For many students learning French, the passé composé is the first past tense taught. Keep reading to master this grammar component!
The Auxiliary Verb
The passé composé is composed of a helping verb (the auxiliary verb) and the past participle of the main verb. The helping verb is always the present indicative form of Avoir or Être.
AVOIR or ÊTRE?
All verbs use avoir except DR MRS VANDERTRAMP verbs (below) and reflexive verbs (ex. se laver), which use être.
D = devenir
R = revenir
M = mourir
R = retourner
S = sortir
V = venir
A = aller
N = naître
D = descendre
E =entrer
R = rentrer
T = tomber
R = rester
A = arriver
M = montre
P = partir
The Past Participle
The past participles of regular verbs follow simple rules. Change the ending of the verb to the corresponding letter.
ER – é ex. parler = parlé
IR – i ex. choisir = choisi
RE – u ex. vendre = vendu
Irregular Verbs
Just like the present tense, there are many irregular verbs in the passé composé. The following is a list of the most common irregulars and their past participles.
Complete Examples
Nous avons lu deux cents livres l’été passé.
Je suis tombé dans la rue et je me suis cassé la jambe. (Notice that the reflexive pronoun me proceeds the auxiliary verb. This is always the case with reflexive verbs.)
Tu as perdu tes clés?
Est-ce qu’il a parlé avec eux?
Ils ont marché au frigo.
Être Agreements
The past participles of verbs that use être as their auxiliary must make agreements with the subject in terms of gender and number. If the subject is feminine, add e, and if the subject if plural, add s.
Ex. Elles sont allées au cinéma hier soir.
Je suis née en Ontario, au Canada. (here the subject is feminine)
Il est né aux États Unis.
Basic Negation of the Passé Composé
When negating, the ne and pas sandwich the auxiliary and the past participle follows the pas.
Ex. Il n’est pas allé à la plage la semaine dernière.
Je n’ai pas mangé tous les biscuits.
Pro Tip
If a verb ends in one of the above irregular verbs, usually (but not always) its past participle is conjugated the same.
Ex. The past participle for apprendre is appris since the past participle for prendre is pris
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