Lepassé

composé

The “passé composé”, as its name implies, is a “composed past”, that is it is made up of two verbs, a helping verb (which determines the subject and time) and a past participle (in English the past participle often ends in “-ed”).

Le participe passé (The past participle):

For “-er” verbs, drop the “-er” and add “-é”

manger mangé

glisser glissé

chanter chanté

For “-ir” verbs, drop the “-ir” and add “-i”

choisir

obéir

réussir

choisi

obéi

réussi

For “-re” verbs, drop the “-re” and add “u”

vendre

rendre

attendre

vendu

rendu

attendu

There are some verbs whose past participle is irregular. Here is a list of those that you should know.

avoir

boire

connaître

courir

croire

devoir

eu

bu

connu

couru

cru

dû

to have

to drink

to know

to run

to believe

should, ought to, must

falloir

lire

plaire

pleuvoir

pouvoir

recevoir

falluto be necessary

lu to read

plu to please

plu to rain

pu to be able to

reçu to receive

There are some more verbs whose past participle is irregular. Here is a list of those that you should know.

savoir

taire

tenir

valoir

vivre

voir

su

tu

tenu

valu

vécu

vu

to know

to be quiet

to hold

to be worth

to live

to see

vouloir

rire

suivre

asseoir

mettre

prendre

voulu to want

ri to laugh

suivi to follow

assis to sit

mis to put, place

pris to take

There are some more verbs whose past participle is irregular. Here is a list of those that you should know.

conduir

dire

écrire

craindre

être

faire

conduit

dit

écrit

craint

été

fait

to drive

to say, tell

to write

to fear

to be

to do, make

ouvrir

couvrir

venir*

revenir*

devenir*

naître*

ouvert to open

couvert to cover

venu to come

revenu to return

devenu to become

né to be born

There are some more verbs whose past participle is irregular. Here is a list of those that you should know.

mourir* mort to die

*These verbs use “être” as their helping verbs.

Most verbs will use “avoir” as their helping verb to form the passé composé.

J’ ai parlé

Tu as parlé

Il a parlé

Elle a parlé

On a parlé

Nous avons parlé

Vous avez parlé

Ils ont parlé

Elles ont parlé

Remember, in the passé composé of “avoir” verbs there is no agreement of the past participle with the subject 1.

However, there IS agreement if you use a direct object 2 pronoun (nous, vous, le, la, les).

1 J’ai mangé toute la pizza.

2 Je l’ai mangée toute.

Some practice with “avoir” passé composé verbs:

1. (voir) Elle _______________ la fleur.

2. (voir) Elle l’ ________________.

3. (boire) Marie ________________ une limonade.

4. (boire) Marie l’ ________________ .

5. (regarder) Mme. Ricard, vous _________________ les photos?

6. (regarder) Mme. Ricard les___________________?

a vu

a vue

a bu

avez regardé

avez vues

a bue

Some verbs use “être” instead of “avoir”.

*You can remember these verbs by thinking of “Dr. and Mrs. Vandertrampp”. Each letter sands for one of these verbs.

*Another way to remember these verbs is that many have to do with motion/movement.

*Another idea is to lean them as opposite pairs.

Dr. & Mrs. Vandertrampp:

D devenir

R. revenir

M monter

R rester

S. sortir

V venir

A aller

N naître

D descendre

E entrerR retourner

T tomber

R rentrer

A arriver

M mourir

P partir

P passer

Remember, with “être” passé composé verbs the past participle must agree with the subject 1 EXCEPT if followed by a noun 2.

1 Marie est venue chez nous aujourd’hui.

2 Marie s’est lavé les mains.

Some practice with “être” passé composé verbs:

1. (naître) Elle _______________ à Paris.

2. (sortir) Les jeunes filles ________________ très tarde.

3. (se lever) Marie ________________ la main.

4. (venir) Tous les garçons, nous ________________ à huit heures.

5. (aller) Mme. Ricard, vous _________________ au théatre hier soir?

6. (se brosser) Je ___________________les dents.

est née

sont sorties

s’est levé

sommes venus

êtes allée

me suis brossé