Learn French: Mon grand-père est mort. - My grandfather has died.

Mon grand-père est mort.

My grandfather has died.

Breakdown of Mon grand-père est mort.

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Questions & Answers about Mon grand-père est mort.

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

In the Passé Composé (past tense), most verbs use avoir as their helping verb. However, a special group of verbs that show motion or a change of state use être instead. Dying is a major change of state, so the verb mourir (to die) uses être.

What verb does mort come from?

Mort is the past participle of the verb mourir (to die). It is highly irregular, meaning it doesn't follow the usual patterns for making past tense verbs. You just have to memorize this form!

If I were talking about my grandmother, would the word mort change?

Yes! Whenever a past tense verb uses être as its helping verb, the past participle must match the subject in gender and number. Since a grandmother is feminine, you would add an e to the end: Ma grand-mère est morte. Because a grandfather is masculine, mort takes no extra letters here.

Could Mon grand-père est mort also translate to 'My grandfather is dead'?

Exactly. It can translate as the past action 'My grandfather has died' or the current state 'My grandfather is dead.' In French, the past participle mort is also used directly as an adjective. You can usually tell which meaning makes the most sense based on the context of the conversation.