Overview
This lecture explains how to use the passé composé in French with the auxiliary verb être, the verbs that require être, and key agreement and sentence structure rules.
Forming the Passé Composé with Être
- The passé composé of 17 verbs uses the present tense of être (ex: je suis, tu es, il est, etc.) plus the past participle.
- Most verbs that use être involve motion or a change of state (moving, entering, leaving, going up/down, staying).
- The 17 verbs are often remembered by the mnemonic "Dr. and Mrs. Vandertrampp."
Agreement of Past Participles
- Past participles must agree in gender (add “e” for feminine) and number (add “s” for plural) with the subject.
- For “vous,” agreement depends on whether the subject is masculine/feminine and singular/plural.
- In mixed-gender groups, always use the masculine form.
Examples of Agreement
- Masculine plural: Roger et Bernard sont revenus.
- Feminine plural: Louise et Mireille sont revenues.
- Mixed group: Roger et Louise sont revenus.
- For past participles with silent consonants, the consonant is pronounced in feminine forms (mort/morte).
Negative Form in Passé Composé with Être
- Place “ne” before the conjugated form of être and the negative word after it.
- Example: Il n'est pas sorti (He didn’t go out).
- Example: Elles ne sont pas encore arrivées (They haven’t arrived yet).
Forming Questions in Passé Composé with Être
- For inversion, switch the subject pronoun and conjugated être with a hyphen: Sont-ils partis? (Did they leave?)
- In the negative, negatives surround the hyphenated pair: Ne sont-ils pas partis? (Didn’t they leave?)
Key Terms & Definitions
- Passé composé — a French past tense formed with an auxiliary verb and a past participle.
- Être — auxiliary verb “to be,” used with certain verbs in passé composé.
- Agreement — matching the past participle to the subject’s gender and number.
- Dr. and Mrs. Vandertrampp — mnemonic to remember the 17 verbs that use être.
- Inversion — switching verb and subject pronoun order to form questions.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Memorize the 17 verbs that use être in the passé composé.
- Practice forming affirmative, negative, and interrogative sentences with these verbs.
- Review past participle agreement based on subject gender and number.