Passé Composé with Être in French

Overview

While most French verbs form the passé composé with avoir, a specific group of verbs uses être as the auxiliary instead. These verbs typically describe movement or a change of state — going, coming, arriving, leaving, being born, dying. Learning which verbs take être is one of the most important A2 milestones in French grammar.

The famous mnemonic DR MRS VANDERTRAMP (or sometimes DR & MRS P. VANDERTRAMP) helps you remember these verbs: Devenir, Revenir, Monter, Rester, Sortir, Venir, Aller, Naître, Descendre, Entrer, Rentrer, Tomber, Retourner, Arriver, Mourir, Partir. All reflexive verbs also use être, but that is covered separately.

The critical difference from avoir verbs is that with être, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. This means you add -e for feminine subjects, -s for plural subjects, and -es for feminine plural subjects. This agreement is reflected in writing, though it is often silent in speech.

How It Works

The DR MRS VANDERTRAMP verbs:

Verb	Meaning	Past Participle
Devenir	to become	devenu
Revenir	to come back	revenu
Monter	to go up	monté
Rester	to stay	resté
Sortir	to go out	sorti
Venir	to come	venu
Aller	to go	allé
Naître	to be born	né
Descendre	to go down	descendu
Entrer	to enter	entré
Rentrer	to come home	rentré
Tomber	to fall	tombé
Retourner	to return	retourné
Arriver	to arrive	arrivé
Mourir	to die	mort
Partir	to leave	parti
Passer	to pass by	passé

Agreement rules:

Subject	Participle form	Example
il (m. sing.)	allé	Il est allé.
elle (f. sing.)	allée	Elle est allée.
ils (m. plural)	allés	Ils sont allés.
elles (f. plural)	allées	Elles sont allées.
nous (mixed)	allés	Nous sommes allés.
on (= nous, mixed)	allés	On est allés.

Key points:

• The participle agreement with être is mandatory in writing, even though the added -e or -s is usually silent.
• Some verbs on this list (monter, descendre, sortir, rentrer, passer, retourner) can take avoir when they have a direct object, changing their meaning slightly: Elle est montée (She went up) vs. Elle a monté les valises (She brought up the suitcases).
• On often means "we" in casual French. When it does, the participle may agree in practice: On est allés au cinéma.

Examples in Context

French	English	Note
Je suis parti(e) hier.	I left yesterday.	Agreement depends on speaker's gender
Elle est née en France.	She was born in France.	Feminine agreement
Ils sont restés à la maison.	They stayed home.	Masculine plural
Nous sommes descendu(e)s.	We went down.	Plural, gender depends on group
Il est arrivé en retard.	He arrived late.	No agreement needed (masculine singular)
Elles sont venues hier soir.	They (f) came last night.	Feminine plural
Le chat est tombé de la table.	The cat fell off the table.	Change of state
Ma grand-mère est morte en 2020.	My grandmother died in 2020.	Irregular participle + feminine
Tu es déjà rentré(e)?	Are you home already?	Agreement with tu
On est allés au restaurant.	We went to the restaurant.	on = nous, plural agreement
Elle est devenue médecin.	She became a doctor.	Feminine agreement

Common Mistakes

Forgetting the agreement

• Wrong: Elle est allé au marché.
• Right: Elle est allée au marché.
• Why: With être, the past participle must agree with the subject. Since "elle" is feminine, add -e.

Using avoir with DR MRS VANDERTRAMP verbs

• Wrong: J'ai allé à l'école.
• Right: Je suis allé(e) à l'école.
• Why: Aller is an être verb. Always use être as the auxiliary.

Over-applying être to all movement verbs

• Wrong: Je suis marché au parc. (I walked to the park)
• Right: J'ai marché au parc.
• Why: Not all movement verbs use être — only the specific DR MRS VANDERTRAMP list. Marcher (to walk), courir (to run), and voyager (to travel) all use avoir.

Confusing verbs that can take either auxiliary

• Wrong: J'ai sorti. (meaning "I went out")
• Right: Je suis sorti(e). (I went out) or J'ai sorti les poubelles. (I took out the trash)
• Why: Some verbs use être when intransitive (no direct object) and avoir when transitive (with a direct object).

Usage Notes

The être verbs share a semantic connection: most describe movement to/from a place or a change of state (being born, dying, becoming, staying). This pattern can help you intuit whether a new verb might take être, though you should always verify.

In formal writing, participle agreement is strictly observed. In casual texting and informal writing, some French speakers may omit the agreement, but this is considered incorrect in standard French.

Practice Tips

1. Memorize DR MRS VANDERTRAMP as a group. Write the list out, put it on your wall, and review it daily until it becomes automatic.
2. Practice conjugating each être verb in the passé composé with different subjects: Je suis allé(e), tu es allé(e), il est allé, elle est allée, nous sommes allé(e)s...
3. Tell a short travel story using only être verbs: Je suis parti(e) de chez moi, je suis allé(e) à la gare, je suis arrivé(e) à Lyon, je suis resté(e) trois jours, puis je suis rentré(e).

Related Concepts

• Passé Composé — the parent concept covering the full passé composé tense
• Reflexive Verbs in Past — reflexive verbs also use être in the passé composé