LE PASSE-COMPOSÉ – PAST TENSE
Study Guide
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I. The passé-compose is the most common French past tense. The passé-composé can express any of the following:
a. An action completed in the past
b. An action repeated a number of time in the past
c. A series of actions repeated in the past.
II. The passé composé has three possible English equivalents:
For example: J’ai dansé -- can mean:
1. I danced (simple past)
2. I have danced (present perfect)
3. I did dance (past emphatic)
III. How to conjugate the Passé composé?
The passé compose is a compound conjugation, which means it has 2 parts:
· Present tense of the auxiliary verb (either avoir or être)
and the…
· Past participle of the main verb
Note: when the auxiliary verb is être, the past participle must agree with the subject. When the auxiliary verb is avoir, the past participle may have to agree with its direct object.
Etudier= to study
J’ai étudié I studied, I have studied, I did study
Tu as étudié
Il, elle, on a étudié
Nous avons étudié
Vous avez étudié
Ils, elles ont étudié
STUDY GUIDE –
PASSE-COMPOSE WITH AUXILIARY ÊTRE
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Verbs conjugated with the auxiliary ÊTRE + the past participle
Example:
Arriver (to arrive)
Je suis arrivé (e)
Tu es arrivé (e)
Il, elle, on est arrivé (e)
Nous sommes arrivés (es)
Vous etes arrivés (es)
Ils, elles sont arrivés (es)
Below are the verbs conjugated with ÊTRE:
a. They must be memorized
b. Write them in your notebook at least twice
1. Arriver to arrive
2. Aller to go
3. Entrer to enter
4. Rentrer to re-enter
5. Sortir to go out
6. Passer to pass by
7. Partir to leave (repartir= to leave again)
8. Venir to come
9. Revenir to come again, to come back
10. Devenir to become
11. Retourner to return
12. descendre to go down
13. monter to go up
14. naitre to be born (renaitre= to be reborn)
15. mourir to die
16. tomber to fall
17. parvenir to reach, achieve