📖LearnModule 5 · Lesson 13 of 30Basic User · CEFR A2 mastery + the B1 bridgeUnit 3 · The two pasts, mastered
The être club, complete
Module 5 of the free French course (CEFR A2 mastery + the B1 bridge), lesson 13 of 30: . On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 13.
The words
French
English
Say it
entrer
to enter
ah(n)-TRAY
sortir
to go out
sor-TEER
elle est sortie
she went out
ehl eh sor-TEE
monter
to go up
moh(n)-TAY
descendre
to go down
deh-SAH(n)DR
tomber
to fall
toh(n)-BAY
il est tombé
he fell
eel eh toh(n)-BAY
naître
to be born
nehtr
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La règle · The rule
The core of the going-coming club for the passé composé: aller, venir, arriver, partir, rester, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, tomber, retourner, naître, mourir — with their relatives revenir, devenir and rentrer, plus every reflexive.
Et aussi · And also
The agreement rule holds club-wide: elle est sortie, ils sont entrés, elles sont montées.
Attention · Watch out
monter and descendre join the être club when they mean going up and going down: elle est descendue. And naître gives né: il est né.
sortir, passé composé — the table
il est sorti · elle est sortie · ils sont sortis · elles sont sorties
entrer, passé composé — the table
il est entré · elle est entrée · ils sont entrés · elles sont entrées
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with entrer.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write out sortir, passé composé and entrer, passé composé in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.