Le Passé Composé
The Past Tense
Verb tenses
Actions do not always take place in the
present. To express the past in French,
use the verb tense called…
l
e
p
a
s
s
é
c
o
m
p
o
s
é
-er Verbs
This is what a verb tense in the passé
composé looks like:
regard
er
J’
ai
regard
é
la photo.
I look
ed
at the picture.
-ir Verbs
fin
ir
Nous
avons
fin
i
les croissants
.
We finish
ed
the croissants.
-re Verbs
rend
re
La prof
a
rend
u
nos devoirs
.
The teacher return
ed
our homework.
How to form the passé
composé
To form the
passé composé
of –
er
verbs,
drop the
–er
of the infinitive and add an
–é.
Don’t forget the helping verb
avoir!
J’
ai
achet
é
une robe.
I
bought
a dress.
How to form the passé
composé
To form the
passé composé
of –
ir
verbs, drop
the
–ir
of the infinitive and add an
–i.
(Note: There are some exceptions)
Il
a
chois
i
la chemise bleue.
He
chose
the blue shirt.
How to form the passé
composé
To form the
passé composé
of –
re
verbs, drop the
–re
of the infinitive and
add a
–u.
(Note: There are some exceptions)
Nous
avons
vend
u
le vieil ordinateur.
We
sold
the old computer.
The Passé Composé in
Negative Sentences
To make a sentence negative, put the
n’
before the form of
avoir
and the
pas
after it.
Mon père
n
’
a
pas
mang
é
la salade.
Vous
n
’
avez
pas
maigr
i
.
Elles
n
’
ont
pas
perd
u
le match de tennis.
Le Passé Composé in
Questions
To ask a question in the
passé
composé
using
inversion
, put the
subject pronoun after the form of
avoir
.
Avons
-nous visit
é
votre soeur?
Have
we visit
ed
your sister?
SUMMARY
1.
Use the passé composé when an event
has happened in the past.
2. Form the passé composé with a form of
avoir
and the
past participle
of the main
verb.
Subj. + form of
avoir
+
past participle
of main
verb
SUMMARY
Subj. + form of
avoir
+
past participle
of
main verb
(célébr
er
= to celebrate)
Tu +
as
+
célébr
é
“el cinco de mayo”.
You celebrat
ed
“el cinco de mayo”.
SUMMARY
Subj. + form of
avoir
+
past participle
of
main verb
(gross
ir
= to get fat/ to gain weight)
(Je J’) J’ +
ai
+ gross
i
.
SUMMARY
Subj. + form of
avoir
+
past participle
of
main verb
(perd
re
= to lose)
Paul +
a
+ perd
u
cinq dollars.
Paul
lost
five dollars.