Language/French/Grammar/Intransitive-verbs-and-auxiliary-«-avoir-»
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Rate this lesson:
Intransitive verbs and auxiliary « avoir »
“Avoir” in compound tenses[edit | edit source]
Most intransitive verbs employ the auxiliary avoir in compound tenses:
French | Translation |
---|---|
Depuis Janvier les prix ont augmenté | Since January prices have gone up |
Il aurait acquiescé | He agreed, apparently |
La fête avait continué | The party had gone on |
Elle avait disparu | She had disappeared |
Il n'a pas souffert | He didn't suffer |
La situation aura probablement empiré | The situation will probably have got worse |
Past participles used with “être”[edit | edit source]
A small set of verbs, including commencer, changer, disparaître, vieillir, normally appear with the auxiliary avoir in compound tenses, but their past participles may be used with être to describe a state of affairs. In this case the past participle is used in very much the same way as an adjective.
Compare the following sentences:
French | Translation |
---|---|
Il a commencé à lire ce roman | He began to read this novel |
La pièce est commencée | The play has begun |
Il a changé les pneus de sa voiture | He changed the tyres on his car |
Depuis dix ans elle est vraiment changée | She has really changed in ten years |
NB: With être and a state of affairs, there will be agreement between the past participle and the subject. With avoir and an action there will not.
Other Chapters[edit | edit source]
Other Lessons[edit | edit source]
- Verbs whose stems end in c— or g—
- Adverbs ending in —ment derived from nouns
- Omission of the article with nouns following the verbs être, demeurer, devenir, élire, nommer, rester
- Differences in the use of numbers in French and English mille milliers milliards
- Omission of the article in set phrases and verbal constructions
- How to use Be
- il or ça with impersonal verbs
- Changes in the stem form of some —er conjugation verbs
- Location of adverbs modifying verb phrases
- Stressed pronouns with même, aussi, seul, autres, tous and numerals
- Verbs with prepositions
- Measurements and comparisons Numbers with length, height, depth etc
- Use of jamais
- Stressed pronouns
- The plural of compound nouns