Passé composé (past tense in French) – Conjugation, Exercises & Examples

by

Passé composé in French is the equivalent of the past tense – but beginners can use passé composé as a past tense.

The reason for this recommendation is that it is much easier to construct the passé composé than to remember all the irregular conjugations of the past tense form imparfait (although, of course, once you are more practiced, you should make an effort to learn imparfait and other past tenses).

 

Composition

Passé composé means “compound past tense”, which fits very well with the fact that passé composé is a compound tense. It is formed using the present tense form (present tense) of one of the two auxiliary verbs être or avoir + past participle of the main verb – ie.:

  • être or avoir in present tense + the main verb's participe passé = passé composé

This is also illustrated in the tables below:

Pronoun

+

 être

+

 Participe passé
Je suis
Tu es
Il/elle/on est
Nous sommes
Vous êtes
Ils/elles sont

or

Pronoun

+

 avoir

+

 Participe passé
Je ai
Tu as
Il/elle/on a
Nous avons
Vous avez
Ils/elles ont

 

Endings of main verbs

In the past participle, the main verbs get their endings based on their conjugation:

  Ending
Conjugation infinitive Participe passé
1st conjugation -er ‑é
2nd conjugation -ir ‑i
3rd conjugation -re ‑u

When verbs are conjugated in the passé composé, their infinitive endings are replaced by the endings of the past participle. Examples:

  • arriver →  arrivé
  • sortir →  sorti
  • vendre →  vendu

 

Examples of passé composé

Être

In the following examples, être is an auxiliary verb:

  • Je suis arrivé = I have arrived
  • Tu es tombé amoureux = You have fallen in love
  • Il est noyé dans le lac = He has drowned in the lake
  • Elle est sorti = She has gone out
  • Nous sommes convaincus = We are convinced
  • Vous êtes parti(s) ? = Have you left?
  • Ils sont vaporisés = They are evaporated
  • Elles sont descendus de la falaise = They have gone down the cliff

Note that there is a plural s in three of the examples above (convaincus, finis and descendus) because they are addressed to several persons (Nous, Ils and Elles). In theory, this could also be the case in the sentence Vous êtes partis ?, depending on whether you are addressing a single person (“They”) or several persons:

  • Vous êtes parti ? = Have you left? (one person)
  • Vous êtes partis ? = Have they left? (several persons

 

Avoir

In the following examples, avoir is an auxiliary verb:

  • J'ai trop mangé = I have eaten too much
  • Tu as couru une bonne distance = You have run a good (long) distance
  • Il a sauté = He has hoped
  • Elle a regretté ses decisions = She has regretted her decisions
  • Nous avons convaincu les enfants = We have convinced
  • Vous avez trop bu = They have drunk too much
  • Ils ont terminés la tâche = You have completed the task
  • Elles ont enoyées les lettres = They have sent the letters

Note that there is no plural s in the sentence Nous avons convaincu les enfants – there would have been if the sentence had been: Nous les avons convaincus.

 

Exceptions

In many cases, the French auxiliary verbs are similar to other languages – but not always:

  • Ils ont disparues = They are disappeared (direct translation)
  • Ils ont disparues = They have disappeared (correctly translated)

In the example above, avoir is used in French (ont) and to be (être) in English and the auxiliary verbs are thus different in the two languages.

 

Être and avoir together

Être and avoir can also be used together to construct the passé composé:

  • J'ai été la en avril = I have been there in April
  • J'ai été en prison jusqu'à maintenant = I have been in prison until now

 

10 Excercises

Here are ten exercises to practice the French tense “Passé composé”, which is used to talk about completed actions in the past. In each exercise, choose the correct form of the verb in “Passé composé.”

  1. (Manger) Hier soir, nous _____ une pizza délicieuse.
  2. (Aller) Elle _____ au cinéma la semaine dernière.
  3. (Écrire) Tu _____ une lettre à ton ami hier.
  4. (Avoir) Ils _____ un chien quand ils étaient enfants.
  5. (Faire) Vous _____ du shopping samedi dernier.
  6. (Vendre) Le magasin _____ toutes ses robes en une journée.
  7. (Prendre) Il _____ le train pour Paris hier matin.
  8. (Parler) Elles _____ français lors de leur voyage en France.
  9. (Vivre) J'_____ dans cette ville pendant cinq ans.
  10. (Boire) Tu _____ un verre de jus d'orange ce matin.

Answers:

  1. avons mangé
  2. est allée
  3. as écrit
  4. ont eu
  5. avez fait
  6. a vendu
  7. a pris
  8. ont parlé
  9. ai vécu
  10. as bu