French auxiliary verbs (avoir, être)
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The auxiliary verbs ( les auxiliaires ) être and avoir are important verbs in the French language. They are used to form the compound times.
The past participle can agree but it depends on the auxiliary: with the auxiliary 'avoir', the past participle agrees with the direct object complement only if it is placed before the verb in the sentence and with the auxiliary ' être', the past participle agrees with the subject.
The auxiliary verb 'avoir' is always conjuguated with transitive verbs (those that can have a direct object complement or indirect). Transitive verbs possess an object complement on which the action designated by the verb takes place. It can be a direct object (COD) or an indirect object (COI). among those verbs you can find:
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avoir + transitive verbs | direct or indirect objet | translation | |
---|---|---|---|
Tu | as construit | cette maison | you built this house |
Il | as connu | Samantha à l'école | he met you Samantha at school |
nous | avions découvert | une jolie grotte | we discovered a beautiful cave |
ils | ont parlé | à leur père | they talked to their father |
elle | a souri | au bel homme | she smiled to the beautiful man |
The verb avoir is completely irregular and is formed in different times as follows:
present | imperfect | future simple | past simple | subjunctive |
---|---|---|---|---|
j'ai | j'avais | j'aurai | j'eus | que j'aie |
tu as | tu avais | tu auras | tu eus | que tu ais |
il/elle/on a | il/elle/on avait | il/elle/on aura | il/elle/on eut | qu'il/elle/on ait |
nous avons | nous avions | nous aurons | nous eumes | que nous ayons |
vous avez | vous aviez | vous aurez | vous eûtes | que vous ayez |
ils/elles ont | ils/elles avaient | ils/elles auront | ils/elles eurent | qu'ils/elles aient |
The conditional of avoir is the future simple stem + imperfect endings.
All pronominal verbs always conjugate with the auxiliary 'être'. Some intransitive verbs (those who never have an indirect or direct object) conjugate with the auxiliary 'être'.
Among intrasitive verbs you find:
Examples | Translation |
---|---|
Je suis restée jusqu'au soir | I stayed until the night |
Je me suis lavé ce matin | I took a shower this morning |
Tu es passé pour le faible | You looked like the weak. |
The verb être is completely irregular and is formed in different times as follows:
Present | Imperfect | Future simple | Past simple | Subjunctive |
---|---|---|---|---|
je suis | j'étais | je serai | je fus | que je sois |
tu es | tu étais | tu seras | tu fus | que tu sois |
il/elle/on est | il/elle/on était | il/elle/on sera | il/elle/on fut | qu'il/elle/on soit |
nous sommes | nous étions | nous serons | nous fumes | que nous soyons |
vous étiez | vous étiez | vous serez | vous futes | que vous soyez |
ils/elles sont | ils/elles étaient | ils/elles seront | ils/elles furent | qu'ils/elles soient |
The conditional of être uses the future simple stem + imperfect endings.
In general, some verbs of movement are conjugated with the auxiliary 'avoir' in a transitive clause, or with the auxiliary ' être' in an intransitive clause.
Some verbs of change normally are combined with the auxiliary 'avoir' to emphasize change, but can also be combined with the auxiliary 'etre' to emphasize the result of the change.
In the passive form, you always use the auxiliary être but you use the auxiliary 'avoir' in the active form.
Test your knowledge of the auxiliary verbs être and avoir by solving our online exercises!
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Hi,
I m claudie , I m french and i have experience to teach french to foreign people.
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You will make a lot of progress!
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Bonjour! Veux-tu apprendre français? ou l'améliorer?
My classes are structured according to my students' needs, I use different teaching methods and I rely on listening each of my students' expectations and goals. Dynamism and constant learning are my purposes in my classes.
I have worked as a French teacher for more than ten years.
I have academic studies in English and French from Montréal, Canada, where I lived for several years. I have a Bachelor in Teaching French as a foreign language from the Université de Bourgogne.
I learned French at an early age in immersion in a French-speaking region and I studied French formally for 11 years, obtaining a native level.
À bientôt!
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We are an Italian family residing in France for 3 months, we have two 10 year old children who have just started attending CM1. We asked Natalia to give the children two lessons a week to speed up their learning. We are super happy with the choice. Nous sommes une famille italienne résidant en France depuis janvier, nous avons deux enfants de 10 ans qui viennent de commencer la CM1. Nous avons demandé à Natalia de leur donner deux leçons par semaine pour accélérer leur apprentissage. Nous sommes super contents de Natalia. We are an Italian family living in France since 3 months, we have two 10 year old children who have just started attending CM1. We asked Natalia to give the kids two lessons a week to speed up their learning. We are super happy with this choice.
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I have a Bachelor degree in applied foreign languages (LEA) as well as a Master degree in FLE (French as a foreign language). My mother tongue is French but I also speak Portuguese and English fluently. I have been teaching French for 6 years and European Portuguese for 4 years. First of all I started to teach as a French lecturer at the University of Passau in Germany. During this first experience I had the opportunity to: giving class to plenty of students, preparing classes, being a part of the conception and evaluation of orale and written examinations.
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I gained numerous experiences abroad, I volunteered for one year in Romania, then I worked for two years in Bucharest and two in Ireland in the field of customer service for international companies.
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Hi, I am Christin!
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2 - If you are thinking taking any DELF exam, I can help you as I have experience in this field (3 years with Ensemble en Francais - online school).
3 - If you are a VCE French student, I definitively will be able to boost your skills to do well at the exam due to my experience as VCE French teacher and also as a VCE assessor.
4 - Finally I have also an extensive experience in teaching French at the primary and middle school level
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Francois is teaching our daughter in French at the moment. She is a total beginner and they started from scratch. Both work for one hour daily and agree on homework which is being checked in the next lesson. The lesson via Skype is working well with the exchange of material Skype as well. We can definitely see progress.
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Bonjour! Veux-tu apprendre français? ou l'améliorer?
My classes are structured according to my students' needs, I use different teaching methods and I rely on listening each of my students' expectations and goals. Dynamism and constant learning are my purposes in my classes.
I have worked as a French teacher for more than ten years.
I have academic studies in English and French from Montréal, Canada, where I lived for several years. I have a Bachelor in Teaching French as a foreign language from the Université de Bourgogne.
I learned French at an early age in immersion in a French-speaking region and I studied French formally for 11 years, obtaining a native level.
À bientôt!
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Natalia is wonderful! I can't recommend her enough! She is thoughtful, considerate, patient, and flexible! I always look forward to her lessons and I have learned a lot in a short time. I can't wait to see how fluent I can become with her as my teacher!
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Hi, guys! My name is Lucia and I would like to invite you to learn Italian with me.
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Hi and welcome !
Preparation for exams, desire or need to learn and improve your level.
Real lessons or discussion experiences, for all levels and all ages.
Total customization according to your needs, your desires, and of course your level. We will talk about this in our first lesson together.
So let's prepare together your exams, your job interview, your next vacation, or maybe to speak the language of the chosen one of your heart...
We will work on short texts, videos, or just sounds to improve your comprehension, then it will be your turn to produce orally and in writing, and of course by both speaking.
Together, we will therefore do written and oral exercises, to improve your vocabulary, your grammar and your conjugation, and your accent.
I invite you to watch my subtitled presentation video, in English, then in French. (2 min in total)
Don't wait any longer to book your trial lesson !
Who am I ?
I am a former parliamentary assistant to French deputies, and communication teacher.
But I wanted to change my life, I am now a scuba diving instructor, currently in Bali, Indonesia.
Pedagogue, patient and organized for a deserved result considering your efforts.
I am used to teach and a lover of the French language.
See you soon for your first lesson together, that's your job !
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Cédric has been an excellent teacher for our first couple of lessons. He is thoroughly trying to assess my level to make sure that we get the most out of our lessons. I am excited to continue my learning with him!
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Hello everyone. My name is Will Alberts, 52 years old, and I live in Roermond, a beautiful city in the south of Limburg (Netherlands) and I am a first-degree qualified teacher of English.
I have been teaching English at all levels to 12-18 year olds for 15 years. I've always enjoyed doing that, even during Covid-19, when we were forced to teach online. I have experience with Zoom, Teams and Skype. I liked online teaching so much that I would like to do this part-time, in addition to giving physical tutoring to my students at home.
I think it is very important that the student also decides what a lesson should look like.
If you are partly in control as a student, you are more motivated!
I have worked with many (digital) methods, but I also make my own lessons.
I am flexible in terms of time, so you decide when you want to have your lessons.
Hope to see you soon!
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Will started his career as a teacher in the Czech Republic at the age of 27. He worked in Prague for an American school for 4 years and then returned to the Netherlands to teach in different schools for different levels. Specialized in teaching for many years, in him, you will find a well-prepared, expert, friendly and inspiring teacher with a creative and simple teaching method.
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1 Conjugation of avoir (to have) in French | Get an overview of the conjugation of avoir in French and study the topic online |
2 Conjugation of être (to be) in French | Get an overview of the conjuguation of the verb être in French and study the topic online |
3 Conjugation of être (to be) in French | Get an overview of the conjuguation of the verb être in French and study the topic online |