Le Passé Composé
Learning Objectives
- Learn how to form past participles.
- Learn how to talk about the past using le passé composé.
- Learn some more common French verbs.
Introduction
In this lesson, learn how to conjuate verbs for the passé composé, which is one of the verb tenses used to talk about events that happened in the past. The passé composé is formed using past participle of the main verb along with the helper verb avoir or être. The lesson starts with an explanation of how to create the past participle form of Verbs.
Past Participle
The past participle is the form a verb takes when creating the passé composé. The past participle of a verb usually ends in é, i, or u.
To form the past participle of regular verbs that end in er, replace the er with é. For example the past participle of parler, is parlé. Note that parler and parlé are pronounced the same.
To form the past participle of regular verbs that end in ir, replace the ir with i. For example the past participle of finir, is fini.
To form the past participle of regular verbs that end in re, replace the re with u. For example the past participle of vendre, is vendu.
For irregular verbs, the past participle has to be memorized, as there is no fixed rule. Here are some common irregular verbs and their past participles:
| Verb | Past Participle |
|---|---|
| avoir (have) | eu |
| être (be) | été |
| faire (do) | fait |
| prendre (take) | pris |
| voir (see) | vu |
| écrire (write) | écrit |
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Passé Composé
The passé composé is one of the most common ways to talk about the past in French. It is used to describe completed actions or events that happened in the past.
The passé composé is formed by using the present tense of an auxiliary verb (either avoir or être) and the past participle of the main verb. For example J'ai marché means both I walked and I have walked.
Most verbs use avoir as their auxiliary verb. For example:
| J'ai parlé | I spoke |
| Tu as mangé | You ate |
| Il a dormi | He slept |
| Elle a dormi | She slept |
| nous avons parlé | We spoke |
| vous avez mangé | You ate |
| ils/elles ont dormi | They have slept |
Some verbs use être as their auxiliary verb. These are usually verbs of motion or state of being, such as aller (to go), venir (to come), naître (to be born), mourir (to die), etc. Reflexive verbs also use être as the auxiliary verb.
For these verbs, the past participle needs to match the gender and number of the subject. Note that the 'e' added to the past participle for feminine nouns is not pronounced. For example:
| Je suis allé (male) | I went |
| Je suis allée (female) | I went |
| Tu es venu | You came (male) |
| Vous êtes allée | You went (female) |
| Il est né | He was born |
| Elle est née | She was born | Nous sommes nés | We were born |
| Ils sont allés | They went |
| Elles sont allées | They went |
Past Participle Agreement
For verbs that use être as the auxiliary verb for the passé composé, the past participle needs to agree with the subject of the sentence. For verbs that use avoir as the auxillary verb, the past participle needs to agree in gender and number if a direct object precedes the verb.
Examples
| Il a descendu l'escalier. | He went down the stairs. |
| Il est descendu de l'avion. | He got off the plane. |
| J'ai vu un film hier. | I saw a movie yesterday. |
| Elle a étudié toute la journée. | She studied all day. |
| She went to the store yesterday. | Elle est allée au magasin hier. |
| Les fenêtres que j'ai vues étaient cassées. (Note that vues agrees with Les fenêtres in this case because it precedes the verb.) |
The windows that I saw were broken. |
| as-tu vu mes clés ? | Have you seen my keys? |
| Je n'ai pas vu tes clés. | I haven't seen your keys. |
| As-tu trouvé tes clés ? | Did you find your keys? |
| Je ne les ai pas trouvés. | I didn't find them. |
| Je suis allé à la boulangerie chercher du pain. | I went to the bakery to get some bread. |
| Nous avons couru le long de la plage. | We ran along the beach. |
| Ils sont allés à Paris. | They have been to Paris. |
Vocabulary
Verbs that use être for the passé composé
Here are some more common verbs that use être for the passé composé.
| aller | go |
| arriver | arrive |
| devenir | become |
| entrer | enter |
| monter | go up, climb |
| partir | leave |
| rester | stay |
| rentrer | return |
| revenir | come back |
| se coucher | go to bed |
| se laver | wash oneself |
| se lever | get up |
| sortir | go out / leave |
| venir | come |
Verbs that use avoir for the passé composé
Here are some common verbs that use avoir for the passé composé.
| bâtir | build |
| courir | run |
| détester | hate |
| donner | give |
| fermer | close |
| jouer | play |
| laver | wash |
| manger | eat |
| nager | swim |
| parler | talk |
| penser | think |
| porter | wear, carry |
| regarder | watch, look at |
| remplir | fill |
| sembler | seem |
| travailler | work |
| trouver | find |
| visiter | visit |
| voler | fly, steal |
| voir | see |
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Flashcards
Here are some flashcards to help you learn the passé composé of French verbs.
French Passé Composé Quiz
Here is a quiz with 15 questions to help you learn the passé composé of French verbs. For each question, change the sentence to use the passé composé. Don't forget to put a period at the end of the sentence.