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French- Our Words > Passé Composé > Flashcards

Passé Composé Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the two most common forms of paste tense?

A

Like English, French has more than one past tense. The two most common are the passé composé (the present perfect in English) and the imparfait (the imperfect).

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2
Q

What does passé composé indicate? How is it formed?

A

The passé composé indicates completed action or actions in the past. It is the usual tense that recounts events and incidents, used far more often than the English present perfect (“I have seen that movie”). The French passé composé is also a compound tense. It is formed with the present tense of the auxiliary verbs avoir or être 􏰀 the past participle of the verb showing the action.

•The passé composé of most French verbs is formed with the present tense of the auxiliary verb avoir 􏰀 the past participle of the verb.

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3
Q

Passé composé of parler

A

Passé composé of parler

J’ai parlé
Tu as parlé
Il/elle/on a parlé
Nous avons parlé
Vous avez parlé
Ils/elles/ont partlé

The passé composé has several equivalents in English: J’ai parlé can mean I spoke, I have spoken, or I did speak.

  • Est-ce que tu as parlé avec le prof? (Did you speak with the professor?)
  • Marie et Blanche ont parlé de l’étude. (Marie and Blanche spoke about the study.)
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4
Q

How to conjugate past tense -er verbs

A

To form regular past participles of -er and -ir verbs, the final -r is dropped from the infinitive. For -er verbs, an accent aigu ( ́) is added to the final -e (-é).

  • acheter=acheté
  • commencer=commencé
  • J’ai acheté un DVD. (I bought a DVD.)
  • Le film a commencé? (Did the movie start?)
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5
Q

How to conjugate past tense -ir verbs

A

Regular -ir verbs simply drop the final -r of the infinitive to form the past participle.

  • choisir=choisi
  • finir=fini
  • Jean a choisi un appartement. (Jean chose an apartment.)
  • Nous avons fini de manger. (We finished eating.)
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6
Q

How to conjugate past tense -re verbs

A

To form regular past participles of -re verbs, drop the -re from the in- finitive, and add the letter -u.

  • attendre=attendu
  • perdre=perdu
  • Tu as attendu longtemps? (Did you wait long?)
  • Elles ont perdu leurs clés. (They lost their keys)
  • Mon cousin a fini par faire son droit. (My cousin ended up studying law)
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7
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Apercevoir

A

Aperçu

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8
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Avoir

A

Eu

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9
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Boire

A

Bu

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10
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Connaître

A

Connu

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11
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Croire

A

Cru

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12
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Devoir

A

Dû

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13
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Lire

A

Lu

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14
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Obtenir

A

Obtenu

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15
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Paraître

A

Paru

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16
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Plaire

A

Plu

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17
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Pleuvoir

A

Plu

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18
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Pouvoir

A

Pu

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19
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Recevoir

A

Reçu

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20
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Revoir

A

Revu

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21
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Savoir

A

Su

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22
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Tenir

A

Tenu

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23
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Vivre

A

Vécu

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24
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Voir

A

Vu

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25
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Vouloir

A

Voulu

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26
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Apprendre

A

Appris

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27
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Comprendre

A

Compris

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28
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Prendre

A

Pris

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29
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Promettre

A

Promis

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30
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Mettre

A

Mis

31
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Remettre

A

Remis

32
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Permettre

A

Permis

33
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Conduire

A

Conduit

34
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Couvrir

A

Couvert

35
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Découvrir

A

Découvert

36
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Dire

A

Dit

37
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Écrire

A

Écrit

38
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Faire

A

Fait

39
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Feindre de

A

Feint

40
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Offrir

A

Offert

41
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Ouvrir

A

Ouvert

42
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Produire

A

Produit

43
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Réduire

A

Réduit

44
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Souffrir

A

Souffert

45
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Traduire

A

Traduit

46
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Dormir

A

Dormi

47
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Mentir

A

Menti

48
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Poursuivre

A

Poursuivi

49
Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Rire

A

Ri

50
Q

The past participle of être (to be) is

A

Été

Être in the passé composé always uses the auxiliary verb avoir. It can have the meaning of to go, to travel (to).

  • Ont-ils été en Angleterre au printemps? (Did they go to England in the spring?)
  • Je n’ai jamais été au Canada. (I have never been to Canada)
51
Q

Passé composé in the negative

A

In negative sentences in the passé composé, ne/n’… pas and other negative expressions surround the auxiliary verb. In this type of sentence, rien (noth- ing) and personne (no one, anyone) can follow a preposition.

  • Nous n’avons pas fait ce devoir. (We didn’t do [haven’t done] that assignment.)
  • Elle n’a pas dit bonjour. (She didn’t say [hasn’t said] hello)
  • Je n’ai jamais voyagé en Asie. (I have never traveled in Asia)
  • Ils n’ont écrit à personne. (They did not write to anyone)
52
Q

How to ask questions in passé composé

A

Questions in the passé composé can be made with intonation, est-ce que, and inversion. In questions using inversion, invert the auxiliary verb only and attach the subject pronoun. Noun subjects are repeated by an inverted subject pronoun.

  • Vous avez lu les romans de Camus? (Have you read Camus’s novels?)
  • Est-ce que Michel a choisi une voiture? (Did Michel choose a car?)
  • As-tu vu Hélène? (Did you see Helene?)
  • Où a-t-il acheté sa voiture? (Where did he buy his car?)
  • Jean-Luc a-t-il pris son vélo? (Did Jean-Luc take his bike?)
  • N’ont-ils pas voyagé en Europe? (Didn’t they travel in Europe?)
53
Q

Adverbs with passé composé

A

Short adverbs such as déjà (already), souvent (often), and toujours (always) are usually placed between the auxiliary verb and the past

  • Tu as déjà visité Chartres? (Have you already visited Cartres?)
  • Nous avons souvent pris du cidre. (We’ve often had cider)
  • J’ai toujours conduit une Renault. (I’ve always driven a Renault)
  • On n’a pas beaucoup mangé au déjeuner. (We did not eat much at lunch)
54
Q

Transition Words

First (of all)

A

D’abord

55
Q

Transition Words

Next

A

Puis

Can be used interchangeably with ensuit

56
Q

Transition Words

And then…

A

Ensuite…

57
Q

Transition Words

After that…

A

Après…

58
Q

Transition Words

Finally

A

Enfin/finalement

Can be used interchangeably

59
Q

Transition Words

Yesterday

A

Hier

60
Q

Transition Words

Day before yesterday

A

Avant-hier

61
Q

Transition Words

Yesterday morning

A

Hier matin

62
Q

Transition Words

Yesterday afternoon, yesterday evening

A

Hier après-midi, heir soir

63
Q

Transition Words

At that moment

A

À ce moment-là

64
Q

Last year (week)

A

L’année passée

65
Q

Transition Words

Last week

A

La semaine passée

66
Q

Transition Words

(On) that day

A

Ce jour-là

67
Q

Transition Words

For, during + period of time

A

Pendant

68
Q

(For) how long…?

A

(Pendant) Combien de temps

69
Q

Suddenly

A

Soudain/tout à coup

70
Q

One day

A

Un jour

71
Q

Once (twice…), one time

A

Une (deux…), une fois

72
Q

How to express a span of time or what was done during a time period?

A

When expressing a span of time, or what was done during a time period, use the feminine nouns journée (day), matinée (morning), and soirée (evening), rather than jour, matin, soir.

These terms are used with toute (all, the whole).

  • toute la matinée (journée, soirée) the whole morning (day, evening)
  • J’ai passé toute la soirée à terminer ce devoir! (I spent the entire evening finishing that assignment!)
73
Q

Evening

A

Soirée

French- Our Words (68 decks)

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