Passé Composé (Past Tense)

Question 1

How do you form the passé composé with verbs ending in ‘er’?

Answer 1

• Use the form of avoir with the relevent pronoun (apart from Mrs Vandertramp verbs!)
• Use the ending ‘é’ with the infinitive as the stem
• E.g: J’ai mangé (I ate), Nouns avons regardé (I watched)

As with re and ir as well, this is the case with all verbs apart from some specific irregulars

Question 2

How do you form the passé composé with verbs ending in ‘re’?

Answer 2

• Use the form of avoir with the relevent pronoun (apart from Mrs Vandertramp verbs!)
• Use the ending ‘u’ with the infinitive as the stem
• E.g: J’ai vendu (I sold), J’ai connu (I knew)

Question 3

How do you form the passé composé with verbs ending in ‘ir’?

Answer 3

• Use the form of avoir with the relevent pronoun (apart from Mrs Vandertramp verbs!)
• Use the ending ‘i’ with the infinitive as the stem
• E.g: J’ai choisi (I chose), J’ai fini (I finished)

Question 4

Which verbs use être in passé composé instead of avoir (Dr + Mrs Vandertramp)?

Answer 4

• Descendre (To descend)
• Revenir (To come back)
• Mourir (To die)
• Retourner (To return)
• Sortir (To go out)
• Venir (To come)
• Aller (To go)
• Naître (To be born)
• Devenir (To become)
• Entrer (To enter)
• Rentrer (To return)
• Tomber (To fall)
• Rester (To stay)
• Arriver (To arrive)
• Monter (To climb)
• Partir (To leave)

Note well that most of these verbs involve motion of some sort

Question 5

How do you say ‘I ran’?

All irregular passé composé verbs use avoir

Answer 5

J’ai couru

Infinitive: courir

Question 6

How do you say ‘I saw’?

Answer 6

J’ai vu

Infinitive: voir

Question 7

How do you say ‘I read’ (past tense)?

Answer 7

J’ai lu

Infinitive: lire

Question 8

How do you say ‘I drank’?

Answer 8

J’ai bu

Infinitive: boir

Question 9

How do you say ‘I had to’?

Answer 9

J’ai dû

Infinitive: devoir

Question 10

How do you say ‘I was able to/I could’?

Answer 10

J’ai pu

Infinitive: pouvoir

Question 11

How do you say ‘I wanted’?

Answer 11

J’ai voulu

Infinitve: vouloir

Question 12

How do you say ‘I knew (a fact)’

Answer 12

J’ai su

Infinitive: savoir

Question 13

How do you say ‘I had’

Important

Answer 13

J’ai eu

Infinitive: avoir

Question 14

How do you say ‘I was’ (past tense)

Important

Answer 14

J’ai été

Infinitive: être

Question 15

How do you say ‘I drove’

Answer 15

J’ai conduit

Infinitive: conduire

Question 16

How do you say ‘I built’

Answer 16

J’ai construit

Infinitive: construire

Question 17

How do you say ‘it rained’

Answer 17

Il a plu

Infinitive: pleuvoir

Question 18

How do you say ‘I did’

Important

Answer 18

J’ai fait

Infinitive: faire

Question 19

How do you say ‘I wrote’

Answer 19

J’ai écrit

Infinitive: écrire

Question 20

How do you say ‘I laughed’

Answer 20

J’ai ri

Infinitive: rire

Question 21

How do you say ‘I put’ (past tense)

Answer 21

J’ai mis

Infinitive: mettre

Question 22

How do you say ‘I took’

Answer 22

J’ai pris

Infinitive: prendre

Question 23

How do you say ‘I said’

Answer 23

J’ai dit

Infinitive: dire

Question 24

How do you say ‘I opened’

Answer 24

J’ai ouvert

Infinitive: ouvrir

Question 25

How do you say ‘I discovered’

Answer 25

J’ai découvert

Infinitive: découvrir