Language/French/Grammar/Agreement-of-the-past-participle-having-the-auxiliary-"être"-in-compound-tenses
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Definitions[edit | edit source]
Subject-verb agreement[edit | edit source]
The agreement in French (the agreement) is the way to choose the correct ending for verbs in terms of grammatical persons, gender and number, depending on their subject.
Past participle[edit | edit source]
The past participle is a verb form with several roles. It’s essential in the creation of compound verb tenses/moods and the passive voice, and it can also be used as an adjective. The French past participle usually ends -é, -i, or -u, and is equivalent to -ed or -en in English.
French Auxilaries[edit | edit source]
There are only 2 auxiliaries in French: "avoir" or "être". As "avoir", "être" is used to form compound tenses for some verbs.
Compound Tenses[edit | edit source]
Conjugations for the different French verb tenses and moods can be divided into 2 categories:
- simple and compound.
Simple tenses and moods have only 1 part (e.g., "je mange") whereas compound tenses and moods have 2 (e.g., "j'ai mangé").
Agreement with the subject[edit | edit source]
In the case of the following verbs:
- aller (to go),
- mourir (to die),
- monter (to go up),
- sortir (to go out),
- naître (to be born),
- tomber (to fall), etc.
The past participle agrees with the subject in gender and number at compound tenses:
- Les Dupont étaient allés à Angers.
The Duponts had gone to Angers.
- Marie est sortie.
Marie went out.
- Ils sont tombés.
They fell over.
- Jean et Pauline sont montés au 5ème étage.
Jean and Pauline went up to the 5th floor.
No agreement with the subject[edit | edit source]
Note: Certain intransitive verbs which have the auxilary "être" in compound tenses can also be used in a transitive manner. They then have the auxiliary "avoir" at compound tenses and there is no agreement between the subject and the past participle:
- Jean et Pauline ont monté les valises au 5ème étage.
Jean-Paul and Janine took the cases up to the 5th floor.