Thursday 1 June 2017

Verbs taking auxiliary êt' in perfect tense


At the café this morning there was a discussion about which verbs take auxiliary êt' in perfect tense. There isn't a standard list (one suspects because authorities have disagreed and so, rather than cause offence, people have preferred not to try and lay down the law on this question). So here's a suggested list based on those verbs on which there seems to be consensus:


Verbs taking auxiliary êt' in perfect tense

1 all reflexive verbs
2 v'nîn and derivatives èrv'nîn, dêv'nîn, rav'nîn(?) but not conv'nîn
3 aller, èraller, s'n aller (however verb êt' is frequently used instead of aller in the perfect: j'ai 'té rather than j'sis allé)
4 parti (however s'n aller is more frequently used)
5 arriver may take either auxiliary aver or auxiliary êt'

Other verbs may be found in literary texts which are conjugated with êt', perhaps in a gallicised style influenced by cognate French verbs taking être.

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