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Installing solar panels requires a lot of climbing and hauling. To describe this, you'll use motion verbs like *monter* (to go up), *descendre* (to go down), and *sortir* (to go out).

Verbs of motion use **être** in the passé composé when describing the subject's own movement. However, when these verbs take a **direct object**—meaning you are taking or bringing *something* up, down, or out—they switch their auxiliary to **avoir**.

### Monter (To go up / To take up)

When subjects move themselves, use *être* and agree the past participle with the subject:

{{item:893547}}

When there is a direct object (like hauling up panels), switch the auxiliary to *avoir* (and drop the subject agreement):

{{item:893552}}

### Descendre (To go down / To take down)

The same applies to *descendre*. For the subject's own movement, use *être*:

{{item:893557}}

For taking an object down, use *avoir*:

{{item:893560}}

### Sortir (To go out / To take out)

For *sortir*, use *être* when going out:

{{item:893563}}

And *avoir* when taking something out:

{{item:893568}}

You can even use both auxiliaries in the same sentence:

{{item:893569}}

Auxiliary switch with motion verbs (être vs. avoir)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular 'to be' and indefinite articles (je suis un...)

Singular definite articles (le, la, l')

Identifying vs. describing (c'est vs. il est)

Feminine adjective agreement (+e)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (nous sommes, vous êtes)

Formal and informal you (tu vs. vous)

Plural nouns and indefinite articles (des... -s)

Plural definite articles (les)

Plural adjective agreement (+s)

Stressed pronouns (moi, toi, lui)

The verb "to have" singular (j'ai, tu as, il a)

The verb "to have" plural (nous avons, vous avez, ils ont)

There is / there are (il y a)

Basic verbal negation (ne... pas)

Negating "there is" (il n'y a pas de)

Regular -er verbs singular (je parle, tu parles, il parle)

Regular -er verbs plural (nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent)

The verb "to be called" (s'appeler)

Yes/no questions with intonation (Tu parles ?)

Yes/no questions with "Est-ce que" (Est-ce que tu parles ?)

Informal questions (qui, que, quoi)

Standard questions (est-ce que)

Singular possessives (mon, ton, son)

Plural possessives (notre, votre, leur)

Demonstrative adjectives (ce, cet, cette, ces)

Adjective placement

Numbers 1 to 20

Numbers 21 to 100

Age and physical states (avoir)

The verb to go (aller)

The preposition to/at (à, au, aux)

Question word for location (où)

Prepositions for cities and countries (à, en, au, aux)

The verb to come (venir)

The preposition from/of (de, du, des)

Question word for origin (d'où)

The verb to do/make (faire)

Days of the week (lundi, mardi)

Telling time (il est... heure)

Question words for time (quand, à quelle heure)

The verb to take or have (prendre)

The verb to drink (boire)

Partitive articles (du, de la, de l')

Zero quantity (pas de)

Expressions of quantity (un peu de, beaucoup de)

Asking how much or how many (combien, combien de)

Very vs. a lot (très, beaucoup)

The verb to want (vouloir)

Polite requests (je voudrais)

The verb to be able to (pouvoir)

Obligation (devoir)

General obligation (il faut)

Why and because (pourquoi, parce que)

Expressing purpose (pour)

Reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nous, vous)

Daily routine verbs (se lever, s'habiller)

Adverbs of frequency (parfois, rarement)

Never (ne... jamais)

Regular -ir verbs (choisir, finir)

Regular -re verbs (attendre, répondre)

Irregular -ir verbs (sortir, partir, dormir)

Informal 'we' (on)

The imperative mood

Direct object pronouns (le, la, les, l')

The near future (aller + infinitive)

The recent past (venir de + infinitive)

The passé composé with avoir

Irregular past participles (eu, été, fait, pris, vu)

The passé composé with être

The negative passé composé (ne ... pas)

Saying goodbye

Please, sorry and thank you

Which / what (quel)

The indefinite adjective (tout, tous)

Irregular feminine adjectives (-euse, -ve)

Double consonant adjectives (-enne, -ette)

Feminine adjective endings (-ère, -trice)

Irregular plurals (-x)

Plurals ending in -al (-aux)

Present tense stem changes (e to è)

Accent stem changes (é to è)

Double consonant verbs (appeler, jeter)

Verbs ending in -yer (payer, envoyer)

Irregular communication verbs (dire, lire)

Irregular action verbs (écrire, mettre)

Question	Answer
the scaffolding (m)	l'échafaudage
the framework	la charpente
The workers went up on the scaffolding to see the framework.	Les ouvriers sont montés sur l'échafaudage pour voir la charpente.
to take/bring up (something)	monter
the panel (physical board, sign)	le panneau
photovoltaic	photovoltaïque
the slope (incline, gradient)	la pente
Then, they took the photovoltaic panels up on the slope.	Ensuite, ils ont monté les panneaux photovoltaïques sur la pente.
the roof tile	la tuile
They took the roof tiles up, and they worked hard.	Ils ont monté les tuiles, et ils ont travaillé dur.
the harness (general)	le harnais
the wiring	le câblage
He went down to look for the harness and the wiring.	Il est descendu pour chercher le harnais et le câblage.
to take/bring down (something)	descendre
the sunlight (m)	l'ensoleillement
He took the wiring down for lack of sunlight.	Il a descendu le câblage faute d'ensoleillement.
the mount	la fixation
The technician took the mounts out of the scaffolding.	Le technicien a sorti les fixations de l'échafaudage.
He went out on the framework with his harness.	Il est sorti sur la charpente avec son harnais.
The workers took the photovoltaic equipment up onto the roof.	Les ouvriers ont monté le matériel photovoltaïque sur le toit.
They passed by the roof tiles to check the sunlight.	Ils sont passés par les tuiles pour vérifier l'ensoleillement.
to tilt	incliner
When did you return to the roof to tilt the panels?	Quand êtes-vous retournés sur le toit pour incliner les panneaux ?
They took out the mounts to tilt the panel.	Elles ont sorti les fixations pour incliner le panneau.
I went up on the slope and I took the wiring down.	Je suis monté sur la pente et j'ai descendu le câblage.
to go back up; to date back	remonter
We went back up to the top floor.	Nous sommes remontés au dernier étage.
This story goes back to my grandfather.	Cette histoire remonte à mon grand-père.

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