Le Passé Composé (Past Tense)
The passé composé is the most common French past tense, often used in conjunction with the imperfect. The passé composé can express any of the following:
I. An action completed in the past
As-tu étudié ce weekend ?
Did you study this weekend?
Ils ont déjà mangé.
They have already eaten.
II. An action repeated a number of times in the past
Oui, j'ai mangé cinq fois hier.
Yes, I did eat five times yesterday.
Nous avons visité Paris plusieurs fois.
We've visited Paris several times.
III. A series of actions completed in the past
Quand je suis arrivé, j'ai vu les fleurs.
When I arrived, I saw the flowers.
Samedi, il a vu sa mère, a parlé au médicin et a trouvé un chat.
Saturday he saw his mother, talked to the doctor, and found a cat.
The passé composé has three possible English equivalents. For example, j'ai dansé can mean
- I danced (simple past)
- I have danced (present perfect)
- I did dance (past emphatic)
FORMATION:
The passé composé is a compound conjugation, which means it has two parts:
-
present tense of the auxiliary verb (either avoir or être)
- past participle of the main verb
The past participle of regular verbs is formed by dropping the infinitive ending of a verb and adding é, i, or u to -er, -ir, and -re verbs, respectively:
-ER verbs
Verb parler (to talk)
Remove er
Add é
Past participle parlé (talked)
-IR verbs
Verb réussir (to succeed)
Remove ir
Add i
Past participle réussi (succeeded)
-RE verbs
Verb vendre (to sell)
Remove re
Add u
Past participle vendu (sold)
Formation of "passé composé"
Passé composé |
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avec avoir |
avec être |
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J'ai Tu as Il, elle, on a Nous avons Vous avez Ils, elles ont |
+ participe passé Change the endings of the verbs:Verbe "er" => é Verbe "re" => u Verbe "ir" => i Ex. aimer => aimé vendre => vendu réussir => réussi |
Je suis Tu es Il, elle, on est Nous sommes Vous êtes Ils, elles sont |
+ participe passé (attention à l'accord en genre et en nombre avec le sujet) |
Exeptions: quelques participes passés particuliers : |
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mettre : mis |
rompre : rompu |
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dire : dit |
vivre : vécu |
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faire : fait |
comprendre : compris |
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écrire : écrit |
promettre : promis |
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résoudre : résolu |
prendre : pris |
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craindre : craint |
boire : bu |
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coudre : cousu |
lire :lu |
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battre : battu |
offrir : offert |
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éteindre : éteint |
mourir : mort |
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pouvoir : pu |
couvrir : couvert |
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Verbs using être in the passé composé.
Passé Composé Lesson: Watch a video that clearly describes how to formulate the past tense in French (English).
Passé Composé Lesson: Watch a video that clearly describes how to formulate the past tense in French (by a French speaker).
Les années 2000: Watch a slideshow of some events in the year 2000, using the past tense in French. This is an authentic video for a French project.
With être
Family Guy Video: Watch a video to help you remember the irregular verbs
DrMrsVandertramp video (animated) : Music video to help you remember the verbs conjugated with être in the passé composé
DrMrsVandertramp video : Rap video to help you remember the verbs conjugated with être in the passé composé
House of Etre Verbs Song - Yankee Doodle : Simple song to help you remember the verbs conjugated with être in the passé composé
Verbs Games:
- Millionaire : See if you can be a millionaire by answering questions related to passé composé
- Matching : Play a game of matching to review irregular past participles
- Concentration: Play concentration to review irregular past participles
- Hangman : Click on this link to play hangman using passé composé
- Battleship : Answer questions to sink the enemy's ship
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Jeopordy: Click on this link to play a game using passé composé
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Pop-ups: Decide whether to use "être" or "avoir" in the passé composé
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Quiz: Test yourself to use either "être" or "avoir" in the passé composé