Mastering Passé Composé: Use The French Previous Tense With Confidence

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In case you have been to inform the story of the way you determined to be taught French, you’d want to make use of the previous tense, because it’s already occurred. In French, the passé composé (excellent/compound previous) is without doubt one of the primary previous tenses, and also you’ll use it to relate occasions which have already taken place, equivalent to Je suis allée au marché (I went to the market). You may also use it to say what “has occurred,” equivalent to j’ai bu trois cafés (I’ve had three cups of espresso). 

Mastering the passé composé launches you from a newbie to an intermediate French speaker. Unlock the essential sample of the common guidelines, and also you’ll be capable to talk about many previous occasions. Add within the passé composé with irregular verbs and settlement of the previous participle, and also you’re certain to impress native audio system.

When do you employ the passé composé in French? 

To precise previous occasions and conditions, you’ll use two French verb tenses: the passé composé and the imparfait (imperfect) tense, which is roofed intimately individually. You’ll wish to select the passé composé when speaking:

• what occurred 
• what somebody did or mentioned
• what motion interrupted an motion in progress
• what has already occurred up till now

Accomplished actions are outlined as moments or durations of time up to now. These passé composé examples really feel extra like plot factors to a narrative moderately than descriptive background data. 

• Hier, je suis allée au restaurant. = Yesterday, I went to the restaurant.
• J’ai attendu vingt minutes. = I waited twenty minutes.
• J’ai commandé un hamburger. = I ordered a hamburger.
• Le serveur m’a dit, « Nous ne servons pas de hamburgers. » = The server mentioned to me, “We don’t serve hamburgers.”
• Je suis partie. = I left. 
• Je cherchais un autre restaurant quand je suis tombée. = I used to be on the lookout for one other restaurant once I fell down. 
• Je n’ai toujours pas mangé de hamburger. = I nonetheless haven’t eaten a hamburger.

To present a extra descriptive background data up to now, equivalent to feelings or telling what the climate was like, you’ll go for the imperfect tense in French.

The way to kind the passé composé

The passé composé is a compound previous tense in French. It has two components in its building:

1. a conjugated serving to verb, also called an “auxiliary” verb—avoir (to have) or être (to be) within the current tense
2. the previous participle of the principle verb

You’ll at all times want each components to conjugate a French verb within the passé composé appropriately. The interpretation might range in English relying on whether or not you wish to use the easy previous (one thing occurred) or the right tense (one thing has occurred). 

• Sophie a étudié. = Sophie studied./Sophie has studied.
• Carlos est allé. = Carlos went./Carlos has gone. 
• Mes amies sont arrivées. = My associates arrived./My associates have arrived. 

To make a damaging building, put the ne… pas (not) or different damaging building round this serving to verb. 

• On n’a pas encore dormi. = We haven’t slept but.
• Je n’ai pas mangé. = I haven’t eaten. 
• Il n’a jamais voyagé en France. = He has by no means traveled to France. 

To ask questions in French, you should utilize inflection of your voice, est-ce que, or inversion of the topic and serving to verb to kind questions equivalent to “Did you’re taking the bus?”

• Tu as pris le bus ? 
• Est-ce que tu as pris le bus ? 
• As-tu pris le bus ?

Verbs that use avoir within the passé composé

Your alternative of avoir vs. être will depend on the verb. Nearly all of verbs will use avoir because the serving to verb on this tense, so it’s best to begin with these. You’ll simply want two steps:

1. Conjugate avoir within the current tense.
2. Use the proper previous participle (common or irregular).

Conjugating avoir within the current tense 

First, choose the proper type of avoir within the current tense that matches the topic. This is without doubt one of the most essential French conjugations you possibly can be taught.

avoir – to have

Common previous participles

The second a part of the passé composé conjugation is named the participe passé (previous participle). For normal previous participles, those who observe the anticipated guidelines and patterns, you’ll exchange the infinitive ending with the brand new ending. 

• common -ER verbs
  • Nous avons mangé ici quatre fois. = We have eaten right here 4 instances. 
• common -IR verbs
  • Vous avez choisi la bonne réponse. = You selected the proper reply. 
• common -RE verbs
  •  J’ai perdu mon chapeau. = I misplaced my hat.

The conjugation of avoir modifications, however the previous participle stays precisely the identical in all topics. This instance with the verb finir (to complete) demonstrates the sample used for different -IR verbs with common previous participles. 

finir – to complete

Irregular previous participles 

Some verbs within the passé composé have previous participles that don’t observe the everyday patterns. Be taught these irregular previous participles as you learn or hearken to French.

This isn’t a whole checklist, however these are a number of the most frequent French verbs with irregular previous participles that you simply’ll encounter. 

Right here’s what a few of these seem like in sentences: 

• J’ai bu du thé. = I drank some tea.
• Tu as ouvert la porte. = You opened the door.
• Il a reçu la lettre. = He acquired the letter. 
• Nous avons vu le movie. = We noticed the film.
• Vous avez lu le livre. = You have learn the e-book. 
• Elles ont compris la leçon. = They understood the lesson.

Verbs that use être within the passé composé

Whereas most verbs do fall into the avoir class, the next teams of verbs will use être because the serving to verb as an alternative.

• sure verbs of movement, like aller (to go) and partir (to go away)
• some verbs referring to a life change, like naître (to be born) and devenir (to turn into)
• all reflexive verbs, equivalent to se réveiller (to get up) and se lever (to stand up) 

Forming the passé composé of verbs with être is much like avoir verbs, however with one further step. 

1. Conjugate être within the current tense.
2. Use the proper previous participle (common or irregular). 
3. Make the previous participle agree with the topic in each gender (masculine/female) and in quantity (singular/plural). 

There are fewer verbs that use être, however they’re fairly frequent and value being attentive to as you be taught French.

• Je suis restée chez moi pendant les vacances. = I stayed residence over the vacations. 
• Hier, mes amies sont arrivées. = Yesterday, my associates arrived. 
• Nous sommes sorties à huit heures. = We went out at 8 o’clock. 
• Mon frère s’est couché tôt. = My brother went to mattress early. 
• Il est devenu médecin l’année dernière. = He turned a physician final yr.  

Conjugating être within the current tense

Use the proper approach to conjugate être within the current tense as the place to begin for creating your personal sentences up to now tense.

être– to have

The MRS D.R. VANDERTRAMPP verbs that require être 

These 17 verbs require être because the serving to verb within the passé composé. Most have common previous participles, however be aware of the irregular ones, equivalent to mort (died). Word that the frequent crossword puzzle reply née comes from the previous participle for “born” in French. 

These previous participles might want to agree in gender and quantity with the topic, so that they have a number of varieties, much like French adjectives. 

Some learners discover it useful to make use of the mnemonic gadget “MRS D.R. VANDERTRAMPP” to recollect these verbs by their beginning letters. 

This trick might help you to determine between avoir and être by a means of elimination. For instance, there isn’t any “B” within the title, so boire (to drink) have to be conjugated with avoir. If you recognize that the 2 verbs that begin with “M” are mourir (to die) and monter (to go up), you’ll make sure that manger (to eat) is an avoir verb.

The home of être

One other useful reminiscence tip is to group these verbs into actions within the “maison d’être” (the “home of être“). Inform your self a narrative as you visualize a home. 

• methods folks get to the home: arriver (to reach), entrer (to enter), venir (to come back)
• they both keep on the home or cross by: rester (to remain), passer par (to cross by). 
• on the staircase: monter (to go up), descendre (to go down), tomber (to fall down)
• methods they depart: sortir (to exit), partir (to go away), aller (to go)
• they arrive again once more: rentrer (to re-enter), retourner (to return), revenir (to come back again) 
• a lifespan in the home: naître (to be born), devenir (to turn into), mourir (to die) 

Reflexive verbs are at all times conjugated with être

All previous tense reflexive verbs require être because the serving to verb in French. These are verbs which have the reflexive pronoun se within the infinitive, equivalent to se laver (to clean oneself) and se coucher (to go to mattress). In case you ever end up recounting your nightly routine in French, you’ll discover that many private care routines use reflexive verbs. 

• Elle s’est couchée. = She went to mattress. 
• Nous nous sommes réveillés tôt. = We woke up early. 

Some verbs can be utilized both reflexively or non-reflexively, so that you’ll select the serving to verb accordingly. 

• J’ai lavé la voiture. = I washed the automotive. 
• Je me suis lavé les mains. = I washed my fingers. 

Settlement of the previous participle with être verbs

With all verbs that use être because the serving to verb, you’ll have to match the previous participle to the topic. That is achieved by including “e” or “s” or each. That is extra apparent in written French because the last “e” and “s” are sometimes silent based on French pronunciation guidelines. 

Discover the modifications to the previous participle within the full conjugation of aller within the passé composé. They modify based on the topic.

aller – to go

Although on (we/impersonal “one”) is casual, and also you wouldn’t hear this distinction in spoken French, nor discover many individuals who fear about this finer level, the Académie Française has weighed in on whether or not to agree the previous participle with the topic. 

If on refers to “we” in a “common” sense, use the masculine singular allé. If it refers to a particular group of individuals, match the previous participle with the gender and variety of that group. 

A word on the settlement of the previous participle with avoir verbs

If the direct object of the sentence (what/who the motion is being executed to) comes earlier than avoir, the previous participle should agree with the topic. 

This may happen with extra refined sentence buildings, so in case you’ve mastered the on a regular basis French grammar guidelines and are already being attentive to these particulars, think about this a serious achievement in French verb composition and conjugation.

• Les valises ? Je les ai achetées hier. = The suitcases? I purchased them yesterday.
• J’adore la chanson que nous avons écoutée il y a deux jours. = I really like the tune that we listened to two days in the past. 
• Les décorations que vous avez choisies sont parfaites ! = The decorations that you simply selected are excellent! 

Key takeaways in regards to the passé composé in French

Mastering the passé composé is an enormous accomplishment for French learners, constructing on many foundational ideas of the language. Take issues one step at a time and keep in mind these key takeaways as you make errors, speak over your questions with a Rosetta Stone tutor, and enhance with each try. 

• The passé composé is used to relate accomplished occasions up to now and issues which have occurred. 
• It has two components: the serving to verb and the previous participle. 
• Most verbs use avoir because the serving to verb, however reflexive verbs and 17 frequent verbs require être. 
• Common previous participles are fashioned with -é (-ER verbs), -i (-IR verbs), and -u (RE verbs).
• Be taught frequent irregular previous participles, equivalent to vu (noticed) and dit (mentioned). 
• The previous participle of all verbs conjugated with être reveals settlement with the topic in each gender and quantity.