Most verbs use either avoir or être as the auxiliary verb in Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) (or other compound tense), but rentrer uses both, depending on its grammatical usage* and what it means in the sentence.
*Grammaphile's Corner : the technical grammatical distinction between these cases is actually whether the verb is used in a transitive or intransitive manner.
- The transitive version (the version with a direct object) uses avoir.
- The intransitive version (lacking a direct object), uses être.
- The transitive version (the version with a direct object) uses avoir.
- The intransitive version (lacking a direct object), uses être.
Using avoir or être with the verb RENTRER in Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) in French
être + rentré [quelque part]
= to go/come in(to) [something/somewhere]
= to go/come back in(to) [something/somewhere]
= to go/come/get home
Note that in each case where être is the auxilliary, the verb rentrer is followed by a preposition (en, sur, dans, à, etc.).
So in these cases rentrer is usually about going or coming back in or into, going or coming home, going or coming in or into.
So in these cases rentrer is usually about going or coming back in or into, going or coming home, going or coming in or into.
avoir + rentré [quelque chose]
= to take/bring/get [something] back inside
When rentrer is followed immediately by a noun (as opposed to a preposition), it uses avoir as the auxiliary, like most verbs.
It can be very tricky to get the distinction here if you think in terms of what rentrer means in English. English verbs are very often 'prepositional', meaning we say things like to go back into a house as well as re-enter a house which are equivalent in meaning but grammatically very different - English verbs very often have prepositions where they don't in French!
Here is the list of all "two-auxiliary" verbs in compound tenses:
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