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Passé Composé
The Perfect Tense
Le passé composé is the most commonly used form of the past tense in French. Once you
know it, you will be able to express a huge range of ideas in spoken form. It is also a
platform for other tenses, including the pluperfect [Plus-que-parfait], future perfect [futur
antérieur], past conditional [passé du conditionnel], past anterior [passé antérieur] and the
passé surcomposé. While the prospect of learning all these additional tenses may frighten
you, I can assure them that you will find them easy if you simply get a good mastery of the
passé composé.
Le passé composé is also called the conversational past tense, and is used when talking
about an action that was completed at a definite time in the past. The English equivalent is
“I asked; she said; we went.” However, in form, it is like “I have asked; she has said; we have
been.”
Form
Le passé composé is a compound tense, which means that it has two parts: the auxiliary
verb and the past participle. The auxiliary verb is either the present form of avoir or être.
J’ai vu Tu as eu Il a parlé
I saw You had He spoke
Past Participles
The past participle is the last word in all of the phrases [vu, eu, parlé].
Short adverbs, like bien, are placed before the past participle. However, others, like
lentement, are placed after it.
Elle a bien chanté Elle a chanté lentement
She sang well She sang slowly
Regular –er Verbs
Regular -er verbs drop the –er from the infinitive and replace it with –é to form the past
participle.
parler – to speak
parlé
j’ai parlé nous avons parlé
tu as parlé vous avez parlé
il/ elle/ on a parlé ils/ elles ont parlé
-ir Verbs
Although many –ir verbs are irregular in the present tense, some of these still have regular
past participles. The –ir is replaced with –i
dormir – to sleep
dormi
j’ai dormi nous avons dormi
tu as dormi vous avez dormi
il/ elle/ on a dormi ils/ elles ont dormi
-re Verbs
Again, although many –re verbs are irregular in the present tense, some of them still have
regular past participles. The –re is replaced with –u.
répondre – to respond
répondu
j’ai répondu nous avons répondu
tu as répondu vous avez répondu
il/ elle/ on a répondu ils/ elles ont répondu
Irregular Past Participles
Note that many of these can be grouped together:
Infinitive English Past Participle
être to be été
rire to laugh ri
sourire to smile souri
suffire to suffice suffi
suivre to follow suivi
acquérir to acquire, purchase acquis
conquérir to conquer, capture conquis
mettre to put mis
prendre to take pris
apprendre to learn appris
comprendre to understand compris
surprendre to surprise surprise
reprendre to recapture repris
dire to say dit
écrire to write écrit
décrire to describe décrit
conduire to take/ drive sb somewhere
conduit
construire to construct, build construit
cuire to cook cuit
détruire to destroy détruit
produire to produce produit
recontruire to reconstruct reconstruit
traduire to translate traduit
faire to do, make fait
connaître to know connu
reconnaître to recognise reconnu
paraître to appear paru
apparaître to appear apparu
disparaître to disappear disparu
tenir to hold tenu
convenir to admit (que, de)
to suit (à)
convenu
courir to run, race couru
secourir to help, assist secouru
plaire to please plu
déplaire to displease déplu
se taire to be quiet, still tu
devoir to have to dû
décevoir to disappoint déçu
apercevoir to see, notice apercu
concevoir to imagine, conceive of conçu
recevoir to receive reçu
avoir to have eu
boire to drink bu
croire to believe cru
pouvoir to be able pu
savoir to know su
voir to see vu
falloir to have to fallu
pleuvoir to rain plu
valoir to be worth valu
vouloir to want voulu
lire to read lu
élire to elect élu
vivre to live vécu
survivre to survive survécu
ouvrir to open ouvert
couvrir to cover couvert
découvrir to discover découvert
offrir to give offert
souffrir to suffer souffert
craindre to fear craint
plaindre to pity, complain plaint
atteindre to achieve atteint
éteindre to extinguish éteint
peindre to paint peint
joindre to join joint
Verbs Conjugated with Avoir
The vast majority of verbs in French are conjugated with avoir in the passé composé. The
form, as seen earlier, is simply to use avoir in the present tense, and then the past participle
of the verb. Under most circumstances, the past participle does not alter based on gender
or number.
J’ai craint I feared
Il a lu He read
Vous avez fait You did/ made
Agreement of the Past Participle
With avoir, there is only agreement of the past participle if a direct object is placed before
the verb.
Elle a mangé les pommes She ate the apples
Elle les a mangées She ate them
**The –e- is added because apples are a feminine word, and the –s is added
because it is in the plural.
- - Don’t forget that it is still pronounced the same way!!!
Also, the participle agrees if the direct object is before the subject.
Voilà les photos que j’ai prises Here are the photos that I took
When the –e is added to the past participle of the verb in the feminine form, the
pronunciation usually stays the same. It only changes if the participle ends in a consonant.
pris [pree] prise [preez]
The same goes for adding the –s in the plural.
Exceptions to the Extra Letters
Some past participles do not change, even to agree with a direct object.
avoir eu Does not change at all
prendre pris Does not change for plural masculine
pris, prise, prises -- never: priss
Also, when there is an infinitive verb used after the participle, which relates to the direct
object, there is no change
les tâches qu’elle a dû compléter the tasks that she had to do
There are also some verbs that are used with a unit of price, weight, distance, time, length,
etc. These are invariable and do not change to agree with the direct object.
les deux heures que j’ai couru the two hours that I ran for
les cent kilos que j’ai pesé the 100kg that I weighed
Be careful here, though, because sometimes they still agree:
les dangers que j’ai courus the dangers that I ran from
les paquets que j’ai pesés the packets that I weighed
Verbs Conjugated with être
There are only a few verbs which are conjugated with être. If it helps you to remember
them, you should note that most of these verbs involve displacement (i.e. moving).
However, this is not strictly the case.
aller to go allé
venir to come venu
entrer to enter entré
sortir to leave, go out sorti
arriver to arrive arrivé
partir to leave parti
monter to go up, get on monté
descendre to go down, get off descendu
naître to be born né
mourir to die mort
revenir to come back revenu
retourner to go back retourné
tomber to fall tombé
rester to stay resté
rentrer to return rentré
devenir to become devenu
Most of these can be remembered as pairs of opposites.
With these verbs, the past participle agrees with the subject based on number and gender.
je suis allé(e) nous sommes allé(e)s
tu es allé(e) vous êtes allé(e)(s)
il, on est allé ils sont allés
elle est allée elles sont allées
Verbs that are used with être and avoir
There are a few verbs which can be used with être or avoir, depending on the context they
are used in. These are:
monter
descendre
sortir
entrer
rentrer
They only use avoir when they have direct objects.
elle est montée she went up
elle a monté l’escalier she went up the stairs
The verb passer can also take both être and avoir, however the rules for this verb are
different.
It is used with être when it means:
to pass by
to come by
to stop by
to be over
It is used with avoir when it means:
to spend time
to take an exam
sa vie est passée her life is over
elle a passé son examen de français en novembre she took her French exam in November
Reflexive Verbs in the Passé Composé
All reflexive verbs are used with être in the passé composé. The reflexive pronoun is placed
after the subject and before the verbs.
je me suis assis(e) nous nous sommes assis(es)
tu t’es assis(e) vous vous êtes assis(es)
il, on s’est assis ils se sont assis
elle s’est assise elles se sont assises
Agreement of Reflexive Verbs in the Passé Composé
The past participle will agree with the reflexive pronoun when it is the direct object.
ils se sont levés they got up
The past participle is in the masculine plural form because se is the direct object
However, when the direct object is not the pronoun, there is no agreement
ils se sont lavé les mains they washed their hands
Here, les mains is the direct object, and there is no agreement.
However, if the direct object is placed before the verbs as an object pronoun, there is
agreement with the object pronoun, les.
ils se les sont lavées they washed them
If the reciprocal reflexive verb is in the passé composé, and there is an indirect object, there
is no agreement
elles se sont écrit they wrote to each other
If there is a direct object, then there is agreement
elles se sont vues they saw each other
Uses of the Passé Composé
Past Action
The passé composé describes an action that happened in the past and definitely finished.
The action was completed in the past.
There are number of expressions that are typically used with the passé composé
hier yesterday avant-hier the day before yesterday hier soir last night l’autre jour the other day un samedi, dimanche, etc... one Saturday, Sunday, etc... une fois, deux fois... once, twice plusieurs fois several times quelquefois sometimes la semaine dernière last week l’année passée last year
Difference Between Imparfait and Passé Composé
Specific Action or Habitual/ Continuing Action
The imparfait describes actions that are continuing, habitual, or had a long duration.
The passé composé describes past actions that were completed in the past. The main point
of difference is that actions with the passé composé were terminated.
j’ai joué de la guitare hier soir I played the guitar yesterday evening
je jouais de la guitare tous les jeudis I played the guitar every Thursday
With certain expressions
The expressions souvent, parfois and quelquefois are a little bit tricky, because they can be
used with the imparfait or the passé composé, depending on the context
When they describe a series of completed actions, they use the passé composé
il est allé souvent à la plage He went to the beach often [on several occasions]
The imparfait is used when the speaker is describing a habitual occurrence
il allait souvent à la plage he used to go to the beach often [on a regular basis]
Specific Action or Ongoing Action
When an action occurred in the background on another past action, or in other words, it
was taking place and continued to take place when another event occurred, it is expressed
in the imparfait. The new action that interrupted it is expressed in the passé composé.
However, if the both occur simultaneously, then they are both written in the same tense.
quand je suis arrivé, elle dansait when I arrived, she was dancing
il buvait quand le téléphone a sonné he was drinking when the telephone rang
Maryline est partie et François est arrivé Maryline left and François arrived
In most cases, the passé composé will be used to describe something that happened. If the
event was instead in the background, then it is in the imparfait.
Event or Background
When something happens in the background to another event, it is written in the imparfait.
It tends to relate to conditions, a state of mind or something that was going on. The action
in the passé composé is used for the event that happened next or was the main event.
Il faisait beau the weather was nice
Il a mangé très vite parce qu’il avait faim he ate quickly because he was hungry
Verbs with Different Meanings in the Imparfait or Passé Composé
avoir
il avait soif he was thirsty
il a eu soif he became thirsty
connaître
elle connaissait ma cousine she knew my cousin
elle a connu ma cousine she met my cousin
pouvoir
je pouvais sortir I could leave [it was easy for me]
j’ai pu sortir I could leave [and I did]
savoir
je savais la réponse I knew the answer
j’ai su la réponse I found out the answer
vouloir
elle voulait rester deux semaines she wanted to stay for two weeks
elle a voulu rester deux semaines she tried to stay for two weeks
elle ne voulait pas rester deux semaines she didn’t want to stay for two weeks
elle n’a pas voulu rester deux semaines she refused to stay for two weeks
And that’s about it!
Well done if you understood all of this [don’t worry if it takes a while to soak in].
Now, the most important thing is that you practice, practice, and practice! As much as we all
hate grammar drills and repetitive exercises, it is essential that you do as many of them as
you can to really help it sink in and go into your long-term memory. I hope you have found
this guide easy to understand and useful
Oh, and if you find any typos [or think you may have], I advise that you double check them
in another grammar book. I may have made a mistake, so please don’t just take everything
in here to be 100% correct... but I’m pretty sure that it is all correct. Please don’t hesitate to
contact me about any changes that you think I should make!!
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