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Passé Composé with être:
to form the passé composé of these verbs, use a present-tense form of être and the past participle of the verb that expresses the action.
Je suis allé.
Il est sorti.
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Many of the verbs that take être in the passé composé involve motion.
Aller, arriver, descendre, partir, passer, rentrer, sortir, and tomber.
- Jean-Luc est parti en vacances.
- -- Jean-Luc left on vacation.
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The past participles of verbs conjugated with être agree with their subjects in number and gender.
- Mes frères sont rentrés.
- -- My brothers came back.
- Elles sont arrivées hier soir.
- -- They arrived last night.
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To make a verb negative in the passé composé, place ne/n' and pas around the auxiliary verb, in this case, être.
- Nous ne sommes pas allées à la plage.
- -- We didn't go to the beach.
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More verbs that take être instead of avoir in the passé composé:
entrer-- to enter
monter-- to go up, to get in/on
mourir-- to die
naître-- to be born
rester-- to stay
retourner-- to return
- Mes parents sont nés en 1958 à Paris.
- -- My parents were born in 1958 in Paris.
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The verb passer takes être when it means to pass by, but it takes avoir when when it means to spend time with.
- Maryse est passée par la douane.
- -- Maryse passed through customs.
- Maryse a passé trois jours à la campagne.
- -- Maryse spent three days in the country.
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To form a question in the passé composé, inverts the subject pronoun and the conjugated form of être.
- Est-elle restée à l'hôtel Aquabella?
- -- Did she stay at the Hotel Aquabella?
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Place short adverbs such as déjà, encore, bien, mal, and beaucoup between the auxiliary verb être or pas and the past participle.
- Elle est déjà rentrée de vacances?
- -- She already came back from vacation?
- Nous ne sommes pas encore arrivés à Aix-en-Provence.
- -- We haven't arrived in Aix-en-Provence yet.
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All être verbs:
monter-- to go up, to get in/on
rester-- to stay
sortir-- to go out, to leave
venir-- to come
aller-- to go
naitre-- to be born
descendre-- to do down
entrer-- to enter
retourner-- to return
tomber-- to fall
rentrer-- to return
arriver-- to arive
mourir-- to die
partir-- to leave
(passer)-- to pass by
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Direct Object Pronouns:
a direct object pronoun receives the action of a verb directly and an indirect object pronoun receives the action of a verb indirectly. While indirect objects are frequently preceded by the preposition à, no preposition is needed before the direct object.
- J'emmène mes parents.
- -- I'm taking my parents.
but
- Je parle à mes parents.
- -- I'm speaking to my parents.
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(singular)
me/m'-- me
te/t'-- you
le/la/l'-- him/her/it
(plural)
nous-- us
vous-- you
les-- them
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You can use a direct object pronoun in the place of a direct object noun.
- Tu fais les valises? --- Tu les fais?
- -- Are you packing the suitcases? --- Are you packing them?
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Place a direct object pronoun before the conjugated verb.
- Les étudiants vous ont entendu.
- -- The students heard you.
- Les langues? Laurent et Xavier les étudient.
- -- Languages? Laurent and Xavier study them.
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In a negative statement, place the direct object pronoun between ne/n' and the conjugated verb.
- Le chinois? Je ne le parle pas.
- -- Chinese? I don't speak it.
- Ell ne l'a pas pris à 14 heures?
- -- She didn't take it at 2 o'clock?
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When an infinitive follows a conjugated verb, the direct object pronoun precedes the infinitive.
- Marcel va nous écouter.
- -- Marcel is going to listen to us.
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When a direct object pronoun is used with the passé composé, the past participle must agree with it in both gender and number.
- J'ai mis la valise dans la voiture ce matin. --- Je l'ai mise dans la voiture ce matin.
- -- I put the suitcase in the car this morning. --- I put it in the car this morning.
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