Regular / Irregular / Conjugations / Tenses
Regular / Irregular / Conjugations / Tenses
The passé composé is the most used past tense in the French language. It is used to express actions that have been finished at either the time of the speech or at some time in the past. It is formed by conjugating either avoir or être in the present tense (= the auxiliary verb) and by adding the past participle of the verb. Example: j'ai vu. In English it can be translated by either the simple past tense I saw or the present perfect tense I have seen.
Auxiliary Verb - Avoir
Most french verbs use the auxiliary verb avoir to form the passé composé.
-er verbs
-ir verbs
-re verbs
-er verbs
j'ai parlé
tu as parlé
il/elle/on a parlé
nous avons parlé
vous avez parlé
ils/elles ont parlé
-ir verbs
j'ai fini
tu as fini
il/elle/on a fini
nous avons fini
vous avez fini
ils/elles ont fini
-re verbs
j'ai vendu
tu as vendu
il/elle/on a vendu
nous avons vendu
vous avez vendu
ils/elles ont vendu
Auxiliary Verb - Être
Verbs that use the auxiliary verb être to form the passé composé are called intransitive verbs. They usually indicate motion or a change of state. Examples: aller, arriver, descendre, devenir, entrer, monter, mourir, naître, partir, rentrer, rester, retourner, revenir, sortir, tomber and venir.
-er verbs
-ir verbs
-re verbs
-er verbs
j'suis entré(e)
tu es entré(e)
il/elle/on est entré(e)
nous sommes entré(e)s
vous êtes entré(e)(s)
ils/elles sont entré(e)s
-ir verbs
j'suis parti(e)
tu es parti(e)
il/elle/on est parti(e)
nous sommes parti(e)s
vous êtes parti(e)(s)
ils/elles sont parti(e)s
-re verbs
j'suis descendu(e)
tu es descendu(e)
il/elle/on est descendu(e)
nous sommes descendu(e)s
vous êtes descendu
ils/elles sont descendu(e)s
Other verbs that use être as an auxiliary verb are all the reflexive verbs. Examples: s'appeler, s'asseoir, s'asseoir, se coucher, se doucher, se fatiguer, se nourrir, se peigner, se retourner.
Être and Avoir
Some verbs can take both être and avoir as auxiliary verb, but the meaning will change.
Examples:
To Agree with the Subject - Être
With être, the verb endings will usually change, to agree with the subject. You will need to add an extra e for feminine subjects and an extra s for plural ones.
Examples:
To Agree with the Subject - Reflexive Verbs
With reflexive verbs, you only need to agree with the subject when the reflexive pronoun is a direct object. You can recognize a direct object by asking yourself: who or what (the verb)? In the following two sentences the reflexive pronouns "elle" and "nous" are both direct objects, because they are answers to the questions "Who bathed?" (elle) and "Who got dressed" (nous).
Examples:
You do not need to agree reflexive verbs with the subject when the reflexive pronoun is an indirect object. Indirect objects are the answers to the questions "to/by/for whom the direct object". You need to have a direct object to be able to have an indirect object. In the following two sentences "elle" and "ils" are both indirect objects. The direct objects in these two sentences are the answers to the questions "What did she brush?" (les cheveux) and "What did they buy?" (un chien). The indirect objects are the answers to the questions "By whom was the hair brushed?" (elle) and "By whom was the dog bought?" (ils).
Examples:
To Agree with the Subject - Avoir
With the verb avoir you only have to agree with the subject, if the direct object of the sentence comes before the verb.
Look at the following three sentences. The direct object (What have I eaten?) is "les fraises", a feminine plural noun. In sentence 1, "les fraises" come after the verb, so you don't need to agree. In sentence 2, it comes before, so you need an extra es. In sentence 3, "les", which replaces "les fraises", also comes before the verb, so again, you need the extra es.