The passé composé is one of the five tenses of the past that are used in French. This particular time is used to describe the past and completed actions, it is often used to tell stories. While it is a bit difficult and complicated to understand, a few tricks may help you write and speak with the passé composé. You will need to identify and conjugate the auxiliary verb, then use the past participle form of the main verb, as well as correctly position each modifier, object object and personal complement pronouns.
Steps
Step 1. You must know that the passé composé uses two verbs to form the past tense
The first, the auxiliary, is the verb avoir (conjugated) or être (conjugated). The second is the past participle of the main verb.
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In French, the final part of the second verb differs from the infinitive form based on the type of verb you are using.
- For all verbs ending in -er (ex: manger, regarder, parler), replace the final -er with -é (ex: mangé, regardé, parlé), including 'aller' with 'allé'.
- For regular verbs ending in -ir (ex: finir, choisir), remove the 'r' (ex: fine, choisi). Exclude irregular verbs as 'souvenirs'.
- For regular verbs ending in -re (ex: répondre, vendre, attendre), you will need to replace the final part with -u (ex: répondu, vendu, attendu). Exclude irregular verbs like 'battre'.
- French, like Italian, has many irregular past participle forms. You will have to study them by heart, although sometimes there are patterns you can follow. Some are, for example: mettre mis; naître nor; courir couru; take pris. Most irregular verbs that end in -oir in the infinitive end in -u in the past participle: vouloir voulu, pouvoir pu, savoir su, voir vu.
Step 2. Remember that most verbs in the past tense are formed with the verb "avoir"
A simple trick is to remove the final part of the verb you need to conjugate. For example, take the verb manger (to eat): J'ai mang And, Tu as mang And. The verb "avoir" is conjugated like this:
- J'ai
- You as
- The / elle / on a
- Nous avons
- Vous avez
- Ils / Elles ont
Step 3. Study the verbs that want être as an auxiliary
These are: monter (mount) and its derivative remonter; rester (to remain); venir (to come) and its derivatives revenir, parvenir, devenir, etc.; aller (to go); naître (to be born); sortir (to go out); tomber (to fall); retourner (to return); arriver (to arrive); mourir (to die); partir (to leave) and its derivative repartir; entrer (to enter) and its derivative rentrer; descendre (to descend) and its derivative redescendre.
- These verbs are called "intransitive": they cannot have an object complement. For example, in Italian the verb to go is intransitive. You can't say "go something" like you can say "eat something" or "finish something", can you? So the verb cannot have an object complement and you will have to use être instead of avoir.
- Conversely, if one of the verbs listed above is used transitively, you must use avoir. For example, 'passer' is ruled by 'avoir' when it means 'to take a test': J'ai passé un examen.
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The verb être is conjugated like this:
- Je suis
- You eg
- The / Elle / On est
- Nous sommes
- Vous êtes
- Ils / Elles sont
Step 4. Furthermore, all reflexive or reciprocal verbs use être as an auxiliary when conjugated to the passé composé (eg:
Elle se lave Elle s'est lavée). You must put the reflexive or reciprocal pronoun between the subject and être: Jean s'est brossé les dents.
Step 5. The further difficulty when using être is that the past participle must be agreed with the subject
This means you have to add an -e if the subject is feminine and an -s if it's plural. The 'e' always comes before the 's'. Let's say you mean "I went". If you use the first method, you should translate it as "I went" - but this time you won't be able to use 'avoir' because there is no object in the sentence and the verb is intransitive. Then, "Ho" will become "I am" (Je suis) and then you will add the past participle, as we did before, plus the match if necessary. As an example we now use the verb aller (to go): Je suis all and and), Tu es all and and), The east all And, Elle est all and and, Nous sommes all é (e) s, Vous êtes all é (e) (s), Ils sont all és, Elles sont all ées.
Step 6. You need to know where to place the personal complement pronouns
You must put these pronouns between the subject and avoir / être: Je t'ai répondu. The past participle must agree with the direct object when the latter is placed before the transitive verb. For example, you have to write 'Je les ai lavés'.
Step 7. Negative forms are positioned around the auxiliary verb
For example: Je ne suis pas allé à Paris. Tu n'as pas mangé?
Advice
- There are many acronyms that help you learn verbs straight from être, you can do an online search for them.
- Remember that the more you practice the more you will improve. Try as much as you can!
- Memorize the present of Avoir and Être.
- The best way to learn French is to rely on a teacher. It can show you all the irregular verbs that we haven't mentioned here. You can also use a book that shows you irregular verbs.
- Be careful when dealing with irregular past participles as the feminine and plural forms may not be what you expect, for example, devoir dû / due.
- Here is a trick. For the passé composé of être, draw a house.
- Watch here a video on the passé composé: [1].
- Do not forget that the past participle must also be in agreement with the object in relative subordinates. For example, you have to say 'La voiture que j'ai conduite'. Here's a trick: Usually, you don't have to worry about this concordance if you're dealing with 'here'.
- Always remember the concordances!
