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.
The passé composé is formed using the present tense form of être and avoir + past participle of the main verb:
mangerj’ai mangé manger, passé composé to eat → I ate
dormirtu as dormi dormir, passé composé to sleep → you slept
tombernous sommes tombés tomber, passé composé to fall → we fell

Here are some examples of how to form the past participle:


-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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