You are entering the mystic world of the PAST....

en français

SO WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL ABOUT THE PAST TENSE? IT'S OVER, ISN'T IT????

AHHH - in French we need to think about it a bit more....

When the action is COMPLETELY FINISHED...

​

...we use the PASSÉ COMPOSÉ in French.

This is how we express that we have completed an action in French....

I verbED

I DID verb

I HAVE verbED

The Passé Composé consists of 2 verb forms...

...a HELPING VERB and a PAST PARTICIPLE.

EASY TO REMEMBER!

2 words in its name....

.........2 verbs in its formation.



THE HELPING VERBS...

We use the PRESENT TENSE of avoir and être...

BUT

NOT INTERCHANGEABLY!

MOST VERBS use avoir....

SO LET'S START THERE!

PRESENT TENSE OF AVOIR... +

• j'ai

• tu as

• il/elle/on a

• nous avons

• vous avez

• ils/elles ont

and the PAST PARTICIPLE!!!

The past participle is just the -ED form of the verb

not scary at all!

So how do we find this Past Participle???

It's EASY!!!!

• -er verbs: remove the -er and add -É

• -ir verbs: remove the -ir and add -I

• -re verbs: remove the re and add -U

SO WHAT DOES THIS LOOK LIKE?

• I SANG: j'ai chanté

• I FINISHED: j'ai fini

• I SOLD: j'ai vendu

• 
  

• THE BAD NEWS.....

LOTS OF IRREGULAR PAST PARTICIPLES...

• faire = fait

• avoir = eu

• prendre (and its family) = pris

• mettre (and its family) = mis

• ouvrir = ouvert

• être = été

• savoir = su.............................................................and many more!

• https://www.laits.utexas.edu/jnl/passe_compose/passecompose2_learn.html

SO WHEN DO WE USE ÊTRE?

SO HERE'S THE STORY...we use Être with verbs of...

• coming / going

• entering / leaving

• ascending / descending

• staying / remaining

• being born / dying

• and ALL REFLEXIVE VERBS....

• .........BUT THAT'S NOT ALL....

Since ÊTRE means TO BE, and with TO BE we must AGREE - the Past Participle will add -e, -es, -s to agree with the subject.

• I went = je suis allé unless the person is feminine - je suis allée

• They were born = ils sont nés or elles sont nées

• She went up = elle est montée

• They got off the bus = ils sont descendus de l'autobus

• She woke up at 7= Elle s'est réveillée à 7h00

• The little girl took a bath = La petite jeune fille s'est baignée

• She entered the kitchen = Elle est entrée dans la cuisine

​la maison d'être

​aller - allé (e) (s) (es)

arriver - arrivé (e) (s) (es)

entrer - entré (e) (s) (es)

rentrer - rentré (e) (s) (es)

monter - monté (e) (s) (es)

passer - passé (e) (s) (es)

retourner - retourné (e) (s) (es)

rester - resté (e) (s) (es)

tomber - tombé (e) (s) (es)

partir - parti (e) (s) (es)

sortir - sorti (e) (s) (es)

venir - venu (e) (s) (es)

devenir - devenu (e) (s) (es)

revenir - revenu (e) (s) (es)

descendre - descendu(e) (s) (es)

mourir - mort (e) (s) (es)

naître - né (e) (s) (es)

A MNEMONIC DEVICE (each letter stands for a verb that uses ÊTRE in the Passé Composé

DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP

DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP

and NOW an EXCEPTION (bien sûr!)...

When a verb that uses AVOIR has a direct object or direct object pronoun that PRECEDES (comes in front of) the verb, the Past Participle agrees with THE DIRECT OBJECT (not the subject like verbs with être).

????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE?

• Il a vu la voiture = Il l'a vue

• Ils ont mangé les pommes = Ils les ont mangées

• On a rempli les verres = On les a remplis

• Elles ont fait les devoirs. = Elles les ont faits