Auxiliary Verbs For Intermediate learners
What Are Auxiliaries in French?
Auxiliary verbs (les verbes auxiliaires) in French are verbs that assist another verb in forming a compound tense. They offer crucial details about time, aspect, or voice, but they are never the main action in and of themselves.
The two primary auxiliaries are avoir (to have) and ĂȘtre (to be). The majority of verbs use avoir, but a unique class of verbs, primarily verbs of motion, change of state, and all reflexive verbs (les verbes pronominaux), use ĂȘtre.
Avoir as an Auxiliary
Avoir is used with most French verbs.
Here is the example of the verb manger in passé composé using the auxiliary avoir in the present tense.
Subject | Auxiliary (avoir) | Past participle (manger) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
j' | ai | mangé | I ate / I have eaten |
tu | as | mangé | You ate / You have eaten |
il / elle | a | mangé | He/She ate / has eaten |
nous | avons | mangé | Nous avons mangé. We ate / have eaten |
vous | avez | mangé | You ate / have eaten |
ils / elles | ont | mangé | They ate / have eaten |
As you can see, the auxiliary is always the first verb, conjugated according to the subject. The main verb stays in the past participle form.
Tip!
With avoir, the past participle does not agree with the subject unless a direct object comes before the verb. Look at the example below:
La pomme que j'ai mangée était délicieuse.
The apple that I ate was delicious
Here, la pomme comes before the verb (as part of que j'ai mangĂ©e) â past participle mangĂ©e agrees with la pomme (feminine singular).
Ătre as an Auxiliary
Ătre is used with:
All reflexive verbs (les verbes pronominaux) â se laver, se rĂ©veiller, se souvenir
Certain movement or change-of-state verbs, often remembered with the mnemonic "DR MRS VANDERTRAMP"
Here is the list of motion and change-of-state verbs that always need ĂȘtre as their auxiliary:
Devenir â to become
Revenir â to come back
Monter â to go up / climb
Rentrer â to re-enter / go home
Sortir â to go out
Venir â to come
Arriver â to arrive
NaĂźtre â to be born
Descendre â to go down
Entrer â to enter
Retourner â to return
Tomber â to fall
Rester â to stay
Aller â to go
Mourir â to die
Partir â to leave
Take a look at the conjugation ĂȘtre in the present tense for the verb aller in passĂ© composĂ©:
Subject | Auxiliary (ĂȘtre) | Past participle (aller) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
je | suis | allé(e) | I went |
tu | es | allé(e) | Tu es allé(e). You went |
il / elle | est | allé / allée | He/She went |
nous | sommes | allé(e)s | We went |
vous | ĂȘtes | allĂ©(e)(s) | You went |
ils / elles | sont | allés / allées | They went |
When using ĂȘtre as an auxiliary, the past participle must agree with the subject in gender and number:
Masculine singular â no change: Il est allĂ©
Feminine singular â add -e: Elle est allĂ©e
Masculine plural â add -s: Ils sont partis
Feminine plural â add -es: Elles sont tombĂ©es
Tip!
Reflexive verbs also follow this rule if the reflexive pronoun is the direct object:
Elle s'est lavée. (agreement)
she washed herself.
Elle s'est lavé les mains. (no agreement because les mains is the direct object)
she washed her hands.
Uses of Auxiliaries
a) Forming Compound Tenses (main usage)
PassĂ© composĂ© (simple past): This is the most common use of auxiliaries. The structure is subject + auxiliary (avoir or ĂȘtre in present tense) + past participle.
Elle est venue ce matin.
She came this morning
Plus-que-parfait (past perfect): Subject + auxiliary in the imperfect tense + past participle
J'avais déjà mangé quand il est arrivé.
I had already eaten when he arrived.
Futur antérieur (future perfect): Subject + auxiliary in the future tense + past participle
Nous aurons terminé avant midi.
We will have finished before noon.
b) Forming the Passive Voice
Auxiliaries are used to build the passive form. The structure is ĂȘtre + past participle.
Le livre est Ă©crit par l'auteur.
The book is written by the author.
Here, ĂȘtre is not forming a tense, but a voice.
Les portes ont été fermées.
The doors were closed.
c) Expressing Past Infinitives
Auxiliaries are used with infinitives to talk about actions completed before another action. The structure is avoir / ĂȘtre (in the infinitive) + past participle.
AprÚs avoir mangé, il est sorti.
After eating, he went out.
The auxiliary is not conjugated.
AprĂšs ĂȘtre arrivĂ©, elle s'est reposĂ©e.
After arriving, she rested.
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