Passé Composé
The Passé Composé with Avoir
Using avoir as the helping verb is a logical choice in a tense that expresses an action that has occurred. Although English usage often omits the use of “have” when it is implied (You may say, “I lost my keys” and not, “I have lost my keys”), in French, you must always use the helping verb: J’ai perdu mes clefs. To form the passé composé of verbs using avoir, conjugate avoir in the present tense (j’ai, tu as, il a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont) and add the past participle of the verb expressing the action. Put the words together this way: subject + helping verb (usually avoir) + past participle.
The passé composé, a compound past tense, is formed by combining two elements: when (the action has taken place and, therefore, requires the helping verb avoir) and what (the action that has happened and, therefore, requires the past participle of the regular or irregular verb showing the particular action). See Figure 1.
Here are some examples of the passé composé.
Elle a expliqué son problème. (She explained her problem.)
Ils ont réussi. (They succeeded.)
J’ai entendu les nouvelles. (I heard the news.)
Forming the negative in the passé composé with avoir
In a negative sentence in the passé composé, ne precedes the helping verb, and the negative word (pas, rien, jamais, and so on follows it:
Je n’ai rien préparé. (I didn’t prepare anything.)
Nous n’avons pas fini le travail. (We didn’t finish the work.)
Il n’a jamais répondu à la lettre. (He never answered the letter.)
Questions in the passé composé with avoir
To form a question in the passé composé using inversion, invert the conjugated helping verb with the subject pronoun and add a hyphen. Then place the negative around the hyphenated helping verb and subject pronoun:
As‐tu mangé? (Did you eat?)
N’as‐tu rien mangé? (Didn’t you eat anything?)
A‐t‐il attendu les autres? (Did he wait for the others?)
N’a‐t‐il pas attendu? (Didn’t he wait for the others?)
Regular verbs follow a prescribed set of rules for the formation of the past participle, whereas irregular verbs (discussed in the following section) must be memorized. Past participles of verbs conjugated with avoir agree in gender (masculine or feminine — add e) and number (singular or plural — add s) with a preceding direct object noun or pronoun:
Le(s) film(s)? (The film[s]?) Je l'(les)ai aimé(s). (I liked it [them].)
Quelle(s) robe(s) a‐t‐elle choisie(s)? (Which dress[es] did she choose?)
Il nous a vus. (He saw us.)
The Passé Composé with Être
The passé composé of 17 verbs is formed by combining the present tense of être (je suis, tu es, il est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont) and then adding the past participle of the verb showing the action. Most of these verbs express motion or a change of place, state, or condition (that is, going up, going down, going in, going out, or remaining).
Dr. and Mrs. Vandertrampp live in the house in Figure , as illustrated in Table 1. Their name may help you memorize the 17 verbs using être. An asterisk (*) in Table 6 denotes an irregular past participle.
Verbs whose helping verb is être must show agreement of their past participles in gender (masculine or feminine — add e) and number (singular or plural — add s) with the subject noun or pronoun, as shown in Table 2 :
Remember the following rules when using être as a helping verb in the passé composé:
Vous can be a singular or plural subject for both masculine and feminine subjects.
Singular Plural
Vous êtes entré. (You entered.) Vous êtes entrés. (You entered.)
Vous êtes entrée. (You entered.) Vous êtes entrées. (You entered.)
For a mixed group, always use the masculine form.
Roger et Bernard sont revenus. (Roger and Bernard came back.)
Louise et Mireille sont revenues. (Louise and Mireille came back.)
Roger et Louise sont revenus. (Roger and Louise came back.)
If the masculine past participle ends in an unpronounced consonant, pronounce the consonant for the feminine singular and plural forms:
Il est mort. (He died.) Ils sont morts. (They died.)
Elle est morte. (She died.) Elles sont mortes. (They died.)
Forming the negative in the passé composé with être
In the negative, put ne before the conjugated form of être and the negative word after it:
Il n’est pas sorti. (He didn’t go out.)
Elles ne sont pas encore arrivées. (They didn’t arrive yet.)
Questions in the passé composé with être
To form a question using inversion, invert the conjugated form of être with the subject pronoun and add a hyphen. The negatives surround the hyphenated verb and pronoun:
Sont‐ils partis? (Did they leave?)
Ne sont‐ils pas partis? (Didn’t they leave?)
Verbs whose helping verb is être must show agreement of their past participles in gender (masculine or feminine — add e) and number (singular or plural — add s) with the subject noun or pronoun, as shown in Table 2 :
Remember the following rules when using être as a helping verb in the passé composé:
Vous can be a singular or plural subject for both masculine and feminine subjects.
Singular Plural
Vous êtes entré. (You entered.) Vous êtes entrés. (You entered.)
Vous êtes entrée. (You entered.) Vous êtes entrées. (You entered.)
For a mixed group, always use the masculine form.
- Roger et Bernard sont revenus. (Roger and Bernard came back.)
- Louise et Mireille sont revenues. (Louise and Mireille came back.)
- Roger et Louise sont revenus. (Roger and Louise came back.)
- Il est mort. (He died.) Ils sont morts. (They died.)
- Elle est morte. (She died.) Elles sont mortes. (They died.)
- Il n’est pas sorti. (He didn’t go out.)
- Elles ne sont pas encore arrivées. (They didn’t arrive yet.)
- Sont‐ils partis? (Did they leave?)
- Ne sont‐ils pas partis? (Didn’t they leave?)