1. Francais I Le passé composé
Talking about the past

2. Passé Composé
The passé composé is the most common French past tense. The passé composé can express any of the following:
1. An action completed in the past.
2. An action completed a number
of times in the past.
3. A series of actions completed in
the past.

3. The passé composé has three English equivalents.
For example: J’ai dansé can mean
I danced.
I have danced.
3. I did dance.

4. The passé composé has two parts:

5. To form the P.C., first conjugate the auxiliary verb (être or avoir) in the present tense.
être je suis tu es il/elle/on est nous sommes vous êtes ils/elles sont
avoir j’ai tu as il/elle/on a nous avons vous avez ils/elles ont
(OR)

6. change the –er to an é parler  parlé jouer  joué manger  mangé
Then, after you conjugate avoir or être, you add the past participle of the verb being expressed. You do not need to conjugate this verb. The past participle for all regular –er verbs is formed the same way:
change the –er to an é
parler  parlé
jouer  joué
manger  mangé
arriver  arrivé
**There are other rules and ways for forming past participles for other kinds of verbs (like irregular verbs). For now, just write out and memorize the past participles as they are given to you.

7. When put together, it looks like this:
Je suis arrivé
Tu es arrivé
Il est arrivé
Elle est arrivée
Nous sommes arrivés
Vous êtes arrivés
Ils sont arrivés
Elles sont arrivées
(or)
J’ai dansé
Tu as dansé
Il a dansé
Elle a dansé
Nous avons dansé
Vous avez dansé
Ils ont dansé
Elles ont dansé

8. How do you know when to use être and when to use avoir??
You will just have to memorize the verbs that use être. Most all other verbs will use avoir. For now, we will ONLY practice those verbs that use être.

9. ****SPECIAL NOTE****
Verbs that use être as the auxiliary verb MUST agree with the subject in number AND gender!!! If it is feminine, you must add an “-e.” If it is plural, you must add an “-s.” If it is both feminine AND plural, you add an “-es.”
Example:
Il est tombé.
Elle est tombée
Ils sont tombés
Elles sont tombées

10. The following verbs use être in the passé composé:
(in alphabetical order)
Verb Definition Past Participle
aller
to go
allé(e)(s)
arriver
to arrive
arrivé(e)(s)
to descend/
to go downstairs
descendre
descendu(e)(s)
devenir
to become
devenu(e)(s)
entrer
to enter
entré(e)(s)

11. Verb Definition Past participle
monter
to climb
monté(e)(s)
mourir
to die
mort(e)(s)
naître
to be born
né(e)(s)
partir
to leave
parti(e)(s)
passer
to pass
passé(e)(s)
rentrer
to come back
rentré(e)(s)

12. Verb Definition Past Participle
rester
to stay
resté(e)(s)
retourner
to return
retourné(e)(s)
to come back/
to come again
revenir
revenu(e)(s)
sortir
to go out
sorti(e)(s)
tomber
to fall
tombé(e)(s)
venir
to come
venu(e)(s)

13. To make a verb negative in the passé composé, place ne/n’ and pas around the auxiliary verb, être
Examples: Il n’est pas tombé. Elle n’est pas tombée. Nous ne sommes pas tombés.

14. DR. & MRS VANDERTRAMPP Maison d’être
There are two tricks to help you memorize those verbs that use être in the passé composé:
DR. & MRS VANDERTRAMPP
Maison d’être

15. DR. & MRS. VANDERTRAMPP Devenir Entrer Rentrer Tomber Revenir Arriver
Monter
Partir
Passe
Descendre
Rester
Mourir
Retourner
Sortir
Venir
Aller
Naître

16. MAISON D’ÊTRE

17. Passé composé with avoir
Verbs that do not use être as the auxiliary verb in the P.C. use avoir. The formation is still the same:
present tense of
the auxiliary verb +
past participle
J’ai mangé

18. Verbs that use avoir in the P. C
Verbs that use avoir in the P.C. do NOT have to agree with the subject (no extra “e” or “s” is needed).
Il a mangé Elle a mangé Ils ont mangé Elles ont mangé

19. Past participles for verbs are the same, whether the auxiliary verb is être or avoir.
regular -er verbs change the –er to “-é” regular –ir verbs change the –ir to “-i” regular –re verbs change the –re to “-u”

20. verb definition past participle
Some verbs have irregular past participles. They do not follow a specific pattern and need to be memorized.
verb definition past participle
avoir
to have eu
to be
été
être
faire
to do/to make
fait
prendre
to take
pris
to drink bu
boire