The house of être
Most verbs use avoir. A small family uses être.
To say something happened, French uses two words: a helper plus the participle. 'J'ai mangé' (I ate). The helper is almost always avoir. But a small family of verbs uses être instead: 'Je suis allé' (I went).
Which ones? Verbs about coming and going, up and down, being born and dying: aller, venir, arriver, partir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, rester, tomber, naître, mourir, retourner, passer, devenir, revenir. Plus every reflexive verb: je me suis lavé.
Examples
Can you act the verb out on a house? Walk in, walk out, climb the stairs, fall down. If yes, it takes être. Walking, running and swimming are movement but not in the house: avoir.
Practice (sample)
Sort each item: être / avoir
- aller
Answer
être. going: in the house - manger
Answer
avoir. eating is not movement - tomber
Answer
être. falling: in the house - voir
Answer
avoir. seeing: avoir - se lever
Answer
être. reflexive: always être - finir
Answer
avoir. finishing: avoir - naître
Answer
être. being born: in the house - marcher
Answer
avoir. walking is movement, but not in the house: avoir - rester
Answer
être. staying: in the house - courir
Answer
avoir. running: avoir
The online game draws fresh questions from a bank of 24, in two levels.