Hier, je suis allé au cinéma. Ma sœur est allée avec moi. Mes parents sont partis en vacances. Nous sommes rentrés tard le soir.
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GrammarA2passé composéêtre
Passé composé with être
Le passé composé avec être
A2fr27 min
What you'll learn
- Use être for motion/change verbs
- Make the participle agree
- Recognise the être-verb group
Tips for this lesson
- A small, specific group of verbs (mostly motion/change) uses être instead of avoir.
- With être, the past participle AGREES with the subject — add -e/-s/-es like an adjective.
- Memorise the group with the DR MRS VANDERTRAMP acronym.
Step 1 of 6
1Reading
In context
Read. Notice être (not avoir) is used, and the participle changes to match the subject.
Step 2 of 6
2The pattern
The pattern — être + agreeing participle
A small group of verbs uses être instead of avoir — and their participle agrees with the subject, like an adjective.
A small, specific group of verbs — mostly about motion or change of state (aller, venir, partir, arriver, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, naître, mourir, rester, tomber, retourner, devenir, revenir...) — uses être instead of avoir in the passé composé. The easy way to remember them is the acronym DR MRS VANDERTRAMP (each letter starts one of these verbs). The important extra rule: with être, the past participle agrees with the subject, exactly like an adjective — add -e for feminine, -s for plural, -es for feminine plural. So: il est allé, elle est allée, ils sont allés, elles sont allées.
| Subject | aller (participle) | Agreement |
|---|---|---|
| il | allé | base form |
| elle | allée | +e (feminine) |
| ils | allés | +s (plural) |
| elles | allées | +es (feminine plural) |
| DR MRS VANDERTRAMP verbs (sample) | Meaning |
|---|---|
| aller / venir | to go / to come |
| partir / arriver | to leave / to arrive |
| entrer / sortir | to enter / to go out |
| monter / descendre | to go up / to go down |
| naître / mourir | to be born / to die |
| rester / tomber | to stay / to fall |
Je suis allé au marché.
I went to the market.
Male speaker: allé, base form.
Je suis allée au marché.
I went to the market.
Female speaker: allée, +e for agreement.
Elles sont parties tôt.
They left early.
All-female group: parties, +es.
Nous sommes rentrés tard.
We came home late.
Mixed or masculine group: rentrés, +s.
Erreurs fréquentes
- J'ai allé au cinéma.Je suis allé(e) au cinéma.
aller is in the être group — never use avoir with it.
- Elle est allé au marché.Elle est allée au marché.
The participle must agree with a feminine subject — add -e.
- Ils sont allé en France.Ils sont allés en France.
The participle must agree with a plural subject — add -s.
Exceptions & à retenir
Some DR MRS VANDERTRAMP verbs can also take a direct object
sortir, monter, descendre, passer, retourner can be used with avoir instead, when they take a direct object with a different meaning: elle a sorti le chien (she took the dog out) vs elle est sortie (she went out).
Agreement is written, often not heard
allé/allée/allés/allées all sound identical in speech — the agreement is a WRITTEN rule you must apply even though you won't hear the difference when speaking.
Reflexive verbs are the other être group
Beyond DR MRS VANDERTRAMP, all reflexive verbs (je me suis levé, elle s'est habillée) also use être — with a slightly different agreement rule you'll learn in the next lesson.
Astuces & mémo
- Memorise DR MRS VANDERTRAMP — each letter is the first letter of one être-verb. It's the single most useful mnemonic at this level.
- Ask yourself: is the subject male/female, singular/plural? Then add the matching ending to the participle, just like an adjective.
- Reflexive verbs (se lever, se laver...) also use être — you'll meet this fully in the next lesson.
Step 3 of 6
3Q&A drill
Match the agreement
Match the subject to the correctly agreed participle of aller.
- Q1ilA____________
- Q2elleA____________
- Q3ilsA____________
- Q4ellesA____________
Step 4 of 6
4Fill the blanks
Guided practice — être + agreement
Complete with être + the correctly agreed participle.
Example
Elle (1) (aller) au marché.
→ Elle est allée au marché.
Exercice
Nous (1) (partir) tôt.
Exercice
Mes sœurs (2) (arriver) hier.
Exercice
Il (3) (rentrer) tard.
Answer pool — drag onto a blank (or tap to fill the next one)
Next empty blank: 1
Step 5 of 6
5Word order
Build the sentence
Put the words in the correct order.
Example
suisjealléaucinéma→Je suis allé au cinéma.
- Sentence 1Tap the words below to build the sentence.
- Sentence 2Tap the words below to build the sentence.
- Sentence 3Tap the words below to build the sentence.
- Sentence 4Tap the words below to build the sentence.
Step 6 of 6
6Speak freely
Produce it
Tell three things that happened yesterday using être-group verbs, making sure the participle agrees.
Ex.Hier, je suis allé au travail. Mes collègues sont arrivés en retard et nous sommes rentrés ensemble le soir.
- 1.Où êtes-vous allé(e) récemment ?
- 2.Quand êtes-vous parti(e) en vacances la dernière fois ?
- 3.À quelle heure êtes-vous rentré(e) hier soir ?