In French, the auxiliary verb is either avoir or être. All French verbs are classified by which auxiliary verb they take, and they use the same auxiliary verb in all compound tenses. Most French verbs use avoir. The following is a list of verbs (and their derivatives) that require être:
- aller to go
arriver to arrive
descendre to descend / go downstairs
(redescendre to descend again)
entrer to enter
(rentrer to re-enter)
monter to climb
(remonter to climb again)
mourir to die
naître to be born
(renaître to be reborn, born again)
partir to leave
(repartir to leave again)
passer to pass
rester to stay
retourner to return
sortir to go out
(ressortir to go out again)
tomber to fall
(retomber to fall again)
venir to come
(devenir to become
parvenir to reach, achieve
revenir to come again, come back)
Notes
1. In addition to the above, all pronominal verbs use être as the auxiliary verb as well:
Je me suis levé. - I got up.
Il s'est rasé. - He shaved.
2. For all verbs conjugated with être, the past participle has to agree with the subject in gender and number in all of the compound tenses (learn more):
Il est allé. - He went. Elle est allée. - She went.
Ils sont allés. - They went. Elles sont allées. - They went.
3. Verbs are conjugated with être because they are intransitive (have no direct object). However, six of these verbs can be used transitively (with a direct object), and when this happens, they need avoir as the auxiliary verb.
Keep reading
Introduction to être verbs
Remembering être verbs
Être verbs used transitively
Test on être verbs
Related lessons
Repeating auxiliary verbs
Le passé
Compound tenses
