Francais I Le passé composé Talking about the past

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.

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

The passé composé has two parts:

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)

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.

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

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.

****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

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)

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)

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)

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.

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

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

MAISON D’ÊTRE

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

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

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”

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