
Formation du Passé Composé
How does French passé composé work?
The French passé composé most often in English is a simple past (I played), but it can also be a present perfect (I have played) or an emphatic past (I did play). The literary equivalent of the passé composé is the passé simple.
The words passé and composé mean ‘compound past’. Thus, the passé composé always has two parts:
- the helping verb, also called ‘auxiliary’
- the past participle of the chosen verb
There are only two possible auxiliaries in French ÊTRE or AVOIR. They are the ones carrying the conjugation. The second part of the compound past is the past participle. This one stays pretty much the same throughout all the conjugations.
AVOIR
j’ai + past participle
tu as + past participle
elle a + past participle
il a + past participle
on a + past participle
nous avons + past participle
vous avez + past participle
ils ont + past participle
elles ont + past participle
ÊTRE
je suis + past participle
tu es + past participle
elle est + past participle
il est + past participle
on est + past participle
nous sommes + past participle
vous êtes + past participle
ils sont + past participle
elles sont + past participle
In context
- J’ai aimé la chanson.
- I liked the song.
- Tu as bu de l’eau glacée hier.
- You drank ice water yesterday.
- Elle a dit non.
- She said no.
- On a pris un café.
- We had a cup of coffee.
- Nous sommes allés au café.
- We went to the café.
- Vous avez découvert la vérité.
- You discovered the truth.
- Ils sont partis.
- They left.
. Accroche-minutes . Cours avec Anne . Vous aimez ? Commentez . PDF – Ask Anne . Back to Course – French Past Tenses .
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