Which verbs do I use être with in the perfect tense?

When you use the perfect tense, you use a form of either avoir or être with the past participle of the verb describing the main action. Most verbs use avoir, but some use être and these can be divided into two groups. Firstly, any reflexive verb (for example, se laver, se reveiller) takes être. It's important to remember that the reflexive pronoun goes before être. So to say 'I woke up' you would say 'je me suis réveillé'. The other, second group of verbs that take être in the perfect tense are the 'Mrs Van der Tramp' verbs. These are eleven verbs which (mostly) describe movement and the easiest way to remember them is with the mnemonic Mrs Van der Tramp:MourirRevenirSortirVenirArriverNaitreDescendreEntrerRetournerTomberRentrerAllerMonterPartirAll of these verbs are used with être - let's have a practice with a few.