Passé composé
The passé composé is the everyday French past tense for finished actions. It has two parts: a helper verb (avoir or être) in the present, plus a past participle. The only real decisions are which helper to use, and whether the participle takes an extra -e or -s.
The formula
subject + avoir/être (present) + past participle. J’ai parlé (I spoke / I have spoken), Nous sommes partis (we left).
| Verb type | Participle ending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -er verbs (1st group) | -é | parler → parlé |
| regular -ir verbs (2nd group) | -i | finir → fini |
| regular -re verbs | -u | vendre → vendu |
| common irregulars | learn by heart | avoir → eu, être → été, faire → fait, prendre → pris, mettre → mis, dire → dit, écrire → écrit, voir → vu, venir → venu, naître → né, mourir → mort |
Build it: which helper, which ending?
elle est allée
Être. aller is one of the “house of être” verbs of movement or change of state. With être the participle agrees with the subject: feminine adds -e.
Verbs that take être
A useful way to remember them is the mnemonic DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP: devenir, revenir, monter, rester, sortir, venir, aller, naître, descendre, entrer, rentrer, tomber, retourner, arriver, mourir, partir. Add passer (when it means “to pass by”) and every reflexive verb.
Several of them switch to avoir when they have a direct object: Je suis monté (I went up) but J’ai monté les valises (I carried the suitcases up). The same goes for descendre, sortir, rentrer, retourner and passer.
Participle agreement in one table
| Helper | Agrees with | Example |
|---|---|---|
| être | the subject | Elles sont arrivées. |
| être (reflexive) | the reflexive pronoun when it is the direct object | Elle s’est lavée. but Elle s’est lavé les mains. |
| avoir | a direct object placed before the verb | Les photos ? Je les ai prises. |
| avoir | nothing (object after the verb) | J’ai pris les photos. |
Negatives and questions
In the negative, ne … pas wraps around the helper verb only: Je n’ai pas mangé. Elle n’est pas venue. With inversion, the subject pronoun follows the helper: As-tu fini ? Est-elle partie ?
Frequently asked questions
How do you form the passé composé?
Conjugate avoir or être in the present tense and add the past participle of the main verb: j’ai mangé, elle est partie. Regular participles end in -é (-er verbs), -i (-ir verbs) and -u (-re verbs).
Which verbs take être in the passé composé?
About 17 verbs of movement or change of state (aller, venir, arriver, partir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, naître, mourir, rester, tomber, retourner, passer, devenir, revenir, rentrer) and every reflexive verb (se lever, s’habiller).
When does the past participle agree?
With être, it agrees with the subject: elles sont arrivées. With avoir, it agrees only with a direct object that comes before the verb: la lettre que j’ai écrite, je les ai vus. Otherwise it stays in the masculine singular.
What is the difference between the passé composé and the imparfait?
The passé composé presents a completed action (Hier, j’ai lu un livre). The imparfait describes background, habits or ongoing states in the past (Quand j’étais petit, je lisais beaucoup).