What's The Difference Between Avoir And être? - Lingolia Français

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Avoir or être: which verb should you choose?

The verbs avoirto have and êtreto be 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.

Learn how to conjugate these two verbs, then master the difference between avoir and être as auxiliary verbs. At the end, you can put your knowledge to the test in the free exercises.

Contents

• How to conjugate avoir and être
• avoir
• être
• When to use avoir and être as main verbs
• avoir
• être
• When to use avoir and être as auxiliary verbs
• avoir
• être
• Verbs that can be used with avoir and être
• The 16 verbs that use the auxiliary verb être
• Exercises – Avoir/Être

How to conjugate avoir and être

avoir

Présent	Imparfait	Passé simple	Futur simple
j’	ai	avais	eus	aurai
tu	as	avais	eus	auras
il	a	avait	eut	aura
nous	avons	avions	eûmes	aurons
vous	avez	aviez	eûtes	aurez
ils	ont	avaient	eurent	auront

Participe présent	Participe passé
ayant	eu

être

Présent	Imparfait	Passé simple	Futur simple
je/j’	suis	étais	fus	serai
tu	es	étais	fus	seras
il	est	était	fut	sera
nous	sommes	étions	fûmes	serons
vous	êtes	étiez	fûtes	serez
ils	sont	étaient	furent	seront

Participe présent	Participe passé
étant	été

When to use avoir and être as main verbs

avoir

We use avoir as a main verb:

• to express ownership or possession Examples: Il a une voiture.He has a car.Tu as une soeur.You have a sister.
• in fixed expresssions where French uses avoir + noun, even if English doesn’t Examples: J’ai le temps.I’ve got time.J’ai faim.I’m hungry.Elle a peur. She’s afraid.
• to talk about age Example: J’ai 23 ans.I’m 23 years old.

être

We use être as a main verb in the following cases:

• with adjectives Example: Tu es sympa.You’re nice.
• to identify things/people (description, nationality, professions, etc.) Example: C’est Laura. Elle est française. Elle est professeur.This is Laura. She’s French. She’s a teacher.
• for dates and times Example: Aujourd’hui, on est le 20 août. Il est 9 heures.Today is 20th August. It’s 9 o’clock.

When to use avoir and être as auxiliary verbs

Avoir and être are used as auxiliary verbs to conjugate the compound tenses: passé composé, passé antérieur, plus-que-parfait and futur antérieur. Having trouble deciding which verb to use as your auxiliary? Read on to learn the difference between avoir and être.

avoir

We use avoir as an auxiliary verb:

• to form the compound tenses of most verbs Example: Il a mis la table.He set the table.
• this also includes the compound tenses of the verbs avoir and être Examples: Elle a eu un vélo.She got a bicycle.Elle a été malade.She was sick.

être

We use être as an auxiliary verb:

• for all reflexive verbs Example: Je me suis trompé.I was mistaken.
• in passive sentences Example: Le vélo est réparé par Xavier.The bicycle is being repaired by Xavier.
• for the following 16 verbs of movement:naître/mourirto be born/to die, aller/venirto go/to come, monter/descendreto go up/to go down, arriver/partirto arrive/to leave, entrer/sortirto enter/to go out, apparaîtreto appear, devenirto become, passerto pass, resterto stay, retournerto return, tomberto fall Example: Luc est né un mardi.Luc was born on a Tuesday.
• and their derivatives:→ revenirto come back, rentrerto return (home), remonterto go back up, redescendreto go back down, repartirto leave again, … Example: Nous sommes repartis le lendemain.We left the next day.

Verbs that can be used with avoir and être

Some verbs can be used with avoir as well as être. We use être with the movement and change‑of‑state verbs listed above (the 16 verbs), but these same verbs use avoir when they’re transitive – that means when they take a direct object. In these cases, the choice of auxiliary changes the meaning of the sentence. Here are a few examples:

Verb	with être	with avoir
descendreto go down	Pierre est descendu rapidement.Pierre went down quickly.→ être, verb of movement	Pierre a descendu les escaliers.Pierre went down the stairs.→ avoir, transitive = action on the direct object les escaliers
(re)monterto go (back) up	Marine était montée dans sa chambre.Marine had gone up to her room.→ être, verb of movement	Marine avait monté les valises.Marine had taken the suitcases up.→ avoir, transitive = action on the direct object les valises
sortirto go out	Nous sommes sortis à 20 h.We went out at 8 p.m.→ être, verb of movement	Nous avons sorti les poubelles.We took out the bins.→ avoir, transitive = action on the direct object les poubelles
(r)entrerto enter/to come back	Je suis rentrée tard.I came home late.→ être, verb of movement	J‘ai rentré les chaises.I brought the chairs inside.→ avoir, transitive = action on the direct object les chaises
passerto pass	Tu étais passé par ici.You had passed by here.→ être, verb of movement	Tu avais passé une semaine en Espagne.You had spent a week in Spain.→ avoir, transitive = action on the direct object une semaine

The 16 verbs that use the auxiliary verb être

Most verbs use the auxiliary avoir to form compound tenses. However, 16 verbs of movement and change of state (as well as their compound forms) are conjugated with être.

To memorise these 16 verbs, there are two methods:

1. the acronym: Dr. & Mrs. Vandertrampp→ D: descendreto go down; r: resterto stay; M: mourirto die; r: retournerto go back/to return; s: sortirto go out; V: venirto come; a: allerto go; n: naîtreto be born; d: devenirto become; e: entrerto enter; (r: revenirto come back); t: tomberto fall; (r: rentrerto enter (again)); a: arriverto arrive; a: apparaîtreto appear; m: monterto go up; p: partirto leave; p: passerto pass
2. The “house of être”

Online exercises to improve your French

Improve your French with Lingolia. Each grammar topic comes with one free exercise where you can review the basics, as well as many more Lingolia Plus exercises where you can practise according to your level. Check your understanding by hovering over the info bubbles for simple explanations and handy tips.

Avoir/Être – Free Exercise

1. Avoir/Être – free exercise

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Avoir/Être – Lingolia Plus Exercises

1. Avoir – tableaux de conjugaison (présent et imparfait) A1
2. Être – tableaux de conjugaison (présent et imparfait) A1
3. Avoir/Être – emplois A1
4. Avoir/Être – verbe principal (1) A1
5. Avoir/Être – verbe principal (2) A2
6. Avoir – tableaux de conjugaison (futur) A2
7. Être – tableaux de conjugaison (futur) A2
8. Avoir/Être – auxiliaire (1) A2
9. Avoir/Être – auxiliaire (2) B2
10. Avoir – tableaux de conjugaison (passé simple) B2
11. Être – tableaux de conjugaison (passé simple) B2

A1 Beginner A2 Elementary B1 Intermediate B2 Upper intermediate C1 Advanced Gapfill Multiple choice Drag-and-drop Mixed Grammar Tenses – Indicative Verbs

• Avoir/Être
• Infinitif
• Participe/Gérondif
  • Participe présent
  • Participe passé
  • Participe composé
  • Gérondif
• Verbes pronominaux
• Passif
• Impératif
• Conditionnel
• Subjonctif
  • Subjunctive triggers
• Top 50 French Verbs
• Irregular Verbs

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