etre followed by a preposition always?

S. R.A1Kwiziq community member

etre followed by a preposition always?

The text says "Note that in each case where être is the auxilliary, the verb passer is followed by a preposition (en, sur, dans, à etc.).  "

But then we have the example "Elle est passée chez Laurent hier"

Surely "chez laurent" is a noun?


Asked 3 months ago
Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

SR , 

‘ chez ‘ is a preposition, not an article/determiner.  It can be used in multiple contexts.

The structure in this example is the same as for the examples in the lesson using ‘ par ‘, for instance.

When there is a preposition directly following the verb passer, preceding the noun, there is no direct object, and the grammatical rule is that conjugation is with ‘ être ‘, as per the lesson ( this is in common with most, but not all, verbs that can conjugate with either ‘ être ‘ or ‘ avoir ‘ ).

 https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/glossary/lexical-category-or-parts-of-speech/preposition 

Chez = at someone's place (French Prepositions) 

https://www.wordreference.com/fren/passer

 https://www.wordreference.com/fren/chez

S. R. asked:

etre followed by a preposition always?

The text says "Note that in each case where être is the auxilliary, the verb passer is followed by a preposition (en, sur, dans, à etc.).  "

But then we have the example "Elle est passée chez Laurent hier"

Surely "chez laurent" is a noun?


Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
I'll be right with you...