Why do some verbs take avoir and some take être in the perfect tense? How can I remember them?!

Well- French is one of those languages, like English, that has lots of silly rules that can't be explained! There's no way of telling which ones will take avoir and which ones will take être, unfortunately you've just got to learn them! However, don't worry- there's a really easy way to remember which ones they are! Just remember the name, MRS VANDERTRAMP- each of the letters in her name is one of the verbs that takes être.We'll run through them and then see how quickly you can say them all in order in one go, I can do it in 7 seconds- I challenge you to beat me! 

HS
Answered by Holly S. French tutor

3312 Views

See similar French GCSE tutors

Related French GCSE answers

All answers ▸

How do I form and use the perfect tense/passé composé?


Write a description of your town, focusing on the geographical location, size/population, character


How do I use depuis, pendant and pour correctly?


Change this sentence from the present tense to the perfect tense: "Je joue au football"


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2025 by IXL Learning