Editing Language/French/Grammar/Agreement-of-the-past-participle-having-the-auxiliary-"être"-in-compound-tenses

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<div style="font-size:200%"> Agreement of the past participle with the subject of intransitive verbs having [[Language/French/Grammar/Auxilaries|auxilary]] “être” in [[Language/French/Grammar/Compound-Tenses|compound tenses]]</div>
<div style="font-size:200%"> Agreement of the past participle with the subject of intransitive verbs which select auxiliary “être” in compound tenses</div>


[modified]
The past participles of aller 'to go', monter 'to go up', mourir 'to die', naître 'to be born', sortir 'to go out', tomber 'to fall', etc agree with the subject in gender and number in compound tenses:
*Les Durand étaient allés à Morlaix
The Durands had gone to Morlaix


__TOC__


==Definitions==
=== Subject-verb agreement ===
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===
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 ===
There are only 2 auxiliaries in French: "avoir" or "être". As "avoir", "être" is used to form compound tenses for some verbs.
===Compound Tenses===
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==
*Suzanne est sortie
Suzanne went out


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.


*Elles sont tombées
They fell over


The [[Language/French/Grammar/Past-Participle|past participle]] agrees with the subject in gender and number at [[Language/French/Grammar/Compound-Tenses|compound tenses]]:


*'''Les Dupont''' étaient all'''és''' à Angers.
<blockquote>The Duponts had gone to Angers.</blockquote>
*'''Marie''' est sorti'''e'''.
<blockquote>Marie went out.</blockquote>
*'''Ils''' sont tombé'''s'''.
<blockquote>They fell over.</blockquote>
*'''Jean et Pauline''' sont monté'''s''' au 5ème étage.
<blockquote>Jean and Pauline went up to the 5th floor.</blockquote>


==No agreement with the subject==
Jean-Paul et Janine sont montés au troisième
*Jean-Paul and Janine went up to the third floor


Note: Certain [[Language/French/Grammar/Transitive-and-Intransitive-Verbs|intransitive verbs]] which have the [[Language/French/Grammar/Auxilaries|auxilary]] "être" in [[Language/French/Grammar/Compound-Tenses|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 [[Language/French/Grammar/Past-Participle|past participle]]:
*'''Jean et Pauline''' ont mont'''é''' les valises au 5ème étage.
<blockquote>Jean-Paul and Janine took the cases up to the 5th floor.</blockquote>


NB: Some intransitive verbs which select auxiliary être in compound tenses can also be used transitively. In this case they select the auxiliary avoir in compound tenses and there is no agreement between the subject and the past participle:
*Jean-Paul et Janine ont monté les valises au troisième
Jean-Paul and Janine took the cases up to the third floor
==Other Chapters==
==Other Chapters==
{{French-Grammar-Course-Menu}}
{{French-Grammar-Course-Menu}}

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