Learn French: Il est enfin arrivé au bureau. - He finally arrived at the office.

Il est enfin arrivé au bureau.

He finally arrived at the office.

Breakdown of Il est enfin arrivé au bureau.

être

to be

le bureau

the office / the desk

to the / at the (masculine singular)

Questions & Answers about Il est enfin arrivé au bureau.

Why does this sentence use est instead of a for the past tense?

Most French verbs use avoir (to have) as the helping verb for the past tense, but a specific group of verbs about motion or changing state use être (to be) instead. Arriver (to arrive) is one of these motion verbs, so we use est instead of a. It literally translates to "He is arrived."

Why is the word enfin placed between est and arrivé?

In French, short adverbs like enfin (finally), bien (well), or déjà (already) are usually placed right between the two parts of the past tense: the helping verb (est) and the past participle (arrivé).

Would the word arrivé change if the sentence was about a woman?

Yes! A special rule for past tense verbs that use être is that the action word (past participle) must match the subject. If the sentence was "She finally arrived", you would add an e to make it feminine: Elle est enfin arrivée au bureau.

Why does the sentence use au before bureau?