French 1 Quiz: Choosing Etre Vs Avoir
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Choosing Etre Vs AvoirQuestion 1 of 10

Thomas écrit dans son journal : « Ce matin, je   sorti tôt, mais ma sœur   dormi jusqu'à midi. »

Which pair of auxiliary verbs correctly completes Thomas's journal entry?

ai / a
suis / a
suis / est
ai / est
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French 1 Quiz

French 1 Quiz: Choosing Etre Vs Avoir

Practice Choosing Etre Vs Avoir in French 1 with focused quiz questions that help you check what you know, review explanations, and build confidence with test-style prompts.

What this quiz covers

This quiz focuses on Choosing Etre Vs Avoir, giving you a quick way to practice the rules, question types, and explanations that matter most for French 1.

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Try each quiz question before looking at the correct answer. Use the explanations to review missed ideas, then come back to similar questions until the pattern feels familiar.

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Question 1

Thomas écrit dans son journal : « Ce matin, je   sorti tôt, mais ma sœur   dormi jusqu'à midi. »

Which pair of auxiliary verbs correctly completes Thomas's journal entry?

  1. ai / a
  2. suis / a (correct answer)
  3. suis / est
  4. ai / est
Explanation: When forming the passé composé in French, the biggest decision is choosing the right auxiliary verb — avoir or être. Most verbs use avoir, but a specific group (often remembered by the "DR MRS VANDERTRAMP" acronym) uses être as the auxiliary. Crucially, motion and state-change verbs like sortir (to go out) and rester, naître, mourir, etc. take être, while everyday action verbs like dormir (to sleep) take avoir. In the sentence, Thomas is writing about himself ("je") going out early — sortir takes être, so the first blank needs suis (the first-person singular of être). His sister sleeping until noon uses dormir, which takes avoir, so the second blank needs a (the third-person singular of avoir). That makes B) suis / a the correct pair. Looking at the wrong answers: A) ai / a incorrectly pairs avoir with sortir — a classic mistake since avoir feels like the "default," but sortir is one of those motion verbs that demands être. C) suis / est gets the first verb right but wrongly assigns être to dormir, which is not a motion or state-change verb and never uses être as an auxiliary. D) ai / est doubles down on both errors simultaneously — wrong auxiliary for sortir and wrong auxiliary for dormir. A helpful study tip: memorize DR MRS VANDERTRAMP as your "être verbs" checklist. Whenever you see a verb of motion or physical transition, stop and ask yourself if it's on that list before defaulting to avoir.

Question 2

Marie parle à son amie au téléphone. Elle dit : « Hier soir, je   allée au cinéma avec Paul, et nous   regardé un film fantastique. »

Which pair of verbs correctly completes Marie's sentence?

  1. suis / avons (correct answer)
  2. ai / avons
  3. suis / sommes
  4. ai / sommes
Explanation: When completing a sentence in the passé composé, your first task is to identify the correct auxiliary verb — either avoir or être — and then ensure the past participle agrees properly with the subject when être is used. For the first blank, Marie is the subject and the verb is aller. You should know that aller is one of the classic "house of être" verbs (think: DR MRS VANDERTRAMP) that always takes être as its auxiliary. Since Marie is feminine singular, the past participle allé must agree with her gender, becoming allée. So the first blank must be suis — giving us je suis allée. For the second blank, Marie and Paul together (nous) watched a film. The verb regarder is a regular action verb that takes avoir, not être. So the correct form is nous avons regardé — no agreement needed on the past participle since avoir is used and there's no preceding direct object. That makes A) suis / avons the correct answer. Looking at the wrong choices: B) ai / avons incorrectly uses avoir with aller — a classic mistake, since aller always requires être. C) suis / sommes gets the first verb right but incorrectly uses être with regarder, which is not an être-verb. D) ai / sommes makes both errors simultaneously — wrong auxiliary for aller and wrong auxiliary for regarder. A helpful tip: memorize the DR MRS VANDERTRAMP list of être verbs cold. On French exams, questions about passé composé almost always test whether you can correctly sort verbs between avoir and être.

Question 3

A student wants to say 'We stayed at home yesterday' in French using the passé composé. The verb rester is one of the verbs that uses être as its auxiliary. Which sentence is correct?

  1. Nous avons resté à la maison hier.
  2. Nous sommes restés à la maison hier. (correct answer)
  3. Nous avons restés à la maison hier.
  4. Nous sommes rester à la maison hier.
Explanation: When forming the passé composé in French, your first decision is which auxiliary verb to use — avoir or être. A specific group of verbs, often memorized with the acronym DR. & MRS. VANDERTRAMP, always use être as their auxiliary. Rester (to stay) belongs to this group, which immediately rules out any answer using avoir. The correct answer is B: Nous sommes restés à la maison hier. Here's why every piece matters. Since rester takes être, the auxiliary is sommes (the nous form of être). The past participle is resté, and because être verbs require agreement with the subject, the participle must match nous in gender and number. Assuming the subject includes males or is mixed-gender, resté becomes restés — adding an -s for the plural subject. This agreement rule is what separates être verbs from avoir verbs, where the participle stays unchanged. A is wrong because it uses avons (avoir) as the auxiliary — rester is an être verb, so avoir is never correct here. C makes the same avoir mistake AND incorrectly adds an -s to the participle; with avoir, past participles don't agree with the subject. D uses être correctly but then fails to conjugate the past participle entirely — rester is left in its infinitive form, which is never grammatically acceptable in passé composé. As a study tip, memorize your DR. & MRS. VANDERTRAMP verbs and always link them to two rules: use être + make the participle agree with the subject.

Question 4

In French, the verb descendre can be used in two different ways: (1) as an intransitive verb meaning 'to go down,' and (2) as a transitive verb meaning 'to bring something down.' Which statement correctly describes how the auxiliary verb choice changes based on usage?

  1. Intransitive descendre uses avoir, and transitive descendre also uses avoir, because the verb itself always determines the auxiliary regardless of whether there is a direct object.
  2. Intransitive descendre uses être, and transitive descendre uses avoir, because the presence of a direct object shifts the auxiliary from être to avoir. (correct answer)
  3. Intransitive descendre uses être, and transitive descendre also uses être, because descendre always belongs to the être-verb group no matter how it is used.
  4. Intransitive descendre uses avoir, and transitive descendre uses être, because adding a direct object triggers a switch to être as the auxiliary.
Explanation: When you encounter a verb like descendre in French, ask yourself: does the sentence have a direct object? This question tests a fundamental rule about how auxiliary verb choice (être vs. avoir) can shift depending on whether a verb is used transitively or intransitively. Descendre used intransitively means "to go down" with no direct object — the subject simply performs the action of descending. In this case, descendre behaves like a classic motion verb and takes être as its auxiliary: Elle est descendue. ("She went down.") However, when descendre takes a direct object — meaning someone brings something down — it becomes transitive: Elle a descendu les valises. ("She brought the suitcases down.") Here, the auxiliary switches to avoir. This is answer B, and it correctly captures this two-mode behavior. Answer A is wrong because it claims avoir is used in both cases — it ignores the intransitive/être pairing entirely. Answer C incorrectly locks descendre into the être group regardless of usage, which would make the transitive form est descendu les valises — grammatically impossible when a direct object is present. Answer D reverses the logic entirely, incorrectly claiming that adding a direct object triggers être, when in fact direct objects are a hallmark of avoir constructions. A useful memory trick: direct object = avoir. Several French verbs (monter, descendre, sortir, rentrer, passer) are "dual-auxiliary" verbs — they use être when intransitive and avoir when transitive. Memorize this small group and always check for a direct object before choosing your auxiliary.

Question 5

Léa raconte ses vacances : « Nous   partis le matin et nous   beaucoup mangé dans le train. »

A student fills in the blanks with 'sommes / avons.' Is this correct, and why?

  1. No, it is incorrect. Both blanks should use avons because the subject 'nous' always takes avoir as its auxiliary in the passé composé.
  2. No, it is incorrect. Both blanks should use sommes because all verbs in a single sentence must share the same auxiliary verb.
  3. Yes, it is correct. Partir takes être as its auxiliary and manger takes avoir, so each verb correctly uses its own auxiliary regardless of the shared subject. (correct answer)
  4. Yes, it is correct, but only by coincidence. Both partir and manger would actually use être if the sentence were in the present tense instead of the passé composé.
Explanation: When you see a passé composé question with multiple verbs, the key concept to focus on is auxiliary verb selection — specifically, that each verb independently chooses either avoir or être based on its own grammatical category, not based on what other verbs in the sentence are doing. In French, most verbs form the passé composé with avoir, but a specific group — primarily verbs of motion and state change (often memorized with the "DR MRS VANDERTRAMP" acronym) — use être. Partir (to leave) belongs to this être group, so it becomes sommes partis. Manger (to eat) is a regular verb that takes avoir, so it becomes avons mangé. Both choices are correct, making C the right answer — the student filled in the blanks perfectly, and the reasoning matters: each verb follows its own rule independently. A is wrong because it assumes nous forces avoir for every verb. The subject pronoun doesn't determine the auxiliary — the verb itself does. B is wrong because it invents a rule that doesn't exist: verbs in the same sentence never need to "match" auxiliaries. Each verb is conjugated separately. D is wrong on two counts — it dismisses correct reasoning as coincidence, and it's factually false that partir or manger would use être in the present tense (present tense doesn't use auxiliaries at all in this way). As a study tip, memorize your être verbs as a fixed list. Every verb not on that list almost certainly takes avoir, so when you see multiple verbs in one sentence, evaluate each one individually.

Question 6

Un étudiant écrit : « Mon père   né en 1965, et il   travaillé dans cette entreprise pendant vingt ans. »

Which pair of auxiliary verbs correctly completes this sentence?

  1. a / a
  2. est / est
  3. est / a (correct answer)
  4. a / est
Explanation: When forming the passé composé in French, the most important decision you'll make is choosing the right auxiliary verb — être or avoir. Most verbs use avoir, but a specific group uses être: verbs of motion or state change (like naître, mourir, aller, venir, etc.), reflexive verbs, and passive constructions. A classic memory trick is the "DR MRS VANDERTRAMP" acronym, which lists the key être verbs. In this sentence, the first blank pairs with né — the past participle of naître (to be born). Because naître is one of the core être verbs, the correct auxiliary is est. The second blank pairs with travaillé — the past participle of travailler (to work). Since travailler is a regular action verb with no motion or state-change meaning, it takes avoir, giving you a travaillé. That makes C) est / a the correct answer. Looking at the wrong choices: A) a / a incorrectly uses avoir for naître, which is always conjugated with être — this is a classic trap for students who default to avoir. B) est / est makes the opposite mistake, incorrectly applying être to travailler, which never takes être as an auxiliary. D) a / est reverses both verbs entirely, getting both wrong simultaneously. A quick study tip: always flag past participles in a sentence and ask yourself, "Is this verb on the DR MRS VANDERTRAMP list, or is it reflexive?" If yes, use être. If no, default to avoir.

Question 7

Which of the following French sentences contains an error in the choice of auxiliary verb in the passé composé?

  1. Ils ont voyagé en Europe l'été dernier.
  2. Elle est tombée dans l'escalier ce matin.
  3. Tu as fini tes devoirs avant le dîner.
  4. Nous avons venu chez toi hier soir. (correct answer)
Explanation: When forming the passé composé in French, your biggest decision is choosing the right auxiliary verb — either avoir or être. Most verbs use avoir, but a specific group uses être. These are largely verbs of movement or change of state (think: aller, venir, partir, arriver, naître, mourir, tomber, and a handful more), plus all reflexive verbs. A helpful memory trick is the DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP acronym, which lists the key être verbs. Option D — Nous avons venu chez toi hier soir — contains the error. The verb venir (to come) belongs to the être group, so the correct sentence should be Nous sommes venus chez toi hier soir. Using avoir with venir is a classic mistake because students default to avoir out of habit. The other three sentences are all correct. Option A uses ont voyagé — voyager takes avoir, which is right. Option B uses est tombée — tomber is one of the être verbs, and the past participle correctly agrees in gender with elle (feminine), giving tombée. Option C uses as fini — finir is a regular verb that takes avoir, so this is perfectly formed. A useful study strategy: rather than memorizing every avoir verb (there are hundreds), focus on memorizing the smaller, fixed list of être verbs. If the verb isn't on that list and isn't reflexive, it almost certainly takes avoir. When in doubt, ask yourself: "Is this a DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP verb?"

Question 8

Dans un courriel, Julien écrit à son ami : « Hier, je   monté les bagages dans ma chambre, puis je   monté me coucher très tôt parce que j'étais fatigué. »

Julien uses the verb monter twice in his email. Which pair of auxiliary verbs correctly fills the two blanks?

  1. suis / suis — because monter always takes être in the passé composé, regardless of whether a direct object is present.
  2. suis / ai — because the first monter is intransitive and takes être, while the second has an implied direct object and switches to avoir.
  3. ai / ai — because monter always takes avoir when the subject is 'je,' regardless of whether a direct object is present.
  4. ai / suis — because the first monter has a direct object (les bagages) making it transitive and requiring avoir, while the second is intransitive and requires être. (correct answer)
Explanation: When you see monter (or verbs like descendre, sortir, rentrer, passer) in the passé composé, your first instinct might be to automatically pair them with être — but that's a trap. These verbs are part of a special group that can function as either intransitive (no direct object, takes être) or transitive (has a direct object, takes avoir). The meaning shifts slightly depending on usage. In Julien's sentence, the first monter is followed by a direct object: les bagages. He carried something upstairs — the verb is transitive, so it requires avoir: j'ai monté les bagages. The second monter has no direct object; he simply went upstairs to bed. That's the intransitive use, requiring être: je suis monté me coucher. This makes D the correct answer. Answer A is wrong because it assumes monter always takes être, ignoring the transitive/intransitive distinction entirely. Answer B gets the logic exactly backwards — it claims the first monter is intransitive (être) and the second has an implied object (avoir), which is the opposite of what's actually happening in the sentence. Answer C is wrong for the same reason as A, just in the opposite direction: it assumes avoir is always correct, which is equally false. A useful strategy: before choosing your auxiliary, ask yourself "Is there a direct object?" If yes → avoir. If no → être (for these dual-auxiliary verbs). Memorize this small group of verbs (monter, descendre, sortir, rentrer, passer, retourner) as ones that can swing both ways depending on context.

Question 9

A student wants to translate: 'The children went to the park and played for two hours.' The verbs are aller (être verb) and jouer (avoir verb). The subject is 'les enfants' (masculine plural). Which French sentence is correct?

  1. Les enfants sont allés au parc et ont joué pendant deux heures. (correct answer)
  2. Les enfants ont allé au parc et ont joué pendant deux heures.
  3. Les enfants sont allés au parc et sont joués pendant deux heures.
  4. Les enfants sont allé au parc et ont joué pendant deux heures.
Explanation: When translating past-tense sentences in French, you need to identify two things for each verb: which auxiliary verb it takes (être or avoir), and whether the past participle needs to agree with the subject. French verbs like aller use être as their auxiliary in the passé composé, while most regular verbs like jouer use avoir. When a verb uses être, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. Since "les enfants" is masculine plural here, allé needs the masculine plural ending: allés. Verbs using avoir, however, do not agree with the subject — the participle stays in its base form. This makes A the correct answer: Les enfants sont allés au parc et ont joué pendant deux heures. It correctly uses sont with allés (masculine plural agreement) and ont with joué (no agreement needed). B is wrong because it uses ont allé — but aller is an être verb, so avoir as its auxiliary is incorrect. This is a very common mix-up. C incorrectly uses sont joués for jouer. Since jouer takes avoir, using être here is wrong, and it would also falsely imply a reflexive or passive construction. D uses the right auxiliary (sont) for aller but writes allé without the plural agreement (allés), making it grammatically incorrect for a masculine plural subject. A handy memory strategy: learn the "être verbs" as a fixed list (often called the "DR. & MRS. VANDERTRAMP" verbs), and always remember — être verbs agree, avoir verbs don't.

Question 10

Sophie veut dire en français : 'She fell asleep on the couch.' The verb s'endormir (to fall asleep) is a pronominal/reflexive verb. Which sentence correctly expresses this idea in the passé composé?

  1. Elle a endormi sur le canapé.
  2. Elle s'a endormie sur le canapé.
  3. Elle s'est endormie sur le canapé. (correct answer)
  4. Elle est endormie sur le canapé.
Explanation: When you see a pronominal (reflexive) verb like s'endormir used in the passé composé, two rules immediately apply: it must use être as the auxiliary verb (not avoir), and the reflexive pronoun must stay attached to the subject. For elle s'est endormie, here's the logic: the subject elle takes the reflexive pronoun se (shortened to s' before a vowel), followed by est (the être auxiliary), and finally the past participle endormi. Because all pronominal verbs use être in the passé composé, the past participle must agree with the subject in gender and number — since elle is feminine singular, you add an -e, giving you endormie. That makes C the correct answer. Looking at the wrong choices: A (Elle a endormi) uses avoir as the auxiliary instead of être and drops the reflexive pronoun entirely — a double error that also changes the meaning (transitive endormir means "to put someone else to sleep"). B (Elle s'a endormie) keeps the reflexive pronoun but mistakenly uses a (avoir) instead of est (être) — pronominal verbs never use avoir in the passé composé. D (Elle est endormie) drops the reflexive pronoun s', which turns this into a description of a state ("she is asleep") rather than an action ("she fell asleep") — a subtle but important distinction. A helpful tip: whenever you spot a verb that begins with se/s' in its infinitive form, mentally flag it — it always takes être in the passé composé, and the past participle always agrees with the subject.