The passé composé ·7·

There are several forms that can be used to talk about the past in French. The most
common is the passé composé, called in English the compound past or the pres-
ent perfect. The passé composé is one of the tenses colloquially used in French to
talk about past events. It refers to a single action in the past. It is built of two parts:
the auxiliary or helping verb, avoir or être,
a past participle.

The past participle of regular verbs

The past participle is formed by adding an ending to the verb stem. Regular past
participles take the following endings:
-er verbs take -é: parler (to speak)
parlé (spoken)
-ir verbs take -i: choisir (to choose)
choisi (chosen)
-re verbs take -u: entendre (to hear)
entendu (heard)
Note that the passé composé can be translated into English in different ways.
Its English equivalent depends on the context.

再
She made a decision.
Elle a pris une décision. She has made a decision.
She did make a decision.
In the negative form, ne (n’) is placed in front of avoir or être, and pas after
avoir or être.
Il a vendu sa voiture. He sold his car.
Il n’a pas vendu sa voiture. He did not sell his car.
Ils ont dîné au restaurant. They had dinner at the restaurant.
Ils n’ont pas dîné au restaurant. They did not have dinner at the
restaurant.
As in the present tense, there are three ways to make a question.
Rising intonation: Vous avez aimé la pièce? Did you like the play?
Inversion: Avez-vous aimé la pièce? Did you like the play?
With est-ce que: Est-ce que vous avez aimé Did you like the play?
la pièce?

55
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 VOCABULAIRE

le cinéma cinema, movies la vedette star (film, sports)

le film film les coulisses (f.pl.) backstage, wings
le documentaire documentary (film) les feux de la rampe (m.pl.) footlights
le metteur en scène director (film, theater) l’éclairage (m.) lighting
tourner un film to shoot a movie les décors (m.pl.) sets
le tournage shooting (film) les accessoires (m.pl.) props
le théâtre theater jouer to play
la pièce de théâtre play (theater) un rôle a part, a role
l’intrigue (f.) plot sous-titré(e) subtitled
l’acteur, l’actrice actor, actress doublé(e) dubbed
le comédien, actor, actress (theater)
la comédienne

The passé composé with avoir

Most verbs in the passé composé are conjugated with avoir. Let’s review the verb avoir:
j’ai I have nous avons we have
tu as you have vous avez you have
il/elle a he/she has ils/elles ont they have
When avoir is used with the passé composé, with a few exceptions, the past participle does
not agree in gender and number with the subject of the verb.
Let’s briefly review the passé composé for -er verbs. It is formed with a conjugated form of
avoir (or être)
the past participle. Drop the infinitive ending (-er) and add the participle end-
ing -é.
voyager to travel j’ai (tu as… ) voyagé I (you . . . ) traveled
marcher to walk j’ai (tu as… ) marché I (you . . . ) walked
demander to ask j’ai (tu as… ) demandé I (you . . . ) asked

EXERCICE

7·1
Mettre les verbes entre parenthèses au passé composé.

1. Il (inviter) beaucoup de monde.

2. Nous (refuser) leur invitation.
3. Tu (travailler) hier matin?
4. Il (comprendre) l’intrigue.
5. Elle (apporter) un joli cadeau.
6. Je (voyager) avec Rémi.
7. Vous (louer) une voiture?

56 practice makes perfect Complete French Grammar

 8. Elle (sous-titrer) le film.
9. Vous (téléphoner) à vos cousins.
10. Tu (assister) à la pièce de théâtre.

Remember that the past participle of regular -ir and -re verbs is formed by dropping the
infinitive endings -ir and -re and adding the appropriate ending -i or -u.
finir to finish fini finished
choisir to choose choisi chosen
vendre to sell vendu sold
perdre to lose perdu lost
In the passé composé of verbs conjugated with avoir, the past participle agrees with the
direct object of the verb, but only in sentences where the direct object noun or pronoun precedes
the verb. For example:
Il a pris la bonne décision. He made the right decision.
Il l’a prise. He made it.
Elle a compris ses erreurs. She understood her mistakes.
Elle les a comprises. She understood them.

EXERCICE

7·2
Mettre les verbes entre parenthèses au passé composé.

1. Ils (investir) une grosse somme.

2. Le public (applaudir) les comédiens.
3. Elles (réfléchir) toute la journée.
4. La voiture (ralentir) au carrefour.
5. Ils (attendre) le train une demi-heure.
6. Nous (réussir) à les convaincre.
7. Elle (perdre) ses bijoux en vacances.
8. Tu (grandir) en Europe?
9. Elle (sentir) une bonne odeur venant de la cuisine.
10. Le théâtre (vendre) beaucoup de billets.

The passé composé 57

 EXERCICE

7·3
Traduire les phrases suivantes.

1. They sold the house in France.

2. I waited ten minutes.

3. He finished the novel.

4. She lost her dictionary.

5. I called Marc.

6. They served an elegant dinner.

7. He bought a car.

8. I chose a very good cheese.

9. We watched the film.

10. They applauded the actor.

Irregular past participles

Many verbs conjugated with avoir in the passé composé have irregular past participles that you
simply have to learn by heart.
Il a appris le français à Strasbourg. He learned French in Strasbourg.
Nous avons compris la situation. We understood the situation.
Elle m’a dit bonjour. She said hello to me.
Here is a sample list of irregular past participles:
acquérir to acquire acquis acquired
apprendre to learn appris learned
avoir to have eu had

58 practice makes perfect Complete French Grammar

 boire to drink bu drunk
comprendre to understand compris understood
conduire to drive conduit driven
craindre to fear craint feared
devoir must, to have to dû had to
dire to say dit said
écrire to write écrit written
être to be été been, was
faire to do, to make fait done, made
falloir to have to fallu had to
lire to read lu read
mettre to put mis put
mourir to die mort dead
naître to be born né born
offrir to offer offert offered
ouvrir to open ouvert opened
peindre to paint peint painted
plaire to please plu pleased
pleuvoir to rain plu rained
pouvoir can, to be able to pu could
prendre to take pris taken
recevoir to receive reçu received
rire to laugh ri laughed
savoir to know su known
suivre to follow suivi followed
vivre to live vécu lived
voir to see vu seen
vouloir to want voulu wanted

EXERCICE

7·4
Mettre les verbes entre parenthèses au passé composé.

1. Je (prendre) le train à Lille.

2. Nous (ne pas pouvoir) joindre les Quentin.
3. Ils (suivre) un cours d’anglais en Angleterre.
4. Elle (peindre) un paysage breton.
5. Il (pleuvoir) tout l’après-midi.
6. Vous (recevoir) beaucoup de compliments.
7. Nous (lire) un roman de Zola.
8. Je (faire) la cuisine pour toute la famille.
9. Il (mettre) son chapeau gris.
10. Elle (ouvrir) les fenêtres.

The passé composé 59

 EXERCICE

7·5
Faire correspondre les deux colonnes.

1. Elle a conduit a. le journal

2. Tu as compris b. un accident
3. Vous avez lu c. une promenade
4. Il a eu d. les explications
5. Nous avons fait e. à toute vitesse

The passé composé with être

Some verbs use être instead of avoir in the passé composé. It is very important to memorize the
(finite) list of verbs conjugated with être. Many of these are intransitive verbs of movement (aller,
venir, monter…). In addition, all pronominal (reflexive) verbs (see Chapter 6) are conjugated with
être in the passé composé.
The past participle of verbs conjugated with être agrees in gender and number with the
subject.
Il est arrivé en retard. He arrived late.
Elle est arrivée en retard. She arrived late.
Ils sont nés en Belgique. They (m.) were born in Belgium.
Elles sont nées en Belgique. They (f.) were born in Belgium.
Here are the verbs conjugated with être in the passé composé:
aller to go
arriver to arrive
descendre to go down
devenir to become
entrer to enter
monter to go up, to climb
mourir to die
naître to be born
partir to leave
rentrer to return
rester to stay
retourner to return, to go back
revenir to return
sortir to go out
tomber to fall
venir to come, to arrive

60 practice makes perfect Complete French Grammar

 EXERCICE

7·6
Mettre les verbes entre parenthèses au passé composé en utilisant l’inversion si
nécessaire.

1. À quel âge ce comédien (monter) sur scène?

2. Nous (rentrer) du théâtre à minuit.
3. La voiture (tomber) en panne près de Madrid.
4. Ils (descendre) par l’escalier.
5. Elles (revenir) de vacances mardi.
6. Quel jour (partir) ?
7. Elle (aller) à l’opéra hier soir.
8. Luc (aller) au Mexique l’hiver dernier.
9. Molière (mourir) en 1673.
10. Le metteur en scène (rester) dans les coulisses.

EXERCICE

7·7
Traduire les phrases suivantes.

1. She read the newspaper.

2. We went to Paris.

3. They left last night.

4. He had to leave at five o’clock.

5. They lived in Italy.

6. Zola died in 1902.

7. I wrote a long letter.

The passé composé 61