Perfekt with sein
Many intransitive verbs of change of location or state use sein, including gehen, kommen, fahren and aufwachen. Sein and bleiben also use sein. An activity such as lernen uses haben. Learn each verb with its auxiliary.
Understand the idea
Some verbs form Perfekt with sein, especially intransitive changes of place or state. The auxiliary is part of the verb's grammatical pattern, not a direct translation of English have or be. A few very common verbs must simply be learned with sein.
Build it step by step
Choose sein for a journey or change expressed by verbs such as gehen, kommen, einschlafen and aufwachen. Sein, bleiben and werden also use sein. A verb can change auxiliary in another use: driving a vehicle as a direct object is different from travelling to a destination. Some position/activity verbs also show regional variation.
See it in a sentence
Wir sind nach Berlin gefahren.
Ich bin früh aufgewacht.
A useful memory aid
Recall a whole event, such as arriving, leaving or falling asleep, alongside its ist-form. Learn ist geblieben explicitly as an important exception to a movement-only shortcut.
A common trap
Do not assume every physical activity takes sein. Likewise, do not choose haben just because the English translation uses have.