The Perfect Tense

Why do we need it?

In French when you want to talk about something that has happened in the past and that is completely over, you use the Perfect Tense. So the perfect tense is a PAST tense.

We can use the perfect tense in three ways in English:

  1. I played
  2. I have played
  3. I did play

Whereas, in French, there is only one way to express these ideas:

  1. j’ai joué

How do we form it?

To form the perfect tense in French, we need three parts:

j’ / je + / ai / suis + / joué / allé(e)
[the past participle]

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(The person / thing doing the action. This is called the “subject” of the sentence.) / (A part of the “auxiliary” – or “helper” – verb. This will only ever be part of “avoir” or “être”.) / (And the “past participle”, which is like the “-ed” part of “played” in English.)

“avoir” and “être”

It is very important that we know the verbs “avoir” (to have) and “être” (to be). These are such important verbs in French that you should learn them by heart, just as you learned your times tables in primary school.

AVOIR – to have
J’aiI have
Tu asYou have
Il aHe has
Elle a She has
On aWe have
Nous avonsWe have
Vous avezYou have
Ils ont They have
Elles ont They have / ETRE – to be
Je suisI am
Tu esYou are
Il estHe is
Elle est She is
On estWe are
Nous sommesWe are
Vous êtesYou are
Ils sont They are
Elles sont They are

Forming the past participle

Next, we need to know how to form the past participle. As we know, there are three possible verb endings on infinitive verbs in French – ER/IR/RE. Each of these follows a simple rule. Here is the rule for regular verbs:

  • For ER verbs, remove the ER and add É

So “jouer” becomes “ j’ai joué”

  • For IR verbs, remove the IR and add I

So “finir” becomes “j’ai fini”

  • For RE verbs, remove the RE and add U

So “vendre” becomes “j’ai vendu”

Of course, you know enough by now to know that there are lots of irregular verbs in French. These verbs do not follow the normal rules and the most common ones should be learned by heart. But don’t panic! Remember that you can find the past participle of irregular verbs in the verb table in your dictionary if you’re stuck.

English / French / Perfect Tense / Translation
to be
to have
to do/ make
to open
to offer
to laugh
to follow
to sleep
to take
to put (on)
to write
to say
to drive
to see
to read
to drink
to receive
to live
to run
to believe
to know ( a person or a place)
to want
to have to
to be able to
to know (a fact) / être
avoir
faire
ouvrir
offrir
rire
suivre
dormir
prendre
mettre
écrire
dire
conduire
voir
lire
boire
recevoir
vivre
courir
croire
connaître
vouloir
devoir
pouvoir
savoir / j’ai été
j’ai eu
j’ai fait
j’ai ouvert
j’ai offert
j’ai ri
j’ai suivi
j’ai dormi
j’ai pris
j’ai mis
j’ai dit
j’ai écrit
j’ai conduit
j’ai vu
j’ai lu
j’ai bu
j’ai reçu
j’ai vécu
j’ai couru
j’ai cru
j’ai connu
j’ai voulu
j’ai dû
j’ai pu
j’ai su / I have been / I was
I have had / I had
I have done / I did
I have opened / I opened
I have offered / I offered
I have laughed / I laughed
I have followed / I followed
I have slept / I slept
I have taken / I took
I have put / I put
I have said / I said
I have written / I wrote
I have driven / I drove
I have seen / I saw
I have read / I read
I have drunk / I drank
I have received / I received
I have lived / I lived
I have run / I ran
I have believed / I believed
I have known / I knew
I have wanted / I wanted
I have had to / I had to
I have been able to / I could
I have known / I knew

Verbs that take “être”

Verbs that take “être” in the past tense are action verbs which show that there is a change of place (movement) or state (transformation) happening. There is a useful acrostic – MRS VAN DER TRAMP – that we can use to help us remember which verbs take “être” in the past tense:

MONTER – to go up / VENIR – to come / DESCENDRE – to go down / TOMBER – to fall
RESTER – to stay / ARRIVER – to arrive / ENTRER – to enter / RETOURNER – to return
SORTIR – to go out / NAÎTRE – to be born / RENTRER– to go back / ALLER – to go
MOURIR – to die
PARTIR – to leave

Past participles with “être”

•With être, the past participle often has an extra –e or an –s.

•If the person is feminine you add an extra –e

•If there is more than one you add an extra –s

•If there is more than one and they are feminine add and –es

For example:

Je suis allé(e) - I went / I have gone

Tu est monté(e) – you went up / you have gone up

Il est arrivé – he arrived / he has arrived

Elle est rentrée – she went back

Nous sommes parti(e)s – we left

Vous êtes allé(es) – you went

Ils sont sortis – they went out

Elles sont restées – they stayed

A checklist for forming the perfect tense with “être”

  1. Check if the verb is a Mr Van Der Tramp…
  2. Use the verb être
  3. Add the past participle
  4. Make sure that the past participle agrees.

e.g. “I went”

Mrs Van Der Tramp?

Used correct part of être?

Added past participle?

Agreed past participle?

Exercises to check your comprehension

The past participle with “avoir”

Find the past participle of these regular verbs:

  1. manger (to eat)
  2. jouer (toplay)
  3. vendre (to sell)
  4. dormer (to sleep)
  5. finir (to finish)
  6. parler (to speak)
  7. chanter (to sing)
  8. grandir (to grow up)

Now use these past participles to help you translate these sentences:

  1. I have eaten a pizza.
  2. You have played football.
  3. He sold the cat.
  4. We have slept in Paris.
  5. They (m) have finished the sandwich.
  6. They (f) spoke French.
  7. She has sung.
  8. You grew up.

The past participle with “être”

Translate these sentences into French, and use the Mrs Van Der Tramp checklist to make sure you follow all the steps!

  1. I went to Paris.
  2. You went back home. (chez toi)
  3. He went down to the kitchen. (à la cuisine)
  4. She left.
  5. We fell.
  6. You went out with your friends. (vos amis)
  7. They (m) entered the house. (dans la maison)
  8. They (f) stayed in town. (en ville)

More exercises

A. Choisis la bonne réponse.:

1 Elle ____ mangé .( a/ ai / ont)

2- Elles _____ visité. ( ai / avez / ont)

3- Nous ______bu. ( ont / avons / ai)

4- IL _____ acheté. ( a / ai / ont)

5- J'____ pris ( avez / a / ai)

6- Tu ____ vu ( a / ai / as)

7- Vous ______fait ( avez / ont /avons )

8- Ils ______regardé ( ont/ avez / a)

B. Complète les phrases.

Elle a bu l'avion

J' ai mangésa voiture

Nous avons prisune limonade

Vous avez choisiles magasins

Il a venduune pizza

Nous avons faitla solution facile

C. Traduis les expressions suivantes en anglais.(utilise ton dictionnaire)

Hier: ______

Avant-hier: ______

La semaine dernière: ______

Le week-end dernier: ______

D. Ecris le bon pronom.( je, tu , il etc…)

1-_____ a visité Londres.

2-_____ avons mangé un sandwich.

3-_____' ai vu la Tour de Londres.

4-______avez écouté de la musique.

5-______ont joué au foot.

6-______as pris un taxi.

E. Traduis les phrases suivantes en anglais

1-J'ai bu de la limonade.

2-Elle a acheté des baskets.

3-Nous avons écouté une cassette.

4-Tu as vu la Tour Eiffel?

5-Ils ont joué au tennis.

6-Il a visité Madrid.

7-Elles ont fait les magasins.

8-Vous avez mangé à l'hotel.

F. Complète la lettre

Paris, le 12 octobre 2001

Chére Charlotte,

Je suis à ______.

Hier, j'ai ______

le musée du Louvre.

Il faisait chaud, alors,

j'____ acheté une

______. J'ai _____

la Tour Eiffel, c'était

super. Puis, j'ai _____

les magasins.

Le soir, avec mes ______,

nous avons ______dans un

restaurant très chic.

______

Marc

G. Write the correct form of the verb in the perfect tense and translate into English

Example : je (gagner) j’ai gagné= I won; I have won

je (finir) j'ai fini = I finished; I have finished

nous (attendre) nous avons attendu = we waited; we have waited

  1. nous (gagner)
/ nous avons ......
  1. vous (gagner)

  1. ils (tirer)

  1. je (tirer)

  1. je (demander)

  1. je (danser)

  1. tu (penser)

  1. je (détester)

  1. il (montrer)

  1. elle (montrer)

  1. vous (toucher)

  1. je (cacher)

  1. j’(expliquer)

  1. elles (expliquer)

  1. on (expliquer)

  1. j’(oublier)

  1. vous (deviner)

  1. il (traverser)

  1. nous (discuter)

  1. je (marcher)

  1. tu (finir)

  1. on (finir)

  1. ils (choisir)

  1. il (choisir)

  1. je (attendre)

  1. nous (vendre)

  1. vous (attendre)

  1. elle (vendre)

  1. je (quitter)

  1. je (manger)

  1. elle (trouver)

  1. nous (donner)

  1. tu (fermer)

  1. je (raconter)

  1. nous (garder)

  1. tu (habiter)

  1. nous (habiter)

  1. je (trouver)

  1. nous (marcher)

  1. on (parler)

THE PERFECT TENSE

REGULAR “-RE” VERBS

Remember that in French, the Perfect Tense is made up of two things:

  1. a helping verb (a bit of avoir)
  2. a past participle

Reminder of AVOIR:

To make the past participle of regular REverbs :

  1. take off the RE
  2. add u(e.g. vendre changes to vendu)

Exercise A:

Write down the past participle and English meaning of the following verbs.

PAST PARTICIPLE / MEANING
  1. vendre
/ (to sell) / ______/ (______)
  1. attendre
/ (to wait) / ______/ (______)
  1. défendre
/ (to defend) / ______/ (______)
  1. battre
/ (to beat) / ______/ (______)
  1. romper
/ (to break) / ______/ (______)

Exercise B:

Now write these sentences in the present tense, using the correct RE verb.

Remember you need 2 things : (abit of AVOIR, and a PAST PARTICIPLE)

  1. Mon frère ______son vélo.
/ (My brother sold his bike)
  1. Marseilles ______Paris St Germain.
/ (Marseilles beat Paris St Germain)
  1. J’ ______mon nouveau portable.
/ (I broke my new phone)
  1. Elle ______son droit de voter.
/ (She defended her right to vote)
  1. Nous ______le bus.
/ (We waited for the bus)
  1. Est-ce que tu ______la voiture?
/ (Have you sold the car?)
  1. On ______le début du concert.
/ (We waited for the start of the concert)
  1. Ma mere ______les oeufs.
/ (My mother beat the eggs)

Exercise C:

Now change the first five sentences into negatives using “not” (ne…pas), then write the English meaning of the new sentences beside them. (Remember – the negative goes ROUND the bit of AVOIR).

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