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
MRS VANDER TRAMP

10. MRS VANDER TRAMP Mourir Retourner Sortir Venir Aller Naître Descendre
Entrer
Rester
Tomber
Retourner
Arriver
Monter
Partir

11. 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!

12. OK…. Try some of these sentences then….
1. I ate and strawberry ice cream.
J’ai mangé une glace à la fraise.
2.He played rugby for England
Il a joué au rugby pour Angleterre.
3.We went on holiday to Spain last year.
Nous sommes allés en Espagne l’année dernière.
.4. They watched a horror film at the cinema .It was frightening.
Ils ont regardé un film d’horreur au cinéma. C’était effrayant.

13. Bravo! Alors…… Do you know when to use the past tense?
Do you know how to form the past tense?
Do you know when to use avoir and when to use être?
Bravo!