1. Le passé composé
(the perfect tense)

2. The perfect tense – Le passé composé
In French you use the perfect tense (le passé composé) to say what you have done in the past.
The passé composé is usually formed by using the present tense of
avoir and the
past participle of the verb, just as in English

3. Par exemple: J’ai joué = I have played Nous avons gagné = We have won
Elle a dormi =
She has slept
Tu as répondu =
You have replied

4. Auxiliary verb J’ ai Tu as Il a Elle a Nous avons Vous avez Ils ont
Elles ont

5. Past participles
To form the past participle of –er verbs, take the -er off the infinitive and replace it with -é
Regular –ir verbs form the past participles by taking off the
final –r
Regular
-re verbs take off the final –re and replace it with u

6. Irregular past participles
Avoir = Eu
Boire = Bu
Lire = Lu
Voir = vu

7. Venir =
Venu
Dire =
Dit
Écrire =
Écrit
Faire =
fait

8. Prendre =
Pris
Apprendre =
Appris
Comprendre =
Compris
Mettre =
mis

9. In the perfect tense most verbs take the auxiliary verb
Avoir
But some take
Être
To help you learn which verbs take être you can memorise the mnemonic
MR DAMP’S TAVERN

10. MR DAMPS TAVERN
Mourir
Retourner
Descendre
Aller
Monter
Partir
Sortir

11. Tomber
Arriver
Venir
Entrer
Rester
Naitre

12. Agreement
Notice that with verbs that take être as the auxiliary verb, the past
participle agrees with the subject (the person or thing doing the action). If the subject is feminine you must add an extra
-e and if the subject is plural you must add an extra
-s. If it is plural and feminine you must add
-es!