French passé composé: avoir or être?
Level A2
How to form the French passé composé: regular participles, when to use avoir or être, agreement and common mistakes for English speakers, with examples.
In spoken French, almost every past event uses the passé composé: an auxiliary verb plus a past participle, like English "have eaten". The twist for English speakers is that French has two auxiliaries, avoir and être, and you have to pick the right one every time.
Why this is hard for English speakers
English also builds a past form with "have" plus a participle (I have eaten), but its meaning is different from the French one. French uses the passé composé for both "I ate" and "I have eaten", so it covers what English splits between the simple past and the present perfect. Two other differences cause most of the mistakes.
- Two auxiliaries. English only has "have". French uses être for a short list of movement and change verbs and for all reflexive verbs. J'ai allé is the typical English-speaker error; the correct form is Je suis allé.
- Agreement with être. When the auxiliary is être, the participle agrees with the subject, like an adjective: Elle est partie, Ils sont partis. English participles never change.
- The English "have lived here for five years" does not translate. French stays in the present for something that is still true: J'habite ici depuis cinq ans.
Building the participle
| Infinitive ending | Participle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -er | -é | parler → parlé, manger → mangé |
| -ir | -i | finir → fini, choisir → choisi |
| -re | -u | vendre → vendu, attendre → attendu |
Irregular participles have to be learned one by one: avoir → eu, être → été, faire → fait, prendre → pris, voir → vu.
Avoir or être?
Most verbs take avoir: J'ai mangé une pizza. (I ate a pizza.) Nous avons fini le travail. (We finished the work.) Ils ont vendu leur voiture. (They sold their car.)
About fifteen verbs take être. Most of them describe going somewhere or changing state, so the usual memory aid is "house of être":
- aller, venir, arriver, partir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre
- rester, rentrer, retourner, tomber, naître, mourir, devenir, passer
| Example | English |
|---|---|
| Elle est allée au cinéma. | She went to the cinema. |
| Ils sont arrivés hier. | They arrived yesterday. |
| Nous sommes restés à la maison. | We stayed at home. |
| Je suis née en 1990. (said by a woman) | I was born in 1990. |
Reflexive verbs always take être: Elle s'est levée tôt. (She got up early.) Je me suis couché tard. (I went to bed late, said by a man.)
Watch out: monter, descendre, sortir, rentrer, retourner and passer switch to avoir when they have a direct object. Elle est sortie. (She went out.) but Elle a sorti son téléphone. (She took out her phone.)
Negation and questions
- Negation wraps the auxiliary: Je n'ai pas mangé. (I did not eat.) Elle n'est pas venue. (She did not come.)
- Questions: Tu as fini ? or As-tu fini ? (Have you finished?)
Quick test: Before choosing avoir, ask "is this a movement or change-of-state verb, or is it reflexive?" If yes, use être and agree the participle with the subject, unless the verb takes a direct object (J'ai monté les valises.), which switches it to avoir. Reflexives agree with a direct object placed before the verb, so Elle s'est lavé les mains. has no agreement. Otherwise, use avoir.
Frequently asked questions
How do you know whether to use avoir or être in the passé composé?
Most verbs use avoir (j'ai mangé, nous avons fini). About fifteen verbs of movement and change use être (aller, venir, arriver, partir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, rester, rentrer, retourner, tomber, naître, mourir, devenir, passer), and all reflexive verbs use être (elle s'est levée).
Why do you say 'je suis allé' and not 'j'ai allé'?
Aller is one of the movement verbs that take être as an auxiliary, so 'j'ai allé' is incorrect. English speakers make this mistake because English only has 'have' as an auxiliary. With être, the participle also agrees with the subject: elle est allée, ils sont allés.
Is the French passé composé the same as the English present perfect?
Not exactly. The passé composé covers both 'I ate' and 'I have eaten'. But French does not use it for a situation that is still true: 'I have lived here for five years' is 'J'habite ici depuis cinq ans', in the present tense.
How do you form the past participle of regular verbs in French?
Replace the infinitive ending: -er becomes -é (parler → parlé), -ir becomes -i (finir → fini), and -re becomes -u (vendre → vendu). Irregular verbs such as avoir (eu), être (été), faire (fait) and prendre (pris) have to be memorised.
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