Passé composé (être): participle agrees with the subject
The Passé Composé — Agreement with Être
When a verb uses Être as the auxiliary, the past participle behaves like an adjective.
This means it must agree in gender and number with the subject.
The Big Idea: Gender and Number
- Masculine singular → no change
- Feminine singular → add -e
- Masculine plural → add -s
- Feminine plural → add -es
Examples with Aller
| Subject | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| il | il est allé | he went |
| elle | elle est allée | she went |
| ils | ils sont allés | they (m) went |
| elles | elles sont allées | they (f) went |
Notice: the past participle “allé” changes like an adjective to match the subject.
Key Points
- All verbs using Être in the passé composé require agreement.
- Agreement depends only on the subject, not the object.
Important Note 2
This is where 90% of mistakes happen. Remember these two Golden Rules for the Passé Composé:
1. Using ÊTRE (to be): Always Agree The past participle always matches the subject (gender and number).
- Elle est allée. (She went)
- Ils sont partis. (They left)
2. Using AVOIR (to have): The "No-Subject" Rule The past participle never agrees with the subject.
- Elle a mangé. (She ate — NO extra "e"!)
Key Takeaways
- With Être, the past participle = adjective → match gender and number.
- Masculine singular → no change
- Feminine singular → + e
- Masculine plural → + s
- Feminine plural → + es
- Examples: Il est allé, Elle est allée, Ils sont allés, Elles sont allées
In the app, you will find interactive exercises and quizzes tailored for this intermediate level.
Practice French conjugation for free in the Croissant Verbs app
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