Need help with French!

Question

French Help! I'm having a very rough time figuring out the correct verb conjugation for each of these passé composé sentences. Can somebody that is experienced with the language lend a hand?

Nous (avons allé, sommes allé, sommes allés) au cinéma hier soir.

l (a fait, il est fait, il est faite) les magasins pour l’anniversaire de mes parents.

Je/j’ (ai eu, suis eu) une très bonne idée hier soir.

Elles (ont partie, sont partis, sont parties) pour les vacances.

Est-elle (rendu, retourné, rentrée) en retard?

Answer 1

Hello,

I hope the answers below will be helpful.

Alain

Nous sommes allés au cinéma hier soir.

l a fait les magasins pour l’anniversaire de mes parents.

J' ai eu une très bonne idée hier soir.

Elles sont parties pour les vacances.

Est-elle rentrée en retard?

Answer 2

Just to add on - a helpful way to remember what verbs use "être" as the auxiliary verb in the passé composé is the acronym VANDERTRAMPS

V - (re)venir

A - aller

N - naître

D - descendre

E - (r)entrer

R - retourner

T - tomber

R - rester

A - arriver

M - monter

P - partir

S - sortir

Of course there are still a few verbs that are missing from that list, but that encompasses most of them.

Other verbs to keep in mind: mourir, devenir

I also just want to note that your last example phrase is a little trickier because it isn't giving you different verb conjugation options, but rather different verbs all together. So when deciding which one is correct you have to think about which of those three verbs use être as the auxiliary verb (rentrer and retourner) and then what is the proper form for that verb given that the subject of the phrase is "elle."

Answer 3

Alain gave the right answers, but I thought I might explain them in a bit more detail. A good rule of thumb for knowing when to use être as the auxiliary verb is when the action has to do with the subject's movement, position in space, or state of being (not "to be," though).

Examples for movement/position in space: aller (to go), venir (to come), revenir (to come back), rentrer (to come back, to reenter), retourner (to return), sortir (to go out), partir (to leave), tomber (to fall), monter (to climb, to go up), déscendre (to descend, to go down), rester (to stay)

Examples for state of being: naître (to be born), mourir (to die), devenir (to become)

I probably left a few verbs out, but I hope this helps.