Irregular Être
French: Cambridge International GCSE, topic 7.2.5
Irregular Être Verbs
'Venir' has an irregular past participle. It uses 'être' as an auxiliary verb. Any verb that has 'venir' in it follows the same pattern. Here are the irregular 'venir' verbs in the pluperfect tense:
Venir - to come
- J'étais venu(e) - I had come.
- Tu étais venu(e) - you (singular) had come.
- Il/elle/on était venu(e) - he/she/one had come.
- Nous étions venu(e)s - we had come.
- Vous étiez venu(e)(s) - you (plural/formal) had come.
- Ils/elles étaient venu(e)s - they had come.
Devenir - to become
- J'étais devenu(e) - I had become.
- Tu étais devenu(e) - you (singular) had become.
- Il/elle/on était devenu(e) - he/she/one had become.
- Nous étions devenu(e)s - we had become.
- Vous étiez devenu(e)(s) - you (plural/formal) had become.
- Ils/elles étaient devenu(e)s - they had become.
Revenir - to come back
- J'étais revenu(e) - I had come back.
- Tu étais revenu(e) - you (singular) had come back.
- Il/elle/one était revenu(e) - he/she/one had come back.
- Nous étions revenu(e)s - we had come back.
- Vous étiez revenu(e)(s) - you (plural/formal) had come back.
- Ils/elles étaient revenu(e)s - they had come back.
Irregular Être Verbs
'Naître' and 'mourir' use 'être' in the perfect tense. They have irregular past participles.
Naître - to be born
- J'étais né(e) - I had been born.
- Tu étais né(e) - you (singular) had been born.
- Il/elle/on était né(e) - he/she/one had been born.
- Nous étions né(e)s - we had been born.
- Vous étiez né(e)(s) - you (plural/formal) had been born.
- Ils/elles étaient né(e)s - they had been born.
Mourir - to die
- J'étais mort(e) - I had died.
- Tu étais mort(e) - you (singular) had died.
- Il/elle/on était mort(e) - he/she/one had died.
- Nous étions mort(e)s - we had died.
- Vous étiez mort(e)(s) - you (plural/formal) had died.
- Ils/elles étaient mort(e)s - they had died.
Test yourself on Irregular Être
How do you say 'they had come'?
Which of these are the correct forms of these irregular être verbs?
How do you say 'we had come back' in French?
How do you say 'they had been born'?
Which of these are the correct forms of these irregular être verbs?