Passé Composé with être (DR MRS VANDERTRAMP)

In English, we say "I have gone" or "She has arrived." In French, you literally say "I am gone" or "She is arrived." It sounds a bit like old-fashioned English poetry. This happens because these verbs describe a change in state or location. You aren't doing something to an object. You are the one moving or changing. The big difference here is the "agreement." Since we use être, the past participle acts a bit like an adjective. It has to match the person who did the action. If a woman is speaking, she adds an e. If a group is speaking, they add an s. Think of it like a grammar traffic light. Green means go, but red means stop and check the gender and number of your subject. It becomes second nature after a while. You will start to hear the extra e or s in your head even if you don't always say it aloud.

1. 1Start with your subject. This is the person or thing doing the action (e.g., Je, Tu, Elle).
2. 2Conjugate être in the present tense. This matches your subject. (e.g., Je suis, Tu es, Il est).
3. 3Add the past participle. This is the past version of your main verb (e.g., allé, venu).
4. 4Apply the agreement rule. This is the most important step for être verbs.
5. 5For a feminine subject, add an -e to the end: Elle est allée.
6. 6For a masculine plural subject, add an -s: Ils sont allés.
7. 7For a feminine plural subject, add -es: Elles sont allées.
8. 8For a masculine singular subject, keep it simple: Il est allé.

You use être for two main categories. First, the 17 "motion" verbs in the DR MRS VANDERTRAMP list. These include aller (to go), venir (to come), partir (to leave), and arriver (to arrive). Second, you use it for all reflexive verbs. These are the ones that start with se like se laver or se réveiller. If you are talking about your morning routine in the past, you are using être. Imagine you are at a job interview. You want to say you arrived on time. You would say, Je suis arrivé à l'heure. If you are a woman, you'd write arrivée. It shows you know the rules. It also works for travel. Nous sommes allés au Japon (We went to Japan). It covers the big moments of life too: being born (naître) and dying (mourir).

Do not use être for just any movement. Verbs like courir (to run), sauter (to jump), or danser (to dance) actually use avoir. Why? Because they focus on the physical activity, not the change of location. This is a common trap. Also, watch out for the "Switch Verbs." Some verbs like passer, monter, and descendre can use either avoir or être. If you just say "I went up," use être: Je suis monté. But if you say "I carried the bags up," you use avoir: J'ai monté les sacs. If there is a direct object (like bags), avoir takes over the driver's seat. It's like a grammar plot twist. Most of the time, though, stick to your DR MRS VANDERTRAMP list and you will be fine.

Forgetting the agreement is the #1 mistake. It is easy to write Elle est allé because it sounds the same as allée. But in writing, that missing e stands out like a sore thumb. Another mistake is using avoir because English does. J'ai allé is a classic learner error. It sounds like saying "I has went" in English. Just remember that aller is the VIP of the être club. Also, watch out for on. In modern French, on usually means "we." Even though the verb stays singular (On est allé), many people add an s to the participle (allés) to show it represents a group. This is a bit of a gray area, but adding the s is very common in informal writing. Don't stress too much, though. Even French kids spend years getting this right.

Compare Passé Composé with être to the regular version with avoir. With avoir, the participle usually doesn't change. Elle a mangé stays the same whether it's him, her, or them. But with être, it’s all about the subject. Think of avoir as a rigid box and être as a mirror. être reflects the person doing the action. Also, compare it to the present tense. Je vais (I go) vs Je suis allé (I went). The jump from one word to three (Subject + Auxiliary + Participle) is the biggest hurdle. Once you get the rhythm of Suis + Participle, you’ll feel much more fluent. It’s like switching from a bike to a car. It takes more coordination, but you get further.