Talk about things that happened in the past using the most common past tense.
The passé composé is formed with an auxiliary verb (avoir or être) + past participle.
With avoir (most verbs):
J'ai mangé. — I ate. / I have eaten.
Structure: subject + avoir conjugated + past participle
With être (movement/reflexive verbs — "Dr & Mrs Vandertramp"):
Je suis allé(e). — I went.
Past participle agrees with subject gender/number.
Regular past participles:
Irregular past participles:
| French | English | Example |
|---|---|---|
| j'ai mangé | I ate | J'ai mangé une pizza hier. |
| je suis allé(e) | I went | Je suis allé au cinéma. |
| il a fait | he did/made | Il a fait ses devoirs. |
| nous avons vu | we saw | Nous avons vu un film. |
| elle est venue | she came | Elle est venue hier soir. |
| Word | Phonetic | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| mangé | mahn-ZHAY | Ends with a clear "ay" sound |
| suis allé | swee ah-LAY | Link "suis" and "allé" smoothly |
| fait | feh | Like "fay" without the "y" |
Être verbs agreement: When using être as auxiliary, the past participle agrees with the subject. Il est allé but Elle est allée (add -e for feminine), Ils sont allés (add -s for plural). With avoir, the participle generally does NOT agree with the subject.
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