La Passé Compose

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Introduction

French has several different past tenses, and the most important one is the passé composé. Just to make things interesting, it has three possible English equivalents:

French Equivalent	English Equivalent	Use Case Meaning
j’ai visité	I visited	simple past
j’ai visité	I have visited	present perfect
j’ai visité	I did visit	past emphatic

Where to use it

The passé composé is used when talking about:

Completed actions

French	English
Oui, j’ai visité le Canada.	Yes, I did visit Canada.
Il est tombé hier.	He fell yesterday.

Repeated actions

French	English
Je l’ai visité 3 fois.	I’ve visited it 3 times.
Il est encore tombé ce matin.	He fell again this morning.

Series of actions

French	English
J’ai visité le Canada et puis je suis allé aux USA.	I visited Canada and then I went to the US.
Après qu’il est tombé, il a commencé à pleurer.	After he fell, he started crying.

Condition in likely situations (si clauses)

French	English
Si tu as perdu, tu dois féliciter le gagnant.	If you lost, you have to congratulate the winner.

The passé composé is often used alongside the L'Imparfait, which can be very confusing. For detailed info, see passé composé vs imparfait.

Formation Rules

1. Add Subject Pronouns
2. Add conjugated Être / Avoir verb in present tense
3. Add Past Participle of the given word
4. Add gender specific suffix ( e, s, es ) in the case of Être

Forming the Past Participle

1st group verbs (-ER)

1. Remove the -ER Ending  →Parler
2. Add -É to it → Parlé

2nd group verbs (-IR)

1. Remove the -IR Ending  →finir
2. Add -I to it → fini

3rd group verbs (-RE)

1. Remove the -RE Ending  → attendre
2. Add -U* to it → attendu

Verbs that use Être as the auxiliary:

Complete List:

D	→	Devenir
R	→	Revenir
M	→	Monter
R	→	Retourner
S	→	Sortir
V	→	Venir
A	→	Arriver
N	→	Naître
D	→	Descendre
E	→	Entrer
R	→	Rentrer
T	→	Tomber
R	→	Rester
A	→	Aller
M	→	Mourir
P	→	Partir

Easier To Remember List:

An easy way to remember the most important passe compose verbs that take a être as an auxiliary is the acronym ADVENT + the verb Devenir.

In the table bellow, the two verbs in a row have opposite meanings.

A	→	Arriver	X	Partir
D	→	Descendre	X	Monter
V	→	Venir	X	Aller
E	→	Entrer	X	Sortir
N	→	Naître	X	Mourir
T	→	Tomber	X	Rester

And...Don't Forget Devenir!

Irregular Verbs

Past participles ending in - “u”:

Verb	→	Past Participle
Avoir	→	eu
Pouvoir	→	Pu
Voir	→	Vu
Devoir	→	Dû
Vouloir	→	Voulu
Recevoir	→	Reçu
Courir	→	Couru
Boire	→	Bu
lire	→	Lu

Past participles ending in - “is”:

Verb	→	Past Participle
Comprendre	→	Compris
Apprendre	→	appris
Mettre	→	mis
Prendre	→	pris

Past participles ending in - “it”:

Verb	→	Past Participle
écrire	→	écrit
dire	→	dit

Other Irregular Past Participials:

Verb	→	Past Participle
Être	→	Été
Faire	→	Fait
Offrir	→	Offert
Ouvrir	→	Ouvert

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Resources Used

• https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/passe-compose/