Le pass-compos (the perfect tense)

In English, when we talk about what we have done or something that has
happened, we use a past tense : I played tennis on Sunday.
In French, we mainly use the perfect tense. You use the perfect tense to talk about
something that happened on a particular occasion in the past.
The perfect tense in French is formed using the present tense of avoir (to
have) and a past participle : Il a mang un gteau.
To form the perfect tense you need to know two things :

How to form the past participle

English past participle often end in -ed : played, watched, danced.
In French -er, -ir and -re verbs form their past participle in different ways :
-er verbs -ir verbs -re verbs
take off : -er -ir -re
and add : - -i -u
example : parler parl dormir dormi rpondre
rpondu

The present tense of avoir :

Avoir to have
J'ai I have
Tu as you have
Il a he has
Elle a she has
On a we have
Nous avons we have
Vous avez you have
Ils ont they have
Elles ont they have

Exercice 1 - Complete these sentences by adding the right part of avoir :

1. Nous regard le film.
2. J' regard le film.
3. Il regard le film.
4. Tu . regard le film.
5. Ils .. regard le film.
6. Elle regard le film.
7. Elles n'.. pas regard le film.
8. Vous .. regard le film.
9. Julie regard le film.
10. Mes parents n' pas regard le
film.

Exercice 2 - Add the right part of avoir to complete these sentences :

1. J' jou au football hier soir.
2. Nous .. mang au Mc Do.
3. Il .. fini ses devoirs.
4. Elle .. vendu sa bicyclette.
5. Vous .. fini ?
6. Maurice .. perdu son sac.
7. J' achet un cadeau.
8. Ils attendu devant le cinma.
9. Mes parents . mang chez ma
grand-mre.
10. Charlotte invit ses
copains sa boum.

Exercice 3 - Complete these sentences by adding the right form of avoir abd the
past participles of the verbs in brackets.
1. Maman .. (prparer) 4. Son frre (ranger)
le repas. sa chambre.
2. Nadine (dbarrasser) 5. Elle .. (inviter)
la table. ses copains.
3. Son pre (laver) 6. J' (tlphoner)
la vaisselle. mon copain.
7. Ils . (couter) 9. Ma mre (dormir)
de la musique. devant la tl.
8. Vous . (jouer) 10. Nous (regarder)
aux cartes. la tl.

Exercice 4 - Complete these sentences by adding the past participle of the verbs in
brackets.
1. Ils ont .. (boire) du vin. 4. M. Bertrand a . (avoir) un
2. J'ai .. (lire) le journal. accident.
3. Martine a (recevoir) une 5. Nous avons .. (voir) le film.
lettre. 6. J'ai . (devoir) ranger
ma chambre.

Exercice 5 - This time you have to add the right form of avoir as well as the past
participle (not all the verbs are irregular).
1. J'.. de l'argent pour mon anniversaire. (recevoir)
2. Tu . les chansons de Vanessa Paradis (couter)
3. J'. mon copain Gilles au Mac Do. (inviter)
4. Nous des Big Mac. (manger)
5. Il un milk-shake (boire)
6. J'. un coca (boire)
7. Mes copains .. une BD pour moi. (acheter)
8. Nous .. le film Frankenstein (voir)
9. Vous le film ? (voir)
10. J'. le livre. (lire)

Exercice 6 - Use the past participle of the verb in brackets to complete these
sentences.
1. Nous avons l'autobus (prendre) 5. Ma sur a . la table (mettre)
2. Vous avez vos devoirs ? (faire) 6. Mon frre n'a rien ..
3. J'ai .. une lettre (crire) (comprendre)
4. Nous avons .. les verbes 7. Il a .. du vlo (faire)
(apprendre) 8. Il m'a de venir demain (dire)
Exercise 7 - Use the right part of tre to complete these sentences.
1. Je . all au collge. 7. Mes copines... alles la
2. Nous alles en ville. piscine.
3. Mes copains alls au cinma. 8. Sophie, o ..-tu alle ?
4. Mon pre all au travail 9. O ..-vous alls ?
5. Ma mre .. alle au supermarch. 10. Nous ne pas alls la
6. Vous alls en ville. piscine.

Exercise 8 - Add the past participle to these sentences. Remember to add the -e
ending when it refers to a girl or feminine object. ((f) means 'feminine' and (m)
means 'masculine').
1. Jeanne est ... en ville hier. (aller) 7. Tu (m) es .. quelle
2. Il est . de la maison 9h20. heure ? (venir)
(sortir) 8. Il est . tout de suite.
3. Le bus est . 9h30. (partir) (monter)
4. Il est 10h. (arriver) 9. Je (m) suis .. dans
5. Je (f) suis du bus l'escalier. (tomber)
devant le cinma. (descendre) 10. Elle est .. l'hpital.
6. Elle est .. dans l'hpital. (rester)
(entrer)

Exercise 9 - Now try adding the past participle of the verb in brackets, with -s or -es
as necessary. Some sentences use (fpl) to indicate feminine plural and (mpl) for
masculine plural.
1. Sandrine et ses parents sont 6. Ils sont . A la gare Saint-
.. Paris. (aller) Lazare. (descendre)
2. Ils sont de la maison 7. Sandrine et son frre sont .
9h20. (sortir) la Tour Eiffel. (monter)
3. Vous (fpl) tes au 8. Vous (mpl) tes . en
cinma ? (aller) bas. (rester)
4. Elles sont . 9h30. 9. Mlanie et Christine sont
(partir) pour visiter le muse du Louvres. (venir)
5. Nous (mpl) sommes . 10. Nous (fpl) sommes .
10h. (arriver) dans le muse. (entrer)

Exercise 10 - The next sentences all need the past participle of aller to fill in the gap.
Make it agree with the subject - decide between all, alle, alls and alles.
1. Ludo est Londres. 6. Vous (mpl) tes. en France.
2. Sa copine Charlotte est . 7. Mes grands-parents sont ..
Paris. en Italie.
3. Ses parents sont . sur la 8. Mon copain est . en Suisse.
cte d'Azur. 9. Tu es aux Etats-Unis,
4. Ses surs sont .. en Espagne. Marc.
5. Nous (fpl) sommes en 10. Et moi ? Je suis au
Bretagne. bord de la mer !
Exercise 11 - Fill the gap in each sentence with the past participle of the verb in
brackets. Say what ending is needed, if any.
1. Le train est .. en retard. (arriver)
2. Mes parents sont .. 7 heures (partir)
3. Elle est .. hier (venir)
4. Le chat est dans l'arbre (monter)
5. Il est de l'arbre (tomber)
6. Les filles sont dans le cinma (entrer)
7. Ma grand-mre est en 1950. (natre)
8. Mon grand-pre est l'anne dernire (mourir)
9. Les garons sont (sortir)
10. Monique est . en ville (aller)

1.1. IRREGULAR PAST PARTICIPLES.

Some -ir and -re verbs have irregular past participles, in other words, they don't simply end
in -i or -u. Here are some of the most common ones :

Avoir (to have) eu (had / got) Apprendre (to learn) appris (learnt)
Boire (to drink) bu (drunk) Comprendre(to understand) compris(understood)
Devoir (to have to / must) d (had to) Mettre (to put on) mis (put on)
Lire (to read) lu (read) Faire (to do) fait (done)
Recevoir (to receive) reu (received) Dire (to say) dit (said)
Voir (to see) vu (seen) crire (to write) crit (written)
Prendre (to take) pris (taken) Conduire (to drive) conduit (driven)
1.2. VERBS WHICH TAKE ETRE.
As you've seen already, the perfect tense is usually formed from the present
tense of avoir and a past participle : j'ai regard = 'I have watched'.
However, some verbs use the present tense of tre instead of avoir : Je suis
arriv = 'I have arrived'.
Just as with avoir, the present tense of tre is combined with a past participle
to make the perfect tense.

The present tense of tre is :

Etre to be
Je suis I am
Tu es You are (one person / a friend / family)
Il est He is
Elle est She is
On est We are (when speaking)
Nous sommes We are (when writing)
Vous tes You are (group of people OR someone you don't know / you respect)
Ils sont They are (group of boys OR boys and girls)
Elles sont They are (group of girls)

Here is a list of verbs which take tre rather than avoir in the perfect tense. An
easy way to remember them is to think of them as verbs of motion (or coming and going
verbs). Try learning them in pairs.

Aller to go Venir to come

Arriver to arrive Partir to leave
Entrer to go in Sortir to go out
Monter to go up Descendre to go down
Rester to stay Tomber to fall
Natre to be born Mourir to die

All their past participles are regular, except natre (n) and mourir (mort).

1.3.MAKING THE PAST PARTICIPLE AGREE.

With tre, the ending of the past participle depends on who or what the verb refers
to - rather like endings on adjectives. Look at these examples :
Martine est alle au cinma.
The verb refers to Martine, a girl, so the past participle has an extra -e.
Le train est parti.
Le train is a maculine noun, so there is no change to the past participle. It's
easy with il and elle, but remember that you also need to check for masculine and
feminine endings whenever you use je, tu, nous and vous with tre.
When you're talking about more than one person or thing, you need to add -s to the
past participle. Add a feminine plural ending, -es, if the group is all feminine. Look at
these examples :
Nous sommes alles en ville.
This must be a group of women or girls as the past participle ends in -es. If there
were any men or boys in the group, you would have used alls instead.

Vous tes arrives en retard. Vous tes arrivs en retard.

The first group are all female, the second group are all male or mixed.

Ils sont partis. Elles sont parties.

Ils and elles are easy to use, since ils always needs just -s added to the past
participle, elles needs -es. You have to work it out if you're talking about les
lves, les chats, les classes, and so on - are they masculine or feminine ?