Avoir + Transitive & Etre + Intransitive

Ha W.C1Kwiziq community member

Avoir + Transitive & Etre + Intransitive

So in general, when a verb is both transitive and intransitive, we should use avoir with the transitive version, and when applicable, use etre with the intransitive version?
Asked 8 years ago
AurélieKwiziq team memberCorrect answer
Bonjour Ha !

No, this is not a general rule at all: this only applies to a handful of (+être) verbs in compound tenses.
The great majority of verbs will take "avoir" and only "avoir", and another small group (plus reflexive verbs) will take "être" and only "être".

The versatile verbs that can use either "être" or "avoir" are now listed at the end of this lesson.

I hope that's helpful!
Ha W.C1Kwiziq community member
Aurélie, thanks for responding to my question and for listing the versatile verbs. I've added them to a separate notebook so I can test myself on this topic again in the future.

Avoir + Transitive & Etre + Intransitive

So in general, when a verb is both transitive and intransitive, we should use avoir with the transitive version, and when applicable, use etre with the intransitive version?

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