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motion verbs

Moderators: MoniqueMaRie, dakanga

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dakanga

motion verbs

Post by dakanga »

viewtopic.php?p=35715-unit-50-guidebook-and-more#p35715

Let’s talk about motion verbs!

When talking about the past, verbs of motion use être instead of avoir .
If the subject is feminine, add an ‑e. If the subject is plural, add an ‑s!

subjectverb (aller)
je suis allé(e)
tu es allé(e)
il / elle est allé(e)
nous sommes allé(e)s
vous êtes allé(e)s
ils / elles sont allé(e)s
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dakanga

Re: motion verbs

Post by dakanga »

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dakanga

Re: motion verbs

Post by dakanga »

Also see :
Verbs: Compound Past, Auxiliaries, Past Participle Agreement

Initial VerbOpposite VerbDerivative Verbs
Arriver (arrive)partir (leave)
Descendre (descend)monter (ascend)
Venir (come)aller (go)devenir (become), revenir (return)
Entrer (enter)sortir (leave)rentrer (re-enter)
Naître (be born) mourir (die)
Tomber (fall)

The "Initial Verb" column gives the mnemonic of ADVENT

The remaining verbs are
Passer (pass),
Accourir (run up).
Retourner (return), and
Rester (stay),

Mnemonic of PARR.

Being 18 verbs in all.

Notice that this group of verbs often involve movement or transformation.

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dakanga

Re: motion verbs

Post by dakanga »

DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP

I am not particularly a fan on this way of recalling this set of verbs.
It includes some derivatives, but it misses out one of P's.
Seems to be popular in the United States.
While the mnemonic is easy to remember, it does not assist you in remembering the actual verbs.

Devenir ; Revenir & Monter ; Rester ; Sortir ;
Venir ; Aller ; Naître ; Descendre ; Entrer ; Rentrer ; Tomber ; Retourner ; Arriver ; Mourir ; Partir

16 Verbs. Misses passer & accourir


Originally posted by Madame Sensei

I start by writing on the board "Il est grand."

Then I write "Elle est grand" and I ask "What's wrong?

Then I write "Ils sont grand" and I wait for the students to scream at me that it needs an "s" on "grand."

When students explain WHY to me, then they are ready to learn passé composé with être.

On a side note, I have no idea why, but many of my students prefer to think of DR and MRS VANDERTRAMPP. I give them the choice of visualizing La maison d'être (a way to remember the pattern of motion) or DR and MRS VANDERTRAMPP, and for some bizarre reason they would rather memorize the long list of verbs instead of the general pattern.

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dakanga

Re: motion verbs

Post by dakanga »

Ten little Indians.

a little song to the tune of "Ten little Indians."
Allé, arrivé, venu, revenu, entré, rentré, dscendu, devenu, sorti, parti, resté, retourné, monté, tombé, né et mort.

Note: only 15 verbs in all


DRAPERS VAN MMT13
From : https://slideplayer.com/slide/3863415/
Each letter in DRAPERS VAN MMT stands for one of the 13 verbs.

Descendre
Rester
Aller
Partir
Entrer
Retourner
Sortir
Venir
Arriver
Naître
Mourir
Monter
Tomber

13 total verbs


Another Mnemonic :

TRAMPS DEMAND 3 Returns to Venice

Tomber Rester Aller Mourir Partir Sortir
Devenir Entrer Monter Arriver Naitre Descendre
(3 Returns) Retourner Rentrer Revenir
(Venice) Venir

Note: it misses "passer" : to pass by

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dakanga

Re: motion verbs

Post by dakanga »

Another method is to group them in verb types :

  1. aller
  2. arriver, entrer, rentrer, rester, retourner, tomber, passer, monter ,
  3. descendre,
  4. partir, sortir,
  5. venir, devenir, revenir,
  6. naître,
  7. mourir, accourir

18 verbs in all


p.s the important verb aller belongs to the 3rd group of French irregular verbs, and is in a class of its own.

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dakanga

Re: motion verbs

Post by dakanga »

Some of these can conjugate with avoir if used transitively:

When using a direct object, the verbs
sortir, descendre, montrer, and passer
will use avoir.

Je suis monté au dernier étage et j'ai monté les bagages

Intransitive verbs
One very important thing to remember is that verbs only use être when they are intransitive (do not have a direct object):

Je suis passé à huit heures vs J'ai passé la maison.
Je suis monté avant lui vs J'ai monté la valise.

ref: https://www.thoughtco.com/etre-verbs-fr ... bs-1368843


Some verbs that use être for an intransitive use still have to use avoir for an transitive use.
Here is the story to remember about the bad roommate at college:

Elle est sortie.
She went out.

The verb is used intransitively; there is no direct object of the verb in that sentence.

Elle a sorti ma chemise de notre chambre!
She took my shirt out of our room!

This time, the verb is used transitively, because the direct object is my shirt -- my shirt is what was taken out of the room by the subject of the sentence - elle - the bad roommate! ref: 2LearningSpanish


To know which auxiliary I would use (if I weren't a native),
I would ask what is done, on what the action of the verb applies?

Elle a sorti la chemise = it's the shirt that is put out, not the "elle".
Elle est sortie de la chambre = she is the thing/person that was put out out of the room. (she made it herself). ref: PERCE_NEIGE

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dakanga

Re: motion verbs

Post by dakanga »

Verbs that are Conjugated with "avoir ou être" as per leconjugueur

aborder
aboutir
apparaître
atterrir
changer
choir
croître ( has 2 forms )
commencer
convenir
déménager
descendre #
demeurer
diminuer
éclater
éclore
expirer
grandir
grossir
jaillir
maigrir
monter #
passer #
remonter
rentrer #
rajeunir
ressortir
retourner #
sortir #
tomber #
tourner
vieillir

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dakanga

Re: motion verbs

Post by dakanga »

All pronominal verbs (se lever, se coucher, se promener, etc.) also take être instead of avoir to form the passé composé tense.

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dakanga

Re: motion verbs

Post by dakanga »

jeffers86 :

There also seems to be a pattern about motion with these verbs. Most obviously: coming, going, leaving, descending, etc. (as well as all the verbs based on venir). Rester has to do with stopping motion, so it sort of fits. The only ones which don't seem to fit this pattern (I think) are mourir and naître. But think of these as entering and leaving life, and they still fit.

ref: https://archive.ph/oXAKb#selection-1805.0-1855.380

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dakanga

Re: motion verbs

Post by dakanga »

Example sentences

Just a few details about those of the 17 "être" verbs which also exist with "avoir" when transitive:
Descendre: j'ai descendu l'escalier (I walked down the stairs)
Descendre: il a descendu son ennemi (he shot down his enemy)
Monter: j'ai monté l'escalier (I walked up the stairs)
Monter: j'ai monté la mayonnaise (I wounded up the mayonnaise)
Entrer: j'ai entré mon mot de passe (I entered my password)
Passer: j'ai passé des heures à travailler (I spent hours working) + many, many other uses
Retourner: j'ai retourné la crêpe (I turned the crêpe over)
Sortir: j'ai sorti le chien ce matin (I took the dog out this morning)
Tomber: j'ai tombé la veste (I took my jacket off)

ref: [sitesurf](https://archive.ph/oXAKb#selection-341.0-397.50_

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dakanga

Re: motion verbs

Post by dakanga »

Another way to approach learning these verbs of movement that go with être is to just focus on the root words, and not the derivatives, as suggested by https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/auxiliary-verbs/

Which leaves 9 verbs of Movement to focus on learning.

To go

aller : to go, going : allé
sortir : to exit : sorti
partir : to leave : parti

To come

arriver : to arrive : arrivé
entrer : to enter : entré
to enter your own home (chez / maison), or to your country.
venir : to come : venu
note: while the other verbs ending in -ir congugate with a " i ", venir uses a " u ".

And these very different 4 - also in this set

passer : to pass : passé
monter : to go up, climb, get on : monté
descendre : to go down, get off (bus) : descendu
tomber : to fall : tombé
Derivatives
entrer : to enter
rentrer : to re-enter to enter your own home (chez / notre maison), or to your country.
partir : to leave
repartir : to leave again
passer : to pass
repasser : to come/go back
sortir : to exit
ressortir : to go out again
venir : to come
to come back for a short time to a place that is not your home/country.
Such as to an office or a place of business for example as well.
revenir : to come again, come back for a short time to a place that is not your home/country
devenir : to become (note: change of state)
parvenir : to reach, achieve (note: change of state)

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dakanga

Re: motion verbs

Post by dakanga »

Here is a poem to assist learning.

passé , repassé , allé , arrivé ,
entré , rentré , retourné ,
monté , remonté , tombé , retombé ,
descendu , redescendu , venu , revenu ,
sorti , ressorti , parti , reparti


Create a memory palace story about this.

Such as this suggestion. Though it is best if you tweak it for yourself.

Here we are wanting to talk about the past,
which is a reminder of going past something : "passé".
So we went " allé " (to go) ,
and we arrived " arrivé "
Then we entered " entré". (in)
We thought this was our old house, so we use " rentré".
came back home.
We were though wrong, though once before we were here, so we " "retourné ".
We climb up some steps, : "monté "
and then we " tombé" : (fall).
Then we walked down some steps : "descendu".
Then we knew we had come to this place : "venu".
Now it was time to exit the door, " sorti ".
It was time to leave, " parti ".

Note, this is in in past tense - and you use être (to be) with them !
Perhaps others would like to share other memory prompts like this that they have used and found effective.
Check out some other suggestions at Other ways this concept is often taught

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