PrepMyFrench
PrepMyFrench
Also known as: Dr Mrs Vandertramp · être verbs · movement verbs in passé composé
Vandertramp verbs are a memory group of common French movement and state-change verbs that use être instead of avoir in compound tenses. They include aller, venir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, naître, mourir, arriver, partir, retourner, rester, and tomber.
With être, the past participle agrees with the subject: elle est arrivée, ils sont partis. Some verbs change auxiliary when used transitively, such as monter les valises.
Vandertramp mistakes are easy to notice in speaking and writing because the wrong auxiliary often creates both tense and agreement errors.
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