The passé composé in French
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The passé composé
The passé composé (the compound past tense) is used to describe past events or actions.
La semaine dernière, j’ai commencé à apprendre le français. commencer, passé composé
Last week, I started to learn French.
Last week, I started to learn French.
The passé composé is formed using the present tense form of être and avoir + past participle of the main verb:
manger → j’ai mangé manger, passé composé to eat → I ate
dormir → tu as dormi dormir, passé composé to sleep → you slept
tomber → nous sommes tombés tomber, passé composé to fall → we fell
dormir → tu as dormi dormir, passé composé to sleep → you slept
tomber → nous sommes tombés tomber, passé composé to fall → we fell
Here are some examples of how to form the past participle:
| -é | -u |
|---|---|
| aller → il est allé he went, he has gone | vouloir → il a voulu he wanted |
| tuer → il a tué he killed, he has killed | pouvoir → il a pu he was able to |
| voir → il a vu he saw, he has seen | |
| venir → il est venu he came, he has come |
| -i | others |
|---|---|
| finir → il a fini he (has) finished | avoir → il a eu he had |
| sortir → il est sorti he went out | dire → il a dit he said |
| dormir → il a dormi he slept | faire → il a fait he did, he made |
| être → il a été he was, he has been |
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