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Passé composé

avoir/être + the past form of the verb (past participle: mangé, allé). Most verbs take avoir; a small group of coming-and-going verbs take être and agree like an adjective.

Examples

  • J'ai mangé.I ate.
  • Elle est allée à Paris.She went to Paris.

How it works

The default past tense in French, for things that HAPPENED — completed, definite. It covers both English "I ate" and "I have eaten".

Form

a helper verb (the auxiliary: avoir or être, in the present) + the past participle (the verb's past form, like English "eaten": mangé, fini, vendu).

Most verbs take avoir

J'ai mangé.I ate.
Tu as parlé.You spoke.
Elle a fini.She finished.
Nous avons vu.We saw.

Some verbs of coming and going, and of change of state, take être when they have no direct object (the noun the verb acts on). Learn the ones that always take être in pairs:

aller / venirgo / come
arriver / partirarrive / leave
naître / mourirbe born / die
rester, tomberstay, fall
devenir, revenirbecome, come back

These take être only with no direct object, and avoir when there is one:

entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, rentrer, retourner, passer
Elle est sortie.She went out.
Elle a sorti les poubelles. She took the rubbish out.
Il est passé chez moi.He dropped by.
Nous avons passé une semaine à Lyon. We spent a week in Lyon.

Reflexive verbs (se laver, se lever…) take être too. Agreement for those is not always with the subject — see the reflexive lesson and Accord du participe.

With ÊTRE the past form (the participle: allé) agrees with the subject, like an adjective:

Il est allé.He went.
Elle est allée.She went.(+e)
Ils sont allés.They went.(+s)
Elles sont allées.They went. (f)(+es)

With AVOIR the participle does not agree with the subject. It does agree with a direct object that comes BEFORE the verb (Je l'ai vue, Les lettres que j'ai écrites). When the object follows, there is no agreement (J'ai écrit les lettres). That rule is practised in Accord du participe.

Participle endings

-er → -éparler → parlé, manger → mangé
-ir → -ifinir → fini, choisir → choisi
-re → -uvendre → vendu, attendre → attendu

Irregulars to memorise:

prendre → prisfaire → fait
voir → vumettre → mis
dire → ditavoir → eu
être → étéaller → allé
venir → venuboire → bu
écrire → écritlire → lu

Negation wraps the AUXILIARY

Je n'ai pas mangé.I haven't eaten.
Elle n'est pas venue.She didn't come.

Object pronouns also go before the auxiliary (the helper verb: ai, est):

Je l'ai vu.I saw him.
Je l'ai vue.I saw her.(the -e is the agreement in Accord du participe)
Il leur a parlé.He spoke to them.

What you'll practise

  1. 1. avoir + past participle

    Most verbs take avoir as the helper verb (auxiliary). -er → -é, -ir → -i, -re → -u (regular).

    • J'ai mangé.I ate.
    • Tu as parlé.You talked.

  2. 2. être + past participle (movement verbs)

    Always être: aller, venir, partir, arriver, naître, mourir, rester, tomber, devenir, revenir. être only with no direct object (the noun the verb acts on), avoir when there is one: sortir, entrer, monter, descendre, rentrer, retourner, passer.

    • Il est allé.He went.
    • Ils sont arrivés.They arrived.

  3. 3. Gender/number agreement (être verbs)

    With être, the past participle (allé, parti) agrees with the subject: -e (f), -s (pl), -es (fpl).

    • Elle est allée.She went.
    • Nous sommes arrivés.We arrived (m or mixed).

  4. 4. Irregular past participles

    Memorise: prendre→pris, faire→fait, voir→vu, mettre→mis, dire→dit, écrire→écrit, lire→lu, etc.

    • J'ai pris le bus.I took the bus.
    • Nous avons vu le film.We saw the movie.

Practise it until it sticks

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