Le Pass Compos

Le pass compos is used to describe completed actions in the past. It is the equivalent of two tenses in English. Examples: Il a tudi tout le week-end. (He studied all week-end / He has studied all week-end) Elle est alle Paris pour voir sa sur. (She went to Paris to see her sister / She has gone to Paris to see her sister) The pass compos is formed by conjugating the auxiliary verb (either avoir or tre at the present tense) and adding the past participle (which can be regular or irregular). The past participle of regular verbs is formed like this: Verb Remove Add Result -ER verbs parler -er parl -IR verbs russir -ir i russi -RE verbs vendre -re u vendu

Here is a recap of what the pass compos looks like: 16 verbs (also called verbs of motion) All reflexive verbs (ex : se lever) Regular Past Participles (- ; -i ; -u) Irregular Past Participles (to be learnt off by heart)

Etre

Avoir

In the past tense, most French verbs use AVOIR in front. Ecrire. Jai crit = I wrote Etre. Jai t = I have been Faire. Jai fait = I did Lire. Jai lu = I read Mettre. Jai mis = I put Offrir. Jai offert = I offered Ouvrir. Jai ouvert = I opened Prendre. Jai pris = I took Pouvoir. Jai pu = I have been able to

a. Some irregular verbs with avoir: Apprendre. Jai appris = I learnt Avoir. Jai eu = I had Boire. Jai bu = I drank Comprendre. Jai compris = I understood Connatre. Jai connu = I knew Courir. Jai couru = I ran Devoir. Jai d = I had to Dire. Jai dit = I said

Rire. Jai ri = I laughed Savoir. Jai su = I knew Voir. Jai vu = I saw Vouloir. Jai voulu = I wanted b. Some regular verbs with avoir : Rendre visite . Jai rendu visite = I visited s.o Acheter. Jai achet = I bought Manger. Jai mang = I ate Payer. Jai pay = I paid Travailler. Jai travaill = I worked Habiter. Jai habit = I lived Donner. Jai donn = I gave Visiter. Jai visit = I visited Aimer. Jai aim = I liked/loved Ecouter. Jai cout = I listened Vendre. Jai vendu = I sold Finir. Jai fini = I finished Etudier. Jai tudi = I studied

 Etre verbs The following is a list of the only verbs that use tre. Start learning that list, so that you wont always have to wonder which verb takes Etre or Avoir in front! Mourir Je suis mort(e) = I died Retourner Je suis retourn(e) = I returned Venir Je suis venu(e) = I came Aller Je suis all(e) = I went Natre Je suis n(e) = I was born Sortir Je suis sorti(e) = I went out Tomber Je suis tomb(e) = I fell Rester Je suis rest(e) = I stayed Arriver Je suis arriv(e) = I arrived Monter Je suis mont(e) = I went up Partir Je suis parti(e) = I left Entrer Je suis entr(e) = I came/ went in Descendre Je suis descendu(e) = I came down

(+ 3 derivatives : rentrer/to go home, revenir/to come back, devenir/to become)

In addition to these verbs, all pronominal verbs use tre : se baigner - to bathe s'habiller - to get dressed s'imaginer - to imagine se laver - to wash se lever - to get up se moquer - to make fun of se prparer - to prepare oneself se promener - to go for a walk se raser - to shave se reposer - to rest se faire bronzer to sunbathe se maquiller to put on make up se dpcher to hurry up se disputer to have a row etc Ex: je me suis lev(e) 7 heures. Example with avoir/tre: Lets see now if you understand how the pass compos works. For example, you want to say He did (the verb to do is faire in French). - First, check if the verb faire uses tre or avoir in front. (its not in the Etre list above, therefore it will be used with Avoir). You can already guess the first part of your verb, which will be as follows: Il a - Secondly, you need to tranform the verb faire to make it a past tense verb. So check if the verb faire is regular or irregular in the past. It is irregular (its form is fait) Therefore, your verb He did will be: Il a fait Example with a reflexive verb: Now you want to say I rested in the past (the verb to rest is se reposer).

Since se reposer is a reflexive verb, it will automatically be used with Etre in the pass compose tense. First, lets see what that verb would have been like in the present tense: I rest = Je me repose In the past, it will be as follows: je me suis repos (You place tre in front of the verb reposer, and you take off the er ending of reposer and put instead) Agreement of the past participles used with Etre: With the Etre verbs (including reflexive verbs), the past participles agree with the subject in number and gender. Examples: Il est all; elle est alle (you add an extra e with a feminine form) Ils sont alls (plural); elles sont alles (feminine plural) Elle sest promene Theres no agreement with Avoir unless the direct object (D.O.) is placed before the verb : - Jai mang les fraises (D.O.) qui taient dans le frigidaire Je les ai manges - La lettre que tu as crite tait pleine de fautes. Exercice 1 Put the following verbs in the perfect tense : 1. Il dire : 2. Nous aller : 3. Vous faire : 4. Elle discuter : 5. Tu vendre : 6. Je manger : 7. Nous voir : 8. Ils tre : 9. Vous tudier : 10. Je choisir :

Exercice 2 Put Etre or Avoir at the correct form in the present tense, in front of the past participles. 1. John et Paul monts dans leur chambre. 2. Je fait mes devoirs pour demain. 3. Elle dit au revoir son copain. 4. Nous arrives avec deux heures de retard. 5. Il ferm la porte. 6. Vous visit le muse dOrsay. 7. Tu sortie en bote samedi soir ? 8. Elles restes une heure. 9. Je pris lavion. 10. Nous cout le nouvel album.

Exercice 3 Give the past participles of the verbs in brackets : 1. 2. 3. 4. Elle a (quitter) la maison une heure. Nous (feminine) sommes (descendre) la station Chatelet. Il a (dner) avec ses amis de fac. Vous avez (appeler) Helene ?

5. Je (masculine) me suis (baigner) tous les jours. 6. Ils sont (rentrer) dItalie vers minuit. 7. Tu as (mettre) combien de temps pour aller en ville ? 8. Elles ont (dire) quelles niraient plus dans ce magasin. 9. Est-ce que vous avez (tre) malade en avion ? 10. Nous (masculine) nous sommes (balader) le long de la rivire.