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Passé Composé

The passé composé is usually formed by following the present tense of avoir with a past participle.

	j'ai aimé		I loved
	tu as aimé		you loved
	il/elle a aimé		he/she loved
	nous avons aimé		We loved
	vous avez aimé		You loved
	ils/elles ont aimé		They loved

There is a select group of verbs for which the passé compose is formed with être as opposed to avoir.

arriver arrivé to arrive aller allé to go descendre descendu to descend entrer entré to enter monter monté to climb mourir mort to die naître né to be born

partir parti to leave rester resté to remain retourner retourné to return sortir sorti to exit tomber tombé to fall venir venu to come

Actually for these verbs être is used only when it is intransitive- that is to say they don't take objects.

	Elle est retournée à Paris.	She returned.
	Elle a retourné le livre.	She returned the book.

When être is used the past participle always agrees with the subject in the same way as an adjective agrees with a noun. Verbs based on the above verbs such as devenir, revenir, and rentrer also use être when used  intransitively.

Colette est devenue une écrivain extraordinaire. Colette became a remarkable writer.

When avoir is used, the past participle agrees only with preceding direct objects (see PDO agreement).

When the subject and object of a verb have a reflexive relationship - the subject does something to itself (see pronominals (reflexives), the auxiliary verb is always être.

	Marie s'est réveillée à six heures.	Marie woke up at six o'clock.
	Marie a réveillé les enfants à six heures.	Marie woke up the children at six o'clock.