Le Passé Composé(The past tense)

Introducing…

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”

This is a two part verb tense made up of the auxiliary verb and the past participle.

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

Le Participe Passé Cont. Verbs ending in –ir retain their stem and

end with –i instead. Dormir – dormi Choisir – choisi Partir – parti

Le Participe Passé Cont. Verbs ending in –re retain their stem as

well and end in –u Attendre – attendu Battre – battu Rendre – rendu

Le Participe Passé IrregulierSome verbs don’t follow the usual patterns. The most common are… Être – été Faire – fait Avoir – euThe following end in –u: Boire – bu connaître – connu lire – luThe following end in –it: Conduire – conduit Dire – dit Écrire – écritThere are more irregulars but these are the most common. The rest we will learn as we come to them.

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.

Conjugating “Avoir”

“Avoir” is used with the vast majority of verbs like manger, faire, nager, ect.

manger

J’ ai mangé Nous avons mangé

Tu as mangé Vous avez mangé

Il/Elle/On a mangé Ils/Elles ont mangé

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)sVerbs 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.

Verbs that use “Être” Devenir Retouner Mourir Rester Sortir Venir

Aller Naître Descendre Entrer Rentrer Tomber

Revenir Arriver Monter Passer Partir

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.

Verb AgreementAs 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

Using Le Passé Composé Communicating completed, isolated

events in the past. These are events that are not habitual.

Furthers the story of the narrator by expressing a series of actions.

Used to show a change in state of being or a reaction.

Practicing Le Passé ComposéJe/J’ (avoir/écouter) de la musique.

Elle (avoir/nager) à la piscine.

Nous (avoir/choisir) la nourriture pour le fête.

Ils (avoir/attendre) pour les resultats.

ai écouté

a nagé

avons choisi

ont attendu

Practicing Le Passé Composé

Je/J’ (être/aller) à la bibliothèque.

Elle (être/partir) à huit heure ce matin!

Nous (être/se coucher) trop retard hier soir.

Ils (être/descendre) les escaliers.

suis allé(e)

est partie

nous sommes couché(e)s

sont descendu

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