French Verbs of Movement with Être

📝 What does it mean?

When forming the passé composé (past tense), most verbs use avoir as the auxiliary.
👉 But a special group of verbs — mainly verbs of movement and change of state — use être instead.

These verbs are often remembered with the mnemonic:
🏠 La maison d’être or Dr. & Mrs. Vandertramp.

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📌 The Structure

Subject + être (conjugated) + past participle

⚠️ Don’t forget: the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject.

• Elle est allée. (She went)

• Ils sont partis. (They left)

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🔑 The Most Common Verbs with Être

Here’s a list with examples 👇

1. Aller → to go

• Je suis allé au marché. 🛍️
  = I went to the market.

2. Venir → to come

• Elle est venue chez moi. 🏡
  = She came to my house.

3. Arriver → to arrive

• Ils sont arrivés en retard. ⏰
  = They arrived late.

4. Partir → to leave

• Nous sommes partis tôt. 🌅
  = We left early.

5. Entrer → to enter

• Tu es entré dans la salle. 🚪
  = You entered the room.

6. Sortir → to go out

• Je suis sorti avec mes amis. 🎉
  = I went out with my friends.

7. Monter → to go up

• Elle est montée à l’étage. 🏢
  = She went upstairs.

8. Descendre → to go down

• Il est descendu du bus. 🚌
  = He got off the bus.

9. Naître → to be born

• Je suis né en 1990. 👶
  = I was born in 1990.

10. Mourir → to die

• Il est mort en 1945. ⚰️
  = He died in 1945.

11. Rester → to stay

• Nous sommes restés à la maison. 🏠
  = We stayed at home.

12. Retourner → to return

• Elles sont retournées en France. 🇫🇷
  = They returned to France.

13. Tomber → to fall

• Il est tombé dans la rue. 🤕
  = He fell in the street.

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⚠️ Special Cases

Some verbs like monter, descendre, sortir, rentrer can also use avoir when they take a direct object.

• Je suis monté. (I went up) ✅

• J’ai monté les valises. (I took the suitcases upstairs) ✅

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🎯 Mini Quiz

Translate into French:

1. She went to Paris.

2. We stayed at the hotel.

3. They were born in Canada.

4. He fell in the garden.

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✅ Answers:

1. Elle est allée à Paris.

2. Nous sommes restés à l’hôtel.

3. Ils sont nés au Canada.

4. Il est tombé dans le jardin.

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✨ Bravo ! You now know the main verbs of movement with être in French.
Mastering them will make your past tense sentences more accurate and natural 🚀.