Editing Language/French/Grammar/“être”-and-“avoir”-with-verbs-used-intransitively-and-transitively

[[File:French-Language-PolyglotClub.png|thumb]]
<div style="font-size:300%"> “être” and “avoir” with verbs used intransitively and transitively</div>


Intransitive verbs which take the auxiliary être in compound tenses take avoir when they are used transitively:

{| class="wikitable"
!French
!Translation
|-
|Pierre est descendu 
|Pierre went down
|-
! colspan="2" |BUT
|-
|Pierre a descendu les valises 
|Pierre has taken the suitcases down
|-
|
|
|-
|Marie est montée prendre son  maillot 
|Marie has gone up to fetch her de  bain swimming costume
|-
! colspan="2" |BUT
|-
|Marie avait monté un sac de  charbon 
|Marie had taken a sack of coal up
|-
|
|
|-
|Mickey est sorti 
|Mickey has gone out
|-
! colspan="2" |BUT
|-
|Mickey a sorti une pièce  d'identité 
|Mickey got out some identification
|-
|
|
|-
|Bernard  sera rentré 
|Bernard will have gone home
|-
! colspan="2" |BUT
|-
|Bernard avait rentré la  voiture au garage 
|Bernard had put the car in the garage
|-
|
|
|-
|Eliane était retournée à la banque 
|Eliane had gone back to the bank
|-
! colspan="2" |BUT
|-
|Eliane a retourné tout  l'appartement 
|Eliane has turned the flat upside down
|}

The verbs descendre and monter also take the auxiliary avoir in compound tenses when they are used with adverbials of place like l'escalier, la rue, la côte:

{| class="wikitable"
!French
!Translation
|-
|Il a descendu l'escalier/la rue 
|He went down the stairs/the street
|-
|Elle  a monté la côte 
|She went up the hill
|-
! colspan="2" |Compare with:
|-
|Il est descendu vers la rue 
|He went down towards the street
|-
|Elle est monté à l'échelle 
|She climbed up the ladder
|}

==Other Chapters==
{{French-Grammar-Course-Menu}}

==Related Lessons==
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Direct-Object-Complement|Direct Object Complement]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Formation-of-the-passive-in-French|Formation of the passive in French]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Use-of-faire-+-partitive-faire-du,-de-la|Use of faire + partitive faire du, de la]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Adjective—adjective_compounds|Adjective—adjective compounds]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Double-object-constructions-with-no-preposition|Double object constructions with no preposition]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/The-irregular-verb-être|The irregular verb être]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Mass-nouns-used-countably|Mass nouns used countably]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Use-of-the-definite-article-with-seasons|Use of the definite article with seasons]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Past-Tense|Past Tense]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Constructions-which-do-not-allow-indirect-object-pronouns|Constructions which do not allow indirect object pronouns]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Ordinal-numbers|Ordinal numbers]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Coordination-of-subject-pronouns|Coordination of subject pronouns]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Use-of-the-neutral-pronoun-le|Use of the neutral pronoun le]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/How-to-Use-Be|How to Use Be]]
* [[Language/French/Grammar/Direct-object-quantifiers-and-«-en-»|Direct object quantifiers and « en »]]