Which French verbs take être in the passé composé?

Verbs of movement and change of state: aller, venir, arriver, partir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, naître, mourir, tomber, rester, retourner, passer and their compounds (devenir, revenir, rentrer), plus every pronominal verb (se lever). All other verbs take avoir.

When does the past participle agree in French?

With être, it agrees with the subject: elles sont parties. With avoir, it agrees only with a direct object placed before the verb: les lettres que j’ai écrites. Never with the subject of avoir: elles ont mangé.

Why is it « elle a sorti » and not « elle est sortie »?

Both exist. Sortir, monter, descendre, passer, rentrer and retourner take avoir when they have a direct object: elle a sorti la poubelle. Without one they take être: elle est sortie avec ses amies.

Is Mine cart free to play?

Yes. The first 6 levels are free with no sign-up, and levels 7 to 12 are free with an account, which also saves your stars on every device. Levels 13 to 30 come with Premium, together with every 3D game’s later levels and all the mock tests.

Passé composé: être or avoir? Pick the right tunnel

Le wagonnet

Être or avoir, and does the participle agree? Here you answer at full speed: a mine cart rolls toward a switch, the sentence shows a gap (Hier soir, Julie ___ tard.) and each tunnel ahead carries a form: est rentrée, a rentré, est rentré. Throw the lever before the cart gets there. Thirty levels in five worlds take you from the auxiliary alone to agreement, pronominal verbs and the classic traps of exam French, and every wrong tunnel shows you the rule.

3 min a round
30 levels
First 6 levels free, no sign-up
Writing
Speaking

3D game: plays full screen on phones.

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30 levels, 5 worlds

From the basics to exam speed

Each level is one round of about 3 minutes. Win a star to open the next level, and replay for three stars. The first 6 levels are free with no sign-up, levels 7–12 with a free account, and Premium opens all 30.

World 1 · levels 1–6
Être or avoir
Être ou avoir
The auxiliary with everyday verbs: il est parti, il a pris, and movement verbs that take avoir.
· Free, no sign-up
World 2 · levels 7–12
Agreement with être
L’accord avec être
The participle agrees with être, not with avoir: elles sont parties, elles ont mangé.
· Free account
World 3 · levels 13–18
Pronominal verbs
Les verbes pronominaux
Elle s’est levée, but ils se sont parlé and elle s’est lavé les mains: when se agrees.
· Premium
World 4 · levels 19–24
Avoir with an object
Avoir et le COD
Sortir, monter, passer with avoir (il a sorti la poubelle) and les lettres que j’ai écrites.
· Premium
World 5 · levels 25–30
Exam speed
Vitesse examen
Every rule mixed with the hardest cases: la décision qu’elle a prise, elle s’est rendu compte.
· Premium

How to play

1Read the sentence: « Hier soir, Julie ___ tard. » Each tunnel ahead carries a form.
2Tap a tunnel, or swipe the lever and throw it before the cart reaches the switch.
3The wrong tunnel is blocked: you see the right form and the rule behind it. Win stars to open the next level.

What it trains

Building the passé composé the way you need it to write and speak: the right auxiliary (il est allé but il a marché), agreement with être (elles sont parties), no agreement with avoir and the subject, pronominal verbs (elle s’est levée but ils se sont parlé), verbs that switch to avoir with an object (elle a sorti son passeport) and agreement with an object placed before avoir (les photos que j’ai prises).

Why it matters for TCF and TEF Canada

The passé composé is the tense you use to tell what happened, and the TCF Canada and TEF Canada writing and speaking tasks ask you to recount events, describe experiences and back up an opinion with examples. A wrong auxiliary or a missing agreement is one of the most visible grammar errors to an examiner. Getting these forms automatic helps you reach the levels Canada looks at, from NCLC 4 for citizenship to NCLC 7 for Express Entry points.

Practise writing in the real format: TCF Canada writing practice · TEF Canada writing practice

Learn while you play

Rules and tips to remember

Learn the être verbs as pairs of opposites
aller / venir, arriver / partir, entrer / sortir, monter / descendre, naître / mourir, tomber, rester, retourner, passer, plus devenir, revenir, rentrer. Pairs stick better than the DR MRS VANDERTRAMP letters alone.
Ask « what? » to spot avoir with sortir or monter
If the verb answers « what? », it has a direct object and takes avoir: elle a monté les valises (what? the suitcases). If not, it takes être: elle est montée au grenier.
With se, find the direct object
If se is the direct object, agree: elle s’est lavée. If something else is (les mains) or the verb takes à (parler à), don’t: elle s’est lavé les mains, elles se sont parlé.

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