{"id":29,"date":"2008-11-17T11:24:21","date_gmt":"2008-11-17T15:24:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=29"},"modified":"2008-11-17T11:24:21","modified_gmt":"2008-11-17T15:24:21","slug":"auxiliaries-etre-and-avoir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/auxiliaries-etre-and-avoir\/","title":{"rendered":"Auxiliaries \u00catre and Avoir"},"content":{"rendered":"

In French, the verbs \u00eatre<\/em><\/strong> and avoir<\/em><\/strong> are considered auxiliaries when followed by a past participle and, thus, used to form the perfect tenses much like have\/has\/had are auxiliaries in English.\u00a0 Just as have\/has\/had, \u00eatre<\/em> and avoir<\/em> are also regular, normal verbs as well.<\/p>\n

AVOIR<\/em><\/strong> is the auxiliary that is used with most verbs.<\/p>\n

\u00caTRE<\/em><\/strong> is used to form the perfect tense of certain “passage” verbs (that will take you from one place to another) like na\u00eetre<\/em>, d\u00e9c\u00e9der<\/em> and mourir; entrer, rester <\/em>and sortir; arriver, partir <\/em>and repartir; aller <\/em>and retourner; monter, descendre<\/em>, tomber <\/em>and retomber; passer, venir<\/em> and all similar verbs like devenir, revenir<\/em>, etc.
\nExceptions<\/span>:
\n– pr\u00e9venir<\/em> is conjugated with avoir
\n– convenir <\/em>can be conjugated with \u00eatre<\/em>, but is usually conjugated with avoir<\/em>.
\n– descendre, monter, passer, rentrer, retourner<\/em> and sortir <\/em>are conjugated with avoir <\/em>when they are transitive or in other words, when they have a direct object associated to them, and in those cases, the subject is not really moving in passage, but rather the objects are.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

It is also used to form the perfect tense of pronominal verbs – reflexive verbs (where a person does something to him\/herself including personal accidents), reciprocal verbs (two or more people do something interactively) and idiomatic verbs (a regular ole verb that takes on a different meaning when the reflexive pronoun is added).
\nse promener<\/em> (reflexive)
\nNous nous sommes promen\u00e9s<\/span><\/em>.<\/span> (We took a walk.)
\ns’\u00e9crire <\/em>(reciprocal)
\nNous nous sommes \u00e9crit<\/span><\/em>. <\/em>(We wrote to each other.)
\ns’int\u00e9resser<\/em> (idiomatic)
\nJe me suis int\u00e9ress\u00e9<\/span> aux langues.<\/em> (I’m interested in languages.)<\/p>\n

And finally, the auxiliary \u00eatre<\/em> is used in the passive voice.\u00a0 For example:
\nJ’ai \u00e9t\u00e9 invit\u00e9<\/span> \u00e0 la f\u00eate<\/em>. \u00a0(I was invited to the party.)<\/p>\n

Remember, the verb \u00eatre<\/em> is conjugated with the auxiliary avoir<\/em> as in:
\nJ’ai \u00e9t\u00e9<\/span> professeur dans une \u00e9cole de langues<\/em>.
\n(I was a teacher at a language school.)<\/p>\n

And the verb avoir <\/em>is conjugated with the auxiliary avoir<\/em> as well as in:
\nJe n’ai pas eu<\/span> assez de temps pour finir l’examen de fran\u00e7ais.
\n(I didn’t have enough time to finish the French exam.)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Since these auxiliaries are so important, you must make sure to memorize how to conjugate them in the present before you learn anything else about French grammar.
\nAVOIR<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
J’<\/em><\/td>\nai<\/em><\/td>\nNous<\/em><\/td>\navons<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tu<\/em><\/td>\nas<\/em><\/td>\nVous<\/em><\/td>\navez<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Il\/Elle\/On<\/em><\/td>\na<\/em><\/td>\nIls\/Elles<\/em><\/td>\nont<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u00caTRE<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Je<\/em><\/td>\nsuis<\/em><\/td>\nNous<\/em><\/td>\nsommes<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tu<\/em><\/td>\nes<\/em><\/td>\nVous<\/em><\/td>\n\u00eates<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Il\/Elle\/On<\/em><\/td>\nest<\/em><\/td>\nIls\/Elles<\/em><\/td>\nsont<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Maintenant vous \u00eates expert(e) des auxiliaires!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In French, the verbs \u00eatre and avoir are considered auxiliaries when followed by a past participle and, thus, used to form the perfect tenses much like have\/has\/had are auxiliaries in English.\u00a0 Just as have\/has\/had, \u00eatre and avoir are also regular, normal verbs as well. AVOIR is the auxiliary that is used with most verbs. \u00caTRE…<\/p>\n

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