When to use etre or avoir?

When to Use "Être" or "Avoir" With Passé Composé
What you already know :
Most verbs in French use "avoir" to form compound tenses such as passé-composé.
Some verbs will use “être” to form the compound tenses. These are typically verbs of “motion” coming and going verbs and you need to memorize them.
One way to memorize these verbs is DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP:
Devenir
Revenir
&
Monter
Rester
Sortir
Venir
Aller
Naître
Descendre
Entrer
Rentrer
Tomber
Retourner
Arriver
Mourir
Partir et Passer par
***Most of these verbs can be followed by all prepositions of place: à, au, aux, en, sur, chez,
dans, en bas….
You also know ….
All Reflexive Verbs Use “Etre” in Passé Composé
This is quite important as well. All the verbs used in a reflexive form (the “se” form) use être :
J’ai habillé la poupée : I dressed the doll (not reflexive)
Je me suis habillée : I got dressed (reflexive)
Je me suis lavée – (se laver) I washed myself.
When to Use "Être" or "Avoir" With Passé Composé
So here is the twist….
“Être” is the Verb of the Subject, “Avoir” of the Direct Object
“Être” is “allergic” to direct object:
Many of the verbs above (vandertramp) can be used in an “idiomatic” way, with a meaning
which is twisted from their original meaning.
To say to take something down, in, out, up… we also use these verbs:
Descendre la poubelle: to take the garbage downstairs
Monter la valise: to take the suitcase upstairs
Sortir les chiens: to take the dogs out
Rentrer la voiture: to put the car inside the garage
Also
Passer + time = to spend + time
So now, you are going to have a direct object: la poubelle, la valise… Can you guess which verb
you’ll use to make passé composé? “Avoir”, that’s right!
It looks like this…
J’ai descendu le sac: I took the bag downstairs
J’ai monté l’escalier: I went up the stairs
J’ai sorti la voiture: I took the car outside
J’ai rentré les jouets: I took the toys inside
J’ai passé le weekend à Paris: I spent the weekend in Paris