The everyday past tense
The passé composé is the tense French uses for completed past events in conversation: I ate, she left, we saw. It is a two-part tense: a helper verb in the present (usually avoir) plus a past participle. J'ai mangé, literally I have eaten, translates simply as I ate.
Because the helper carries the conjugation, you already know most of the work from the avoir unit. The new skill is the past participle.
Regular past participles
- -er verbs: replace -er with é. parler becomes parlé
- -ir verbs: replace -ir with i. finir becomes fini
- -re verbs: replace -re with u. vendre becomes vendu
| J'ai mangé au restaurant hier soir. | I ate at the restaurant last night. |
| Elle a fini son projet. | She finished her project. |
| Nous avons vendu la maison. | We sold the house. |
The irregular participles you meet every day
These eleven participles cover a huge share of daily conversation. Drill them as pairs (faire, fait; prendre, pris) until the participle arrives without thought.
| Infinitive | Past participle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| faire | fait | il a fait |
| avoir | eu | j'ai eu |
| être | été | tu as été |
| prendre | pris | nous avons pris |
| voir | vu | elle a vu |
| boire | bu | vous avez bu |
| lire | lu | ils ont lu |
| dire | dit | on a dit |
| mettre | mis | j'ai mis |
| vouloir | voulu | elle a voulu |
| pouvoir | pu | ils ont pu |
The être verbs
A small set of verbs builds the passé composé with être instead of avoir. They are mostly verbs of movement or change of state: aller, venir, arriver, partir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, rester, tomber, naître, mourir, retourner. All reflexive verbs also take être.
With être, the participle agrees with the subject like an adjective: elle est arrivée, ils sont partis, elles sont restées.
| Elle est arrivée à midi. | She arrived at noon. extra -e: the participle agrees with elle |
| Ils sont partis sans nous. | They left without us. extra -s for the plural subject |
| Nous sommes restés deux nuits à Marseille. | We stayed two nights in Marseille. |
The agreement is usually silent: arrivé and arrivée sound identical. It matters in writing, so build the habit on paper even though your ear cannot check it.
Negation and questions in the past
The negation sandwich wraps around the helper verb only: Je n'ai pas compris. The participle stays outside. For questions, intonation works as always: Tu as vu ce film ?
| Je n'ai pas compris la question. | I did not understand the question. ne ... pas hugs the helper ai |
| Tu as vu ce film ? | Have you seen this movie? |
| Il a fait ses valises ce matin. | He packed his bags this morning. |
What the passé composé is for
Use it for events that happened and finished: single actions, sequences of actions, and changes. Hier, j'ai travaillé, j'ai couru, et j'ai dormi huit heures. It answers the question: what happened?
For background, description and habits in the past, French uses a different tense, the imparfait, which has its own unit later in this course. The contrast between the two is the classic French past-tense puzzle, and the linked Study Desk article walks through it in depth.
Pronunciation corner
| mangé | /mɑ̃ʒe/ | mahn-ZHAY; é is a crisp ay with no glide |
| eu | /y/ | one sound only: the rounded French u, as in tu |
| fait | /fɛ/ | feh; the final t is silent |
| pris | /pʁi/ | pree with a soft throaty r; the s is silent |
| arrivée | /aʁive/ | a-ree-VAY; sounds exactly like arrivé, agreement is written only |
Practice drill
Put each verb in brackets into the passé composé. Watch the choice of helper verb and the agreement.
J'___ (finir) le rapport.Show answer
ai fini
Elle ___ (aller) au marché.Show answer
est alléeêtre verb, feminine agreement
Nous ___ (prendre) le train.Show answer
avons pris
Ils ___ (ne pas voir) le panneau.Show answer
n'ont pas vunegation wraps the helper
Tu ___ (faire) tes devoirs ?Show answer
as fait
Elles ___ (partir) tôt.Show answer
sont partiesfeminine plural agreement
Vous ___ (boire) un café ?Show answer
avez bu
J'___ (être) malade la semaine dernière.Show answer
ai été
Frequently asked questions
How do I know which verbs take être?
Memorize the short list of movement and change-of-state verbs: aller, venir, arriver, partir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, rester, tomber, naître, mourir, retourner, plus every reflexive verb. Everything else takes avoir.
Does the participle ever agree when the helper is avoir?
Only when a direct object comes before the verb: la lettre que j'ai écrite. With a normal word order, there is no agreement: j'ai écrit la lettre. This refinement matters mostly in writing and is covered again in the object pronouns unit.
Is the passé composé the same as the English present perfect?
The form looks the same (have + participle), but the usage matches the English simple past. J'ai mangé usually means I ate. French uses the passé composé for finished events whether or not they connect to the present.
Can I use the passé composé for something I did every day in the past?
Habitual past actions normally take the imparfait: Quand j'étais petit, je jouais dehors. The passé composé reports events that happened and finished. The dedicated imparfait unit later in the course covers the contrast.
Related deep dives