We’ve already seen how to use avoir plus a verb to talk about the past (for example, J’ai visité). This is called the passé compose tense!
But for some verbs that express movement (like aller and arriver), you’ll use être instead of avoir.
Je suis allé en vacances au Japon.
I went on vacation to Japan.
Tu es arrivé au bureau.
You arrived at the office.
Il est allé au Maroc.
He went to Morocco.
Unlike verbs using avoir in the past, verbs that use être will agree in gender and number with the person. They have the same endings you’re already used to: ‑e for feminine, and ‑s for plural.
Elle est allée au supermarché.
She went to the supermarket.
Elles sont arrivées à la maison.
They arrived at the house.
Nous sommes allés au Sénégal.
We went to Senegal.
Notice that ‑e and ‑s are silent!
To talk about what the weather was like in the past, use Il y avait or Il faisait.
Il y avait des nuages mais il faisait chaud.
There were clouds but it was hot.
Il faisait beau et il n’y avait pas de vent.
The weather was great and there was no wind.