Learn French: Elles sont parties pour l'excursion très tôt. - They left for the excursion very early.

Elles sont parties pour l'excursion très tôt.

They left for the excursion very early.

Breakdown of Elles sont parties pour l'excursion très tôt.

Questions & Answers about Elles sont parties pour l'excursion très tôt.

Why is there an -es at the end of parties?

Because partir uses être in the past tense (passé composé), its past participle must match the subject. The subject elles is feminine and plural, so we add an -e for feminine and an -s for plural to the base form parti, giving us parties.

Why do we use sont instead of ont here?

Partir (to leave) is one of the specific movement verbs that always uses être instead of avoir for the passé composé. You might know these as the 'Dr. & Mrs. Vandertramp' verbs.

Why do we say pour l'excursion instead of à l'excursion?

When you use the verb partir to say you are leaving for a destination or an event, you almost always use the preposition pour.

Why is très tôt at the very end of the sentence?

Adverbs of time (like tôt, meaning early, and tard, meaning late) usually go at the beginning or the end of the sentence in French, rather than in the middle. Placing it at the end here perfectly matches the English sentence structure.