Learn French: Soudain, il est allé dehors. - Suddenly, he went outside.

Soudain, il est allé dehors.

Suddenly, he went outside.

Breakdown of Soudain, il est allé dehors.

Questions & Answers about Soudain, il est allé dehors.

Why do we use est instead of a for the past tense of 'to go'?

In the French past tense (the passé composé), most verbs use avoir (to have) as a helper word. But a specific group of verbs about motion or changing state use être (to be) instead. Since aller (to go) is a motion verb, it must use être, making it il est allé rather than il a allé.

Would the sentence change if a woman went outside instead?

Yes! When a past tense verb uses être as its helper, the action word (the past participle) must match the gender of the person doing it. If it were a woman, you would add an 'e' to the end: elle est allée. Because the subject here is il (he), it stays as allé.

Do I pronounce the 's' at the end of dehors?

No, the 's' at the end of dehors (outside) is silent. The 'h' in the middle is also silent, so it is pronounced roughly like 'duh-or'.

Can I use soudainement instead of soudain here?

Yes, you can! Soudainement and soudain both mean 'suddenly' and are often used interchangeably. Soudain is simply shorter and very common to see right at the beginning of a sentence like this.