David B. UF Resource Site: Dr. & Mrs Van Der Trampp

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Dr. & Mrs Van Der Trampp are not real persons (well, I assume not), but they're really useful to remember which French verbs use "être" as auxiliary when conjugated in the Passé Composé.

Every letter of the name is the first letter of one of such verbs.

D	descendre*	to go down
R	revenir	to come back, to return
M	mourir	to die
R	retourner*	to return, to come back, to go again
S	sortir*	to go out
V	venir	to come
A	aller	to go
N	naître	to be born
D	devenir	to become
E	entrer	to enter, to get in
R	rester	to stay
T	tomber	to fall
R	rentrer*	to come back, to get in
A	arriver	to arrive
M	monter*	to go up
P	partir	to leave
P	passer*	to come by, to pass by

Important note: The verbs with an asterisk (*) can be used with both être and avoir. But when they're used with avoir they also have a direct object and usually have a different meaning:

-descendre: to take down, to carry down
-monter: to take up, to carry up
-passer: to spend (time), to pass (to give)
-rentrer: to take inside
-retourner: to turn over
-sortir: to take out

Also remember that most of these verbs can take the prefix "re-" (with the meaning of "again") and will still be conjugated with être.

Finally, don't forget that reflexive verbs also take être as auxiliary verb.

Latest Page Update: January 13, 2003