Could you also say "Nous sommes passés la poste." (without the preposition 'devant'.
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Chris
Kwiziq community member
17/01/18
No, I don't think the sentence "Nous sommes passés la poste" is proper French. There does seem to be the requirement of a preposition of some kind, although it doesn't have to be "devant". You could also say, "Nous sommes passés par la poste", for example.
But other meanings of "être passé" don't require a preposition. For example:
Le carburant est passé de l'état liquide à l'état gazeux. -- The fuel changed from liquid state to gaseous stat.
Le temps est passé. -- Time's up.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Stewart
Kwiziq community member
17/01/18
Thanks Chris, I suspected that would be the answer but I wasn't sure.

Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
15/04/18
Hi Stewart,
You can say,
Nous sommes passés à la poste - We went to the Post Office
Nous sommes passés devant la poste - We went past the Post Office
Hope this helps!
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Stewart
Kwiziq community member
17 January 2018
3 replies
Could you also say "Nous sommes passés la poste." (without the preposition 'devant'.
This question relates to:
French lesson "Passer can be used with avoir or être in Le Passé Composé... and changes meaning"