Forming the perfect tense with être

Reminder: The perfect tense of most verbs is made up of avoir + past participle.

Yesterday, I watched television.

We use être être, présent + past participle for certain verbs, in particular some verbs indicating movement.
Examples: aller (to go), arriver (to arrive), venir (to come), partir (to leave).

Rayan went to Brussels.

When using être, the past participle always agrees with the subject:

Théo arrived at the station.

Anna left at 9 a.m.

Anna and Nadia arrived yesterday.

Théo and Anna left last Thursday.

The negative form looks like this: subject + ne/n' + être (in the present tense) + pas + past participle.

I went on vacation. → I didn't go on vacation. 

Note: We also use être + past participle with reflexive verbs.
Examples: se laver (to get washed), se coucher (to go to bed), s'habiller (to get dressed).

Nadia went to bed late last night.


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