Le Pass

Compos
Le pass compos is used to describe completed actions in
the past. It is the equivalent of two tenses in English.
Examples:
Il a tudi tout le week-end. (He studied all week-end / He has
studied all week-end)
Elle est alle Paris pour voir sa sur. (She went to Paris to see
her sister / She has gone to Paris to see her sister)
The pass compos is formed by conjugating the auxiliary verb
(either avoir or tre at the present tense) and adding the past
participle (which can be regular or irregular).
The past participle of regular verbs is formed like this:
-ER
verbs
Verb parler
Remo -er
ve
Add

Result parl

-IR
verbs
russir
-ir
i
russi

-RE
verbs
vendre
-re
u
vendu

Here is a recap of what the pass compos looks like:

Regular Past
Participles
16
Avoir
(- ;
verbs
-i
;
-u)
Etre
(also called verbs
of motion)
All reflexive
verbs
(ex : se lever)

Irregular
Past
Participles
(to be
learnt off
by heart)

In the past tense, most French verbs use AVOIR in front.

a. Some irregular verbs
= I had to Dire. Jai
with avoir: Apprendre. Jai
dit = I said
appris = I learnt Avoir. Jai
eu = I had
Boire. Jai bu = I drank
Comprendre. Jai
compris = I
understood
Connatre. Jai connu = I
knew
Courir. Jai couru =
I ran Devoir. Jai d

Ecrire. Jai crit =

I wrote Etre. Jai
t = I have been
Faire. Jai fait = I
did
Lire. Jai lu = I read

Mettre. Jai mis = I put

Offrir. Jai offert = I
offered Ouvrir. Jai
ouvert = I opened
Prendre. Jai pris = I
took
Pouvoir. Jai pu = I have been
able to

Rire. Jai ri = I
laughed Savoir.
Jai su = I knew
Voir. Jai vu = I
saw
Vouloir. Jai voulu = I wanted
b. Some regular verbs
with avoir : Rendre visite
. Jai rendu visite = I
visited s.o
Acheter. Jai achet = I bought
Manger. Jai mang = I ate
Payer. Jai pay = I paid
Travailler. Jai travaill = I
worked Habiter. Jai habit
= I lived Donner. Jai
donn = I gave Visiter. Jai
visit = I visited
Aimer. Jai aim = I
liked/loved Ecouter. Jai
cout = I listened
Vendre. Jai vendu = I
sold
Finir. Jai fini = I finished
Etudier. Jai tudi = I studied

Etre verbs
The following is a list of the only verbs that use tre. Start learning that
list, so that you wont
always have to wonder which verb takes Etre or Avoir in front!
- Mourir Je suis mort(e) = I
- Partir Je suis parti(e) = I
died
left
- Retourner Je suis retourn(e)
- Entrer Je suis entr(e) = I
=I
came/
returned
went in
- Venir Je suis venu(e) = I
- Descendre Je suis
came
descendu(e) =
- Aller Je suis all(e) = I went
I came down
- Natre Je suis n(e) = I was
born
(+ 3 derivatives : rentrer/to
- Sortir Je suis sorti(e) = I went
go home, revenir/to come
out
back,
- Tomber Je suis tomb(e) = I
devenir/to become)
fell
- Rester Je suis rest(e) = I
stayed
- Arriver Je suis arriv(e) = I
arrived
- Monter Je suis mont(e) = I
went up
In addition to these verbs, all pronominal verbs use tre :
se baigner - to bathe
s'habiller - to get
dressed s'imaginer to imagine
se laver - to
wash se lever to get up
se moquer - to make fun of
se prparer - to prepare oneself
se promener - to go for
a walk se raser - to
shave
se reposer - to rest
se faire bronzer to sunbathe
se maquiller to put on
make up se dpcher to
hurry up
se disputer to have
a row etc
Ex: je me suis lev(e) 7 heures.
Example with avoir/tre:
Lets see now if you understand how the pass compos works.
For example, you want to say He did (the verb to do is faire in French).
- First, check if the verb faire uses tre or avoir in front. (its not in the Etre
list above,
therefore it will be used with Avoir). You can already guess the first
part of your verb, which will be as follows: Il a

- Secondly, you need to tranform the verb faire to make it a past

tense verb. So check if the verb faire is regular or irregular in the past.
It is irregular (its form is fait)
Therefore, your verb He did will be: Il a fait
Example with a reflexive verb:
Now you want to say I rested in the past (the verb to rest is se reposer).

Since se reposer is a reflexive verb, it will automatically be used

with Etre in the pass compose tense.
First, lets see what that verb would have been like in the
present tense: I rest = Je me repose
In the past, it will be as follows: je me suis repos
(You place tre in front of the verb reposer, and you take off the er
ending of reposer and put instead)
Agreement of the past participles used with Etre:
With the Etre verbs (including reflexive verbs), the past
participles agree with the subject in number and gender.
Examples:
Il est all; elle est alle (you add an extra e with a feminine form)
Ils sont alls (plural); elles sont alles
(feminine plural) Elle sest promene
Theres no agreement with Avoir unless the direct object (D.O.) is
placed before the verb :
- Jai mang les fraises (D.O.) qui taient dans le frigidaire Je
les ai manges
- La lettre que tu as crite tait pleine de fautes.
Exercice 1
Put the following verbs in the perfect tense :
1. Il dire :
2. Nous aller :
3. Vous faire :
4. Elle
: :
Tu vendre
5. discuter
6. Je manger :
7. Nous voir :
8. Ils tre :
9. Vous tudier
: choisir :
10. Je

Exercice 2
Put Etre or Avoir at the correct form in the present tense, in
front of the past participles.
1. John et Paul monts dans leur chambre.
2. Je fait mes devoirs pour demain.
3. Elle dit au revoir son copain.
4. Nous arrives avec deux heures de retard.
5. Il ferm la porte.
6. Vous visit le muse dOrsay.
7. Tu sortie en bote samedi soir ?
8. Elles restes une heure.
9. Je pris lavion.
10. Nous cout le nouvel album.

Exercice 3
Give the past participles of the verbs in brackets :
1. Elle a (quitter) la maison une heure.
2. Nous (feminine) sommes (descendre) la
station Chatelet.
3. Il a (dner) avec ses amis de fac.
4. Vous avez (appeler) Helene ?
5. Je (masculine) me suis (baigner) tous les
jours.
6. Ils sont (rentrer) dItalie vers minuit.
7. Tu as (mettre) combien de temps pour aller
en ville ?
8. Elles ont (dire) quelles niraient plus dans ce
magasin.
9. Est-ce que vous avez (tre) malade en avion
?
10. Nous (masculine) nous sommes (balader) le
long de la rivire.