

With être, the past participle agrees with the subject in gender and number.

Subject Example
masculine singular Il est parti.He left.
feminine singular Elle est partie.She left.
masculine plural Ils sont partis.They left.
feminine plural Elles sont parties.They left.

If the speaker is feminine, je suis allée has an extra -e; if the group is plural, add -s as needed.

Some verbs can switch helper

A few movement verbs can take a direct object. When they do, they often use avoir and change meaning slightly.

Elle est sortie. → She went out.
Elle a sorti les clés. → She took out the keys.

For A2/B1, the practical rule is enough: no direct object and movement/change of place → être; direct object after the verb → often avoir.

Common mistakes

Using avoir with aller, venir or partir

These common movement verbs use être.

J’ai allé au marché. → Je suis allé au marché.
I went to the market.

Forgetting agreement

After être, match the participle to the subject.

Elles sont parti. → Elles sont parties.
They left. (feminine plural)

Using être for every movement verb

Most verbs still use avoir, even when the sentence has motion or action.

Je suis couru au parc. → J’ai couru au parc.
I ran to the park.

The helper choice is the first step; the next detail is the ending. If you want the agreement rule in one place, continue with French past participle agreement. In Fluera you build short past-tense sentences with the helper and ending together, so je suis parti and j’ai mangé become patterns you recognize by sound. Try it when you practice French.

Practice

Question 1 of 10

Elle ___ arrivée hier.

Frequently asked questions

Which French verbs use être in the passé composé?
Common movement/change verbs such as aller, venir, arriver, partir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, tomber, rester, naître, mourir use être. All reflexive verbs also use être: je me suis levé.
Do all movement verbs use être?
No. Many action verbs that involve movement still use avoir, such as courir (j'ai couru) or marcher (j'ai marché). The être group is a specific set of common intransitive movement/change verbs.
Why is it elle est partie, not elle a parti?
Partir is one of the core verbs that forms the passé composé with être. Because the subject is feminine singular, the past participle agrees: partie.
What happens to the past participle with être?
It agrees with the subject: il est parti, elle est partie, ils sont partis, elles sont parties. This agreement is one of the main signs that the helper is être.