French 2 Quiz: Passe Compose With Etre
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Passe Compose With EtreQuestion 1 of 10

Lisez cette phrase ambiguë : « Le médecin est passé voir le patient. »

Quelle affirmation explique le mieux pourquoi 'passer' utilise être dans cette phrase ?

'Passer' utilise toujours être au passé composé, quelle que soit la structure de la phrase ou la présence d'un objet direct, comme tous les verbes de mouvement.
'Passer' est utilisé ici intransitivement pour exprimer un mouvement (venir rendre visite), ce qui impose l'auxiliaire être ; s'il avait un objet direct, on utiliserait avoir (ex. : 'il a passé l'examen').
'Passer' utilise être ici parce que le sujet est animé (une personne) ; avec un sujet inanimé comme 'le temps', on utiliserait avoir à la place.
'Passer' utilise être dans cette phrase parce qu'il est suivi d'un infinitif ('voir') ; tous les verbes de mouvement suivis d'un infinitif prennent être au passé composé.
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French 2 Quiz

French 2 Quiz: Passe Compose With Etre

Practice Passe Compose With Etre in French 2 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 Passe Compose With Etre, giving you a quick way to practice the rules, question types, and explanations that matter most for French 2.

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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

Lisez cette phrase ambiguë : « Le médecin est passé voir le patient. »

Quelle affirmation explique le mieux pourquoi 'passer' utilise être dans cette phrase ?

  1. 'Passer' utilise toujours être au passé composé, quelle que soit la structure de la phrase ou la présence d'un objet direct, comme tous les verbes de mouvement.
  2. 'Passer' est utilisé ici intransitivement pour exprimer un mouvement (venir rendre visite), ce qui impose l'auxiliaire être ; s'il avait un objet direct, on utiliserait avoir (ex. : 'il a passé l'examen'). (correct answer)
  3. 'Passer' utilise être ici parce que le sujet est animé (une personne) ; avec un sujet inanimé comme 'le temps', on utiliserait avoir à la place.
  4. 'Passer' utilise être dans cette phrase parce qu'il est suivi d'un infinitif ('voir') ; tous les verbes de mouvement suivis d'un infinitif prennent être au passé composé.
Explanation: When you see a question about auxiliary verb choice (être vs. avoir) in the passé composé, the key question to ask is: is the verb being used transitively (with a direct object) or intransitively (expressing movement/state with no direct object)? This distinction matters especially for verbs like passer, monter, descendre, and sortir, which can go either way depending on context. In this sentence, le médecin est passé voir le patient uses passer intransitively — the doctor made a visit, expressing physical movement. There is no direct object of passer itself (note that le patient is the object of voir, not of passer). This intransitive movement usage triggers être as the auxiliary. However, if passer had a direct object — like il a passé l'examen ("he took the exam") — it becomes transitive, and you'd use avoir. That's exactly what B explains, making it the correct answer. A is wrong because passer does not always use être — this overgeneralization ignores its transitive uses with avoir. C is wrong because auxiliary choice has nothing to do with whether the subject is animate or inanimate; le temps est passé ("time passed") also uses être because it's intransitive. D is wrong because being followed by an infinitive is irrelevant to auxiliary choice — il a commencé à voir uses avoir despite the infinitive. Your study tip: memorize the "double-duty" verbs (passer, monter, descendre, sortir, rentrer) — with a direct object, they use avoir; without one, they use être.

Question 2

Contexte : Vous entendez la conversation suivante entre deux amis. Paul dit : « Tu sais, hier soir, Claire et moi, on   (rentrer) très tard. On   (passer) devant chez toi mais les lumières étaient éteintes. »

Sachant que 'on' représente ici Claire et Paul (une femme et un homme), quelle option est grammaticalement correcte pour compléter la phrase ?

  1. est rentrée / est passée
  2. sommes rentrés / sommes passés
  3. est rentrés / est passés
  4. est rentré / est passé (correct answer)
Explanation: When using the verb être as an auxiliary in the passé composé with the pronoun on, the agreement rules can be tricky — especially when "on" replaces "nous" or refers to a mixed-gender group. Here's the key insight: grammatically, on is always treated as a third-person singular subject, even when it refers to multiple people. This means it takes the singular form of être — est — not sommes. Additionally, because "on" is grammatically singular and has no inherent gender marker, the past participle receives no agreement by default (unless context strongly implies otherwise in literary French, which doesn't apply here). So the correct completions are est rentré and est passé — both singular, both masculine (the default/neutral form) — making D the right answer. Looking at the wrong choices: A (est rentrée / est passée) adds a feminine agreement, as if "on" refers exclusively to Claire, which ignores Paul's presence and misapplies gender agreement to a grammatically neutral pronoun. B (sommes rentrés / sommes passés) is the form you'd use if the subject were explicitly nous — but "on" never takes sommes, even when it means "we." This is the most common trap students fall into. C (est rentrés / est passés) wrongly adds a plural masculine ending, treating "on" as if it were a plural subject, which it grammatically is not. Study tip: Drill this rule — on + est + past participle (no agreement) — as its own pattern. Whenever you see "on" with être verbs, ignore the real-world plurality and treat it like a singular, genderless subject.

Question 3

Un étudiant écrit la phrase suivante : « Les filles sont allées au cinéma, mais leur ami Thomas est allé à la bibliothèque. » Quelle analyse de cette phrase est correcte ?

  1. La phrase est correcte : 'allées' s'accorde avec 'les filles' (féminin pluriel) et 'allé' s'accorde avec 'Thomas' (masculin singulier). (correct answer)
  2. La phrase est incorrecte : il faut 'allé' pour les deux sujets car le passé composé avec être ne marque jamais le genre.
  3. La phrase est incorrecte : il faut 'allés' pour les filles car on utilise toujours le masculin pluriel par défaut avec être.
  4. La phrase est partiellement correcte : 'allées' est bien formé, mais 'allé' pour Thomas devrait être 'allée' pour s'accorder avec le nom 'ami' qui peut être féminin.
Explanation: When you see a question about past participle agreement with être, your job is to identify each subject's gender and number, then verify the participle matches accordingly. In French, when forming the passé composé with être, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject — just like an adjective. "Les filles" is feminine plural, so the participle becomes allées (adding -e for feminine, -s for plural). "Thomas" is masculine singular, so the participle stays allé (the base form, no additions). This makes option A the correct analysis — both participles are perfectly formed for their respective subjects. Option B is built on a false rule. The passé composé with être does mark gender and number — that's one of its defining characteristics and exactly what distinguishes it from avoir constructions. Saying "être never marks gender" would eliminate a core grammatical concept entirely. Option C describes a real phenomenon — the masculine plural as default — but misapplies it. The default masculine plural only comes into play when you have a mixed-gender group sharing a single verb. Here, "les filles" is a separate, exclusively feminine subject with its own verb, so "allées" is correct. Option D reveals a common trap: confusing the grammatical gender of a noun ("ami" can indeed be feminine as "amie") with the gender of the person. Thomas is male, so the agreement follows the speaker's biological gender, not the word "ami." Study tip: Always anchor your agreement to the actual subject's gender and number — not nearby nouns that might look like the subject.

Question 4

Contexte : Trois amies — Amina, Leila et Chloé — décrivent leur journée. Amina dit : « Moi, je suis partie à 8h. » Leila ajoute : « Chloé et moi, nous   (partir) à 9h. » Puis Chloé précise : « En fait, Amina et moi, nous   (partir) ensemble à 8h. »

Quelles formes verbales complètent correctement les déclarations de Leila et de Chloé respectivement ?

  1. sommes partis / sommes parties
  2. sommes parties / sommes parties (correct answer)
  3. sommes parties / sommes partis
  4. sommes partis / sommes partis
Explanation: When using être as the auxiliary verb in passé composé, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. The verb partir takes être, so you need to identify who is speaking and who is included in "nous" each time. In Leila's statement, "Chloé et moi, nous sommes parties à 9h," the group consists of Leila (feminine) and Chloé (feminine) — two women. A group that is entirely feminine takes a feminine plural agreement: parties. In Chloé's statement, "Amina et moi, nous sommes parties ensemble à 8h," the group is Chloé (feminine) and Amina (feminine) — again, two women, so the agreement is once again parties. This makes B the correct answer. Now let's look at the traps. A (sommes partis / sommes parties) uses masculine plural partis for Leila's group, which is wrong because both Leila and Chloé are feminine — masculine agreement only applies when at least one member of the group is male. C (sommes parties / sommes partis) flips the error: it correctly identifies Leila's group as feminine but wrongly applies masculine agreement to Chloé's group, which is also all-female. D (sommes partis / sommes partis) applies masculine agreement to both groups, ignoring that neither group contains a male speaker or referent. A reliable strategy: always pause to identify who exactly is in the "nous" group before choosing agreement. In French, masculine plural is only the default when at least one person in the group is male — all-female groups always take the feminine plural ending -es.

Question 5

Marie écrit dans son journal : « Hier, je   (partir) tôt le matin pour aller à la gare. Mon frère   (rester) à la maison parce qu'il était malade. »

Quelles formes verbales complètent correctement le journal de Marie ?

  1. suis partie / est resté (correct answer)
  2. ai partie / a resté
  3. suis partie / a resté
  4. est partie / est resté
Explanation: When completing a French diary entry written in the past tense, you're being tested on the passé composé — specifically, which auxiliary verb (avoir or être) to use and how to correctly form the past participle. The key rule: certain verbs — mostly verbs of motion and state change — use être as their auxiliary in the passé composé. A classic mnemonic is DR MRS VANDERTRAMP (Descendre, Rester, Monter, Revenir, Sortir, Venir, Aller, Naître, Descendre, Entrer, Rentrer, Tomber, Rester, Arriver, Mourir, Partir). Both partir and rester are on this list, so both take être. Additionally, when using être, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. Since Marie is feminine singular, partir becomes partie (adding -e). Her brother is masculine singular, so rester becomes resté (no change needed). This gives us: suis partie and est resté — answer A. Here's why the other options fail: B (ai partie / a resté) incorrectly uses avoir for both verbs — neither partir nor rester takes avoir. C (suis partie / a resté) gets Marie's verb right but uses avoir with rester, which is wrong since rester requires être. D (est partie / est resté) uses the correct auxiliary for both, but uses est instead of suis for Marie — since she is the speaker ("je"), the first-person form suis is required. Your study tip: always ask two questions — which auxiliary? and does the participle need to agree? With être verbs, the answer to both matters every time.

Question 6

Luc et Sophie parlent de leur week-end. Luc dit : « Nous   (aller) au marché samedi, et ensuite mes parents   (venir) dîner chez nous. » Quelle option complète correctement la phrase de Luc ?

  1. sommes allés / sont venus (correct answer)
  2. sommes allés / ont venu
  3. avons allé / sont venus
  4. sommes allé / sont venus
Explanation: When you see a question like this in French, you're being tested on the passé composé — specifically which auxiliary verb (avoir or être) to use, and whether the past participle agrees with the subject. The key rule: a specific group of verbs — mostly verbs of motion and state change, often remembered with the acronym DR. & MRS. VANDERTRAMP — use être as their auxiliary. Both aller and venir belong to this group. When using être, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. For the first blank, the subject is nous (masculine or mixed group), so aller becomes sommes allés — être conjugated for nous, plus the past participle allé with a plural -s. For the second blank, the subject is mes parents (third-person plural masculine), so venir becomes sont venus — être conjugated for ils, plus venu with a plural -s. This makes A the correct answer. Choice B fails because venir cannot use avoir — "ont venu" is simply wrong; venir always takes être. Choice C is wrong because aller also requires être, not avoir — "avons allé" is a classic beginner mistake. Choice D gets close but uses sommes allé without the plural -s, ignoring the agreement rule for a plural subject (nous). Your study tip: memorize the DR. & MRS. VANDERTRAMP verbs as a fixed list, and always ask yourself two questions — Is it a être verb? What gender and number is my subject? — before writing your past participle.

Question 7

Lisez cet extrait d'un courriel : « Chère Isabelle, je voulais te dire que ta sœur   (naître) un mardi et que votre grand-père   (mourir) le même jour, vingt ans plus tôt. Quelle coïncidence ! »

Quelle option complète correctement le courriel ?

  1. est née / est mort (correct answer)
  2. a né / a mort
  3. est née / a mourir
  4. est né / est mort
Explanation: When you see a verb in parentheses inside a French sentence describing a completed past event, your first instinct should be to identify the correct past tense (passé composé) and then determine the proper auxiliary verb — avoir or être — along with any necessary agreement. For verbs like naître and mourir, French uses être as the auxiliary in the passé composé, not avoir. These are among the classic "DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP" verbs (Devenir, Revenir, Monter, Rester, Sortir, Venir, Aller, Naître, Descendre, Entrer, Rentrer, Tomber, Retourner, Arriver, Mourir, Partir) that always take être. Since ta sœur is feminine, the past participle of naître must agree: née (with an extra -e). For votre grand-père, which is masculine singular, the past participle of mourir stays mort without an added -e. This gives you est née / est mort, which is option A. Option B (a né / a mort) incorrectly uses avoir for both verbs and also produces a mort, which isn't even a real conjugation — mort is a past participle, not used with avoir here. Option C (est née / a mourir) gets the first verb right but uses the infinitive mourir instead of a conjugated past tense for the second verb — a clear structural error. Option D (est né / est mort) uses the correct auxiliary for both but fails to apply feminine agreement to née, since ta sœur is feminine. A handy tip: always check the subject's gender when using être in the passé composé — the past participle must match. Memorize the être verbs as a group so agreement becomes automatic.

Question 8

Laquelle des phrases suivantes contient une erreur dans l'utilisation du passé composé avec être ?

  1. Mes deux cousines sont arrivées ensemble à la fête.
  2. Mon père est descendu chercher le courrier ce matin.
  3. Nous sommes sortis très tôt pour éviter la circulation.
  4. Ma mère et ma tante ont retourné chez elles après le dîner. (correct answer)
Explanation: When using the passé composé in French, certain verbs always take être as the auxiliary verb instead of avoir. A helpful way to remember these verbs is the "DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP" mnemonic (Devenir, Revenir, Monter, Rester, Sortir, Venir, Aller, Naître, Descendre, Entrer, Rentrer, Tomber, Retourner, Arriver, Mourir, Partir). The verb retourner is on this list — meaning it must be conjugated with être, not avoir. Option D is incorrect because "ont retourné" uses avoir as the auxiliary verb with retourner, which is a verb of motion that requires être. The correct sentence should read: Ma mère et ma tante sont retournées chez elles après le dîner. Notice also that with être, the past participle must agree with the subject — since the subject is feminine plural, retournée becomes retournées. Options A, B, and C are all correctly formed. In A, arriver takes être, and the past participle arrivées correctly agrees with the feminine plural subject cousines. In B, descendre takes être, and descendu agrees with the masculine singular subject père. In C, sortir takes être, and sortis agrees with the masculine plural subject nous. A useful study tip: whenever you see a verb of movement or change of state (coming, going, arriving, departing, etc.), suspect that it takes être. Always double-check that the auxiliary matches — using avoir with a DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP verb is one of the most common errors on this exam.

Question 9

Un professeur corrige la rédaction d'un élève. L'élève a écrit : « Le week-end dernier, ma famille et moi, nous sommes resté à la maison. Mon oncle est venu nous rendre visite et il est reparti le dimanche soir. »

Le professeur identifie une seule erreur dans ce passage. Quelle est-elle ?

  1. 'Est reparti' devrait être 'a reparti' car les verbes avec le préfixe 're-' utilisent toujours avoir au passé composé.
  2. 'Est venu' devrait être 'a venu' car 'venir' se conjugue avec avoir quand on décrit une visite.
  3. 'Sommes resté' devrait être 'sommes restés' car le sujet 'nous' est pluriel et le participe passé doit s'accorder en nombre. (correct answer)
  4. 'Sommes resté' est correct, mais 'est reparti' devrait être 'est repartis' pour marquer le pluriel du sujet implicite.
Explanation: When working with the passé composé, two rules must stay sharp in your mind: which auxiliary verb to use (être vs. avoir), and whether the past participle must agree with the subject. The error here involves agreement. The subject "ma famille et moi, nous" is plural, meaning any past participle used with être must reflect that by adding -s. The student wrote "sommes resté" — but since rester takes être as its auxiliary, the participle "resté" must agree with the plural subject "nous," making the correct form "sommes restés." That's the single error the professor identifies, making C the correct answer. Now let's dismantle the wrong choices. A is false because repartir is a verb of movement that takes être, not avoir — the "re-" prefix doesn't override this rule. "Est reparti" is perfectly correct as written. B is similarly wrong: venir is one of the classic être verbs (think of the "DR. & MRS. VANDERTRAMP" mnemonic), so "est venu" is correct; changing it to "a venu" would actually introduce an error. D incorrectly claims "est reparti" should become "est repartis" — but the subject of that clause is "il" (singular), so no plural agreement is needed. Study tip: Whenever you see être as the auxiliary in passé composé, immediately ask yourself: What is the subject's gender and number? The participle must match. This agreement rule is one of the most commonly tested traps in French grammar — don't let it catch you off guard.

Question 10

Choisissez la phrase au passé composé qui est correctement formée ET qui a le sens : « She went up to her room and then came back down. »

  1. Elle a monté dans sa chambre et ensuite elle a redescendu.
  2. Elle est monté dans sa chambre et ensuite elle est redescendu.
  3. Elle est montée dans sa chambre et ensuite elle est redescendue. (correct answer)
  4. Elle est montée dans sa chambre et ensuite elle a redescendu.
Explanation: Whenever you see a passé composé question in French, two things must be correct simultaneously: the choice of auxiliary verb (avoir vs. être) and the agreement of the past participle with the subject. For verbs of motion like monter and redescendre, the rule is that they use être as the auxiliary — not avoir — when they describe movement without a direct object. Since "she went up to her room" and "came back down" involve no direct object, both verbs require être. Additionally, because the subject is elle (feminine singular), the past participle must agree: monté becomes montée, and redescendu becomes redescendue. That gives you Elle est montée... elle est redescendue — which is exactly answer C, the correct choice. Now look at why the others fail. A uses avoir for both verbs (a monté, a redescendu), which is wrong because neither verb has a direct object here — both require être. B uses être correctly for the auxiliary, but the past participles (monté, redescendu) lack the feminine -e agreement ending, making them grammatically incorrect for a female subject. D is a tricky mixed error: it correctly uses est montée but then switches to a redescendu for the second verb, incorrectly using avoir and dropping the agreement. A helpful tip: verbs like monter, descendre, sortir, and rentrer can use either avoir or être, but only take avoir when they have a direct object (e.g., Elle a monté les valises). With no object, always reach for être — and don't forget to match the participle to the subject's gender and number.