Learn French: Elles sont montées sur la colline.

Elles sont montées sur la colline.

They went up the hill.

Breakdown of Elles sont montées sur la colline.

Questions & Answers about Elles sont montées sur la colline.

Why does montées have an extra -es at the end?

Because monter uses the helping verb être in the past tense, its past participle has to match the subject. Since the subject Elles is feminine and plural, we add an -e for feminine and an -s for plural to the base participle monté, making it montées.

How do I know to use sont (from être) instead of ont (from avoir) here?

Monter (to go up or to climb) is one of the special verbs of movement or change of state. These verbs always use être as their helping verb in the past tense. You might remember them as the "Dr & Mrs Vandertramp" verbs or the "house of être" verbs.

Why do we use sur here? The translation says "up the hill", not "on the hill".

In French, monter sur literally means to climb onto or to go up onto a surface. While English speakers say they "go up" the hill, French focuses on the fact that you are arriving on top of it, so it uses sur.

If the group of people had both men and women, would the sentence change?