Perfect tense of être verbs

Key points

Some verbs which have the sense of 'coming' or 'going' generally take être in the perfect: Je suis arrivé - I arrived
With être verbs the past participle has to agree with the subject: Elle est entrée - She went in

Most verbs take the verb avoir as an auxiliary in the perfect . For example, j’ai travaillé – I worked. However some verbs which have the sense of 'coming' or 'going' generally take être in the perfect. These are:

Table 12.1a: Irregular past participles
infinitive	past participle	English
arriver	je suis arrivé(e)	I arrived
partir	je suis parti(e)	I left
descendre	je suis descendu(e)	I went down
monter	je suis monté(e)	I went up
venir	je suis venu(e)	I came
aller	je suis allé(e)	I went
sortir	je suis sorti(e)	I went out
naître	je suis né (e)	I was born
mourir	je suis mort(e)	I died
tomber	je suis tombé(e)	I fell
rester	je suis resté (e)	I stayed
entrer	je suis entré(e)	I went in
passer	je suis passé(e)	I passed, spent

Note

Remember that a perfect form like je suis parti is translated I left or I have left, and not I am left.

Here are some examples of être verbs in use:

Je suis sorti à dix heures

I went out at ten o’clock

Je suis arrivé en retard

I arrived late

Je suis resté à la maison

I stayed at home

Je suis tombé par terre

I fell on the ground

An important thing to remember is that with être verbs the past participle has to agree with the subject . This means that if the subject is feminine (like Elle or Madame Dupont) then you add an -e to the participle:

Elle est entrée dans la salle

She went into the room

And if the subject is plural (like Nous or Les frères) you add an -s to the participle:

Nous sommes allés au cinéma

We went to the cinema

If the subject is both feminine and plural (like Elles or Les soeurs) you add an -es to the participle:

Elles sont restées à la maison

They stayed at home

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