|
General Rule
The Passé Composé is formed by
adding the verb avoir
or être in the present tense to the past participle
(participe passé) of verbs.
[avoir or être in
the present tense] + [past participle of verb]
Examples:
J´ai terminé la lesson. - I finished
the homework.
Il a parlé à Paul. - I spoke with
Paul.
Ils sont restés
chez eux. - They stayed at home.
Verbs avoir
and être in the present tense
| |
avoir (to have) |
être (to be) |
|
Je (I) |
ai |
suis |
|
Tu (You) |
as |
es |
|
Il / Elle / On (He /
She / It) |
a |
est |
|
Nous (We) |
avons |
sommes |
|
Vous (You) |
avez |
êtes |
|
Ils / Elles (They) |
ont |
sont |
When do I use
être or avoir?
In general, you should use the
verb avoir to build the passé composé. However,
there are some exceptions, verbs that require the use of être:
Tomber - To fall
Rester - To stay
Devenir - To
become
Aller - To go
Venir - To come
Naître - To be
born
Mourir - To die
Arriver - To
arrive
Partir - To leave
The
Past Participle
- Regular Verbs
To put a regular verb in the
past participle you should remove the termination (ER),
replacing it with É.
Examples:
Terminer - Terminé (to finish)
Parler - Parlé
(to talk)
Marcher - Marché
(to walk)
Manger - Mangé
(to eat)
The Past Participle
- Irregular Verbs
There is no rule to put an
irregular verb into its past participle. A list of verbs with
their respective past participles can be found below.
|
Irregular Verb |
Past Participle |
Meaning |
|
boire |
bu |
to drink |
|
lire |
lu |
to read |
|
voir |
vu |
to see |
|
attendre |
attendu |
to wait |
|
entendre |
entendu |
to listen |
|
répondre |
répondu |
to answer |
|
perdre |
perdu |
to lose |
|
recevoir |
reçu |
to receive |
|
courir |
couru |
to run |
|
pouvoir |
pu |
to be able to |
|
vouloir |
voulu |
to want |
|
finir |
fini |
to finish |
|
dormir |
dormi |
to sleep |
|
connaître |
connu |
to know |
|
mettre |
mis |
to put |
|
dire |
di |
to say |
|
faire |
fait |
to do |
|
être |
été |
to be |
|
avoir |
eu |
to have |
|
écrire |
écrit |
to write |
|
