Conjugate mourir, naître, décéder, devenir, rester (+ être) in the compound past in French (Le Passé Composé)

Take the fastest path to fluent French

In Le Passé Composé, most verbs use avoir as the auxiliary verb but a fixed number of verbs use être instead.  

They are almost all verbs to do with movement (See Conjugate coming and going verbs (+ être) in the compound past in French (Le Passé Composé)), but also those to do with states of being (birth, death, becoming, staying).

Learn how to conjugate NAÎTRE (to be born),RESTER (to stay/to remain), MOURIR (to die) and DEVENIR (to become) in Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) in French

Je suis né en avril.I was born in April.

Marie, tu es restée avec Lucas hier.Marie, you stayed with Lucas yesterday.

Il est mort l'année dernière.He died last year.

Nous sommes devenus bons amis.We became good friends.

Vous êtes restées dans le train.You stayed on the train.

Elles sont devenues danseuses.They became dancers.

 

The pattern for these verbs in Le Passé Composé:

être (le Présent)  +   past participle of the verb

 
ATTENTION:
Because they're using être as auxiliary verb, their past participles have to agree with the subject of the verb.

 
 

List of the "being and state" verbs and their past participles

Mourir (to die) –> mort
Naître (to be born) –> 
Décéder (to decease) –> décédé
Devenir (to become) –> devenu
Rester (to stay / remain) –> resté

 

There is also a "house diagram" known as the maison d'être showing these verbs in one easy-to-remember picture on wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:La_maison_etre.jpg   
 
 
 

Want to make sure your French sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Brainmap today »

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Examples and resources

Marie, tu es restée avec Lucas hier.Marie, you stayed with Lucas yesterday.
Ils sont décédés le mois dernier.They died last month.
Il est mort l'année dernière.He died last year.
Je suis né en avril.I was born in April.
Nous sommes devenus bons amis.We became good friends.
Je suis resté à la maison.I stayed at home.
Vous êtes restées dans le train.You stayed on the train.
Elles sont devenues danseuses.They became dancers.
Vous êtes restés mes petits garçons.You remained my little boys. 
Getting that for you now...