Passé Composé Flashcards
What are the two most common forms of paste tense?
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).
What does passé composé indicate? How is it formed?
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.
Passé composé of parler
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.)
How to conjugate past tense -er verbs
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?)
How to conjugate past tense -ir verbs
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.)
How to conjugate past tense -re verbs
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)
Irregular verbs with past participles
Apercevoir
Aperçu
Irregular verbs with past participles
Avoir
Eu
Irregular verbs with past participles
Boire
Bu
Irregular verbs with past participles
Connaître
Connu
Irregular verbs with past participles
Croire
Cru
Irregular verbs with past participles
Devoir
Dû
Irregular verbs with past participles
Lire
Lu
Irregular verbs with past participles
Obtenir
Obtenu
Irregular verbs with past participles
Paraître
Paru
Irregular verbs with past participles
Plaire
Plu
Irregular verbs with past participles
Pleuvoir
Plu
Irregular verbs with past participles
Pouvoir
Pu
Irregular verbs with past participles
Recevoir
Reçu
Irregular verbs with past participles
Revoir
Revu
Irregular verbs with past participles
Savoir
Su
Irregular verbs with past participles
Tenir
Tenu
Irregular verbs with past participles
Vivre
Vécu
Irregular verbs with past participles
Voir
Vu
Irregular verbs with past participles
Vouloir
Voulu
Irregular verbs with past participles
Apprendre
Appris
Irregular verbs with past participles
Comprendre
Compris
Irregular verbs with past participles
Prendre
Pris
Irregular verbs with past participles
Promettre
Promis
Irregular verbs with past participles
Mettre
Mis
Irregular verbs with past participles
Remettre
Remis
Irregular verbs with past participles
Permettre
Permis
Irregular verbs with past participles
Conduire
Conduit
Irregular verbs with past participles
Couvrir
Couvert
Irregular verbs with past participles
Découvrir
Découvert
Irregular verbs with past participles
Dire
Dit
Irregular verbs with past participles
Écrire
Écrit
Irregular verbs with past participles
Faire
Fait
Irregular verbs with past participles
Feindre de
Feint
Irregular verbs with past participles
Offrir
Offert
Irregular verbs with past participles
Ouvrir
Ouvert
Irregular verbs with past participles
Produire
Produit
Irregular verbs with past participles
Réduire
Réduit
Irregular verbs with past participles
Souffrir
Souffert
Irregular verbs with past participles
Traduire
Traduit
Irregular verbs with past participles
Dormir
Dormi
Irregular verbs with past participles
Mentir
Menti
Irregular verbs with past participles
Poursuivre
Poursuivi
Irregular verbs with past participles
Rire
Ri
The past participle of être (to be) is
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)
Passé composé in the negative
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)
How to ask questions in passé composé
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?)
Adverbs with passé composé
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)
Transition Words
First (of all)
D’abord
Transition Words
Next
Puis
Can be used interchangeably with ensuit
Transition Words
And then…
Ensuite…
Transition Words
After that…
Après…
Transition Words
Finally
Enfin/finalement
Can be used interchangeably
Transition Words
Yesterday
Hier
Transition Words
Day before yesterday
Avant-hier
Transition Words
Yesterday morning
Hier matin
Transition Words
Yesterday afternoon, yesterday evening
Hier après-midi, heir soir
Transition Words
At that moment
À ce moment-là
Last year (week)
L’année passée
Transition Words
Last week
La semaine passée
Transition Words
(On) that day
Ce jour-là
Transition Words
For, during + period of time
Pendant
(For) how long…?
(Pendant) Combien de temps
Suddenly
Soudain/tout à coup
One day
Un jour
Once (twice…), one time
Une (deux…), une fois
How to express a span of time or what was done during a time period?
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!)
Evening
Soirée