PrepMyFrench
PrepMyFrench
The verbs avoir and être are two of the most important verbs in the French language – they can be used alone as main verbs or they can be used as auxiliary verbs to form the French compound tenses.
Avoir and être are the two most important French verbs. They serve as auxiliaries for all compound tenses and appear in countless idiomatic expressions. Avoir is used for most compound-tense formations and expressions of physical state (avoir faim = to be hungry). Être is used with 17 Vandertramp verbs, all pronominal verbs, the passive voice, and expressions like être en train de (to be in the middle of).
Used for 90% of French Verbs.
Reserved for specific exceptions.
Some verbs use Être when there's no direct object, but flip to Avoir when a direct object is involved!
“Je suis descendu.”
(I went down.)
“J'ai descendu les valises.”
(I took the suitcases down.)
“J'ai mangé”
“Je suis allé(e)”
Practice avoir-etre with 25 interactive multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank exercises. Instant scoring with grammar explanations for each answer.
Type avoir or être into PrepMyFrench's free conjugator and see every form — présent, passé composé, imparfait, futur, subjonctif, and all other tenses.