2. Le Passé Composé
The past tense is used to describe things
that have already happened.
“J’ai mangé de la pizza.”
“I ate some pizza”
Thisis a two part verb tense made up of
the auxiliary verb and the past participle.
3. Le Participe Passé
(The Past Participle)
The past participle is the second of the two
verbs used in passé composé and constitutes
the action that was done in the past.
Ex: “J’ai ÉTUDIÉ hier soir.”
Verbs ending in –er retain their stem and end
with –é
Aller – allé
Étudier – étudié
Manger - mangé
4. Le Participe Passé Cont.
Verbs
ending in –ir retain their stem and
end with –i instead.
Dormir – dormi
Choisir – choisi
Partir – parti
5. Le Participe Passé Cont.
Verbsending in –re retain their stem as
well and end in –u
Attendre – attendu
Battre – battu
Rendre – rendu
6. Le Participe Passé Irregulier
Some verbs don’t follow the usual patterns. The
most common are…
Être – été Faire – fait Avoir – eu
The following end in –u:
Boire – bu connaître – connu lire – lu
The following end in –it:
Conduire – conduit Dire – dit Écrire – écrit
There are more irregulars but these are the most
common. The rest we will learn as we come to
them.
7. Auxiliary Verbs
There are two choices for the auxiliary
verb; either “avoir” or “être”.
Most verbs use “avoir” with only a few
using “être”, but both are placed before
the past participial and conjugated
according to the subject.
8. Conjugating “Avoir”
manger
J’ ai mangé Nous avons mangé
Tu as mangé Vous avez mangé
Il/Elle/On a mangé Ils/Elles ont mangé
“Avoir” is used with the vast majority of verbs like manger,
faire, nager, ect.
9. Conjugating “Être”
Aller
Je suis allé(e) Nous Sommes allé(e)s
Tu es allé(e) Vous Êtes allé(e)(s)
Il/Elle/On est allé(e) Ils/Elles Sont allé(e)s
Verbs that use “être” have an extra rule compared to
verbs with “avoir,” they have to agree with the subject.
This means that you have to add an “e” to the end if the
subject is feminine and you have to add an “s” is the
subject is plural.
10. Verbs that use “Être”
Devenir Aller Revenir
Retouner Naître Arriver
Mourir Descendre Monter
Rester Entrer Passer
Sortir Rentrer Partir
Venir Tomber
Apart from the above verbs the only verbs that use
“être” are reflexive verbs. These are verbs like se
coucher, se maquiller, se lever, ect.
11. Verb Agreement
As stated before, verbs that use “être” add
either an “e” and/or an “s” to the end of
the participe passé in order to agree with
the subject. The only other time this
happens is when there is a direct object
precedes the verb.
Elle l’a regardée
12. Using Le Passé Composé
Communicating completed, isolated
events in the past.
These are events that are not habitual.
Furthersthe story of the narrator by
expressing a series of actions.
Used to show a change in state of being
or a reaction.
13. Practicing Le Passé Composé
Je/J’ ai écouté (avoir/écouter) de la musique.
Elle a nagé (avoir/nager) à la piscine.
Nous avons choisi (avoir/choisir) la nourriture pour
le fête.
Ils ont attendu (avoir/attendre) pour les resultats.
14. Practicing Le Passé Composé
Je/J’ suis allé(e) (être/aller) à la bibliothèque.
Elle est partie (être/partir) à huit heure ce
matin!
Nous nous sommes couché(e)s (être/se coucher) trop
retard hier soir.
Ils sont descendu (être/descendre) les escaliers.
15. Bibliography
Williams-Gascon, Ann, Carmen Grace,
and Christian Roche. "Structures Pour
Communiquer 1." Bien Vu, Bien Dit:
Intermediate French. San Francisco, CA:
McGraw-Hill, 2008. 157-60. Print.
Rogers, Paige C. French Notes, 2011
