Education passe compose in French. Past tense in French, Passé Composé. Irregular verbs in passé composé

Be sure to watch the video lessons on this topic BEFORE you start reading the text. The topic in the video is explained very simply - this will remove your fear of the topic and save time on studying.

The past tense can be expressed in different ways in French. The main thing is what you want to focus on (whether the action ended or not, it happened quite recently or a very long time ago...).

Passé Composé tense is necessary when we want to emphasize:

Action in the past it's over(the verb will answer the question “what did you do?”):

Il a parlé de son voyage. – He told about your journey.

The verb can also answer the question “what did you do?”, but it will indicate “ with how many and before“how many”, that is limited time period:

Il a parlé pendant une heure. – He spoke for an hour.

Passé Composé is formed using auxiliary verbs
avoir or ê tre and itself verb in past tense(participe passé).

How can we decide whether avoir or ê tre will help us form this tense?

The verb ê tre is conjugated with:

• All returnable Verbs,
• and the following verbs of movement and change of state:

Conjugate with the verb avoir all other verbs.

How the verb itself is formed in the past tense:

Verbs first group forming the past form is very simple: ending -er be replaced by -é :

travailler – travaillé

Past tense for verbs 2nd group is formed even more simply: just remove the ending -r :

You can also just remember typical endings for verbs in the past tense:

ending - é

This applies to verbs 1 group(with an infinitive to - er), as well as irregular verbs aller, ê tre, na ître:

ending - i

This applies to verbs 2 groups(with an infinitive to - ir), as well as irregular verbs ending in - tir , -mir :

ending - t

For the verbs écrire, faire, dire:

ending - rt

For verbs ending in - frir, -vrir :

aller

Attention! Remember that when a verb changes into the past tense with ê tre, it must be of the same gender (masculine – feminine) and number (singular – plural) as the subject it refers to.

Il est entré dans la chambre. – He entered the room (literally: He there is in shiy).
Elle est entrée dans la chambre. – He A entered A into the room (literally: she there is in and I).
Ils sont entrés. – He And entered And (They there is in no).
Elles sont entrées. – They (the women) entered.
Vou s vous etes bien amuses? – Did you have fun?

If you noticed, we coordinated the past tense form of the verbs (we made them the same in gender and number) with the subject. (I, you, we...), since the auxiliary verb was ê tre.

When the auxiliary verb is avoir, with a subject no need to coordinate.

Il a lu cette nouvelle. – He read this novella (he has read the novella).
Elle a lu cette nouvelle. – She read this novella (she has read the novella).

Doesn't matter Who(he or she) read the novella. The word “read” refers to the novella itself! That is why it does not need to be coordinated with the subject “he – she”.

BUT! If we replace the word “short story” with the corresponding pronoun - object(short story - her), then according to the rule it will appear before the verb (in the case of this past tense before the auxiliary verb). And then we will have to reconcile it with the past tense form. Why? As always evident from the literal translation))

Il l "a lue (il la a lue). – He read it (he her has read Noah).
Elle l"a lue. – She read it (she her has read nnoy).

In both cases, the short story was read, although now it has been replaced by the word “her,” that is, here we must agree on the feminine gender.

Il les a lues. – He read them (he has them read).

Feminine and plural agreement.

When negated, the particles ne and pas surround auxiliary verb (avoir or ê tre):

Ils n " ont pas encore mangé. – They haven't eaten yet.
Ils ne sont pas encore partis. – They haven't left yet.

Attention! When we deny returnable verb, do not forget that the part of it is reflexive pronouns is part of it (although it stands before it), and therefore is denied along with it:

Je ne me suis pas réveillée. – I didn’t wake up.

The same applies to pronouns - objects(me, you, them...). They will also stand before the auxiliary verb and negated with it.

Je lui ai telephone. - I called him.
Je ne lui ai pas telephone. – I didn't call him.

Attention! Very important!

Some verbs can also be conjugated with avoir (if after them will just stand word without preposition), and with ê tre (when after it there will be some pretext). At the same time, they will change their meaning.

Je suis descendue de la voiture. – I got out (descended) from the car.
J"ai descendu ma valise. – I lowered my suitcase.

Je suis passée devant ta maison. – I walked in front of your house.
J"ai passé mes vacanciesà l "étranger. – I spent my holidays abroad.

Je suis sortie de la maison. – I left the house.
J"ai sorti me papiers. – I pulled out my documents.

If you need explanations of this grammar topic in voice, as well as an additional set of exercises, you can find it in our audio course

Samedi, nous avons passé une journée très chouette, nous étions chez mon copain Romain. Nous avons joué au foot et après nous avons lavé son chat.

On Saturday we had a fun day, we visited my friend Romain. We played football and then bathed his cat.

If the present tense is still relevant to you, then you are well prepared to form past tense forms. You will see for yourself: the present tense is the key to verbal health.

Passé composé is formed like this:

With verb avoir Passé compositionWith verb être

mangerThere isallergo

1 Pronoun on now often used instead nous. A participle, like an adjective, agrees either with on, either with nous.

2 Vous is a polite form. Accordingly, depending on the polite address to one or more persons, the participle appears either in the singular or in the plural form.

Passé composé - past tense form formed with an auxiliary verb avoir(most verbs) or ê tre(a dozen verbs) in the present tense and past participle form of the main verb.

Don't be tormented by the wait. Here are the main incorrect participles that we cannot hide from you. You will find others in the table of verbs.

Note that the verb ê tre forms passé composé with verb avoir.

Tu as été au cinéma?Have you been to the cinema?

After you have - very conveniently - memorized these participles, let's see what participles formpasse composition with verb ê tre. Look at the illustration

The verbs in this illustration are like everyone else returnable Verbs (without exceptions), form passé composé with verb ê re according to this model:

Verb sepromener is reflexive in French (cf. Russian. walk around), as well as verb selever (get up; Wed rus. get up).

And now the French “trick”! Agreement of the past participle in gender and number (this is not the case in English and German, but in Russian the past participle is inflected with all its might, but does not participate in the formation of a special form of the past tense). You, of course, noticed that participles appearing with a verb ê tre(2), are wrong. On the contrary, participles with the verb avoir(1), as a rule, do not change. (However, there is an exception here: Larobequej‘aiporteehiersoir,estsale. The dress I wore yesterday is dirty. If a verb is preceded by a direct object, the participle agrees with that object. Let us note in parentheses that some French people themselves do not know this “complex” rule).

Il a mange une glace.He ate ice cream.

Elle a mange une glace.Sheateice cream.

Nous avons mange une glace.We ate ice cream.

Pierre est arriv é . Pierre has arrived.

Sophie est arriv ee. Sophiearrived.

Il est mont é en voiture.He got into the car.

Elle est monté e en voiture. She got into the car.

Pierre and Sophie :

Nous sommes descend us. Wecame down.

Sophie and Catherine:

Nous sommes descend ues. Wecame down.

On est all es. Wewent.

On est all ees.

Combined with a verb ê tre participles agree in gender and number with the subject to which they refer.

Pass valueé composé

denotes a past completed action that precedes the moment of speech:

Aujourd'hui il fait beau. Hier il a plu. Today the weather is good. It rained yesterday.

Je sais que vous etes venu il y a deux jours. I know that you arrived two days ago.

used mainlyway, in colloquial speech, in correspondence, in the press.

Passé composé in context means

past action, the duration of which is limited by a time frame like:

Elisabeth a vu ce film trois fois. Elizabeth watched this film three times.

J'ai réfléchi quelques instants. I thought for a few minutes

beginning of action in the past:

Tout à coup un enfant a pleure. Suddenly a child began to cry.

Le choeur a chante. The choir began to sing.

sequence of actions in the past, which can be emphasized by circumstances of time:

Il est entre dans sa chambre. Il y est resté quelques instants. Puis il est sorti. He entered his room. I stayed there for a few minutes. Then he left.

a future action that is represented as completed:

Encore un mot, et j' aifini ma lettre. One more word and I will complete the letter.

Attends, j' ai bientôt terminé ma lecture. Wait, I'll finish reading now.

In French, the verb form is very diverse. This is especially true for the past tense. In the indicative mood there are 5 past forms, one of which is passé composition(past complex).

Passé composition:

• Expresses: an action that is completed, took place in the past, or precedes an action in the present.
• Used both orally and in writing. It is translated into Russian using perfective and imperfective verbs.
• Formed using the present tense of an auxiliary verb ( avoir or être) + participe passé (past participle) of the conjugated verb.

PARTICIPE PASSE is formed differently for different groups of verbs (see table):

Example of conjugation in the past tense of verbs Parler/Finir/Etre:

• j'ai parlé,tu as parlé, il a parlé elle a parlé, nous avons parlé, vous avez parlé, ils ont parlé, elles ont parlé
• j'ai fini,tu as fini, il a fini elle a final nous avons fini, vous avez fini, ils ont fini, elles ont fini
• j'ai eté,tu as été, il a eté elle a été, nous avons eté, vous avez eté, ils ont eté, elles ont eté

C être verbs are conjugated :

• Mourir, naître, arriver, partir, aller, venir, sortir, entrer, tomber, rester, descendre, monter
• Some derivatives from them (revenir, devenir, rentrer)
• Pronominal reflexive verbs (se laver, se lever)

WITH avoir conjugate : all other verbs, including avoir And être

A detailed table of verb conjugations is given A for the forms of the past participle (participe passé) of the main verbs of all groups, see

Participate passé verbs conjugated with Etre consistent with sort of And number with a subject (for feminine gender – add at the end E, for plural add at the end S). For example:

• Aller
  je suis allé, tu es allé, il est allé elle est allée, nous sommes allés, vous etes allés ils sont allés, elles sont allées

Participate passé verbs conjugated with Avoir consistent with sort of And number With direct object, if it is located before the verb Avoir:

1) The direct object is expressed by a direct object pronoun

• Repétez votre question je l'ai mal compris e(comprendre la question)

2) The sentence begins with question words quel And combien de (For"combien"not necessary)

• Quels livres avez-vous achete s? (acheter les livres)

3) In sentences with a construction … que (qu’) … , where que - “which, which, which, etc.”

• Les fautes que vous avez fait es(faire les fautes)

Negative and interrogative forms in the past tense using the example of a verb Parler:

• Je n'ai pas parlé
• Tu n'as pas parlé
• Il n'a pas parlé
• Nous n' avons pas parlé
• Vous n'avez pas parlé
• Ils n'ont pas parlé

• J'ai parlé. - Ai-je parlé?
• Tu as parlé. - As-tu parlé?
• Il a parlé. -A- t-il parle?
• Nous avons parlé. — Avons-nous parlé?
• Vous avez parlé. — Avez-vous parlé?
• Ils ont parlé. — Ont-ils parlé?

Be sure to watch the video lessons on this topic BEFORE you start reading the text. The topic in the video is explained very simply - this will remove your fear of the topic and save time on studying.

The past tense can be expressed in different ways in French. The main thing is what you want to focus on (whether the action ended or not, it happened quite recently or a very long time ago...).

Passé Composé tense is necessary when we want to emphasize:

Action in the past it's over(the verb will answer the question “what did you do?”):

Il a parlé de son voyage. – He told about your journey.

The verb can also answer the question “what did you do?”, but it will indicate “ with how many and before“how many”, that is limited time period:

Il a parlé pendant une heure. – He spoke for an hour.

Passé Composé is formed using auxiliary verbs
avoir or ê tre and itself verb in past tense(participe passé).

How can we decide whether avoir or ê tre will help us form this tense?

The verb ê tre is conjugated with:

• All returnable Verbs,
• and the following verbs of movement and change of state:

Conjugate with the verb avoir all other verbs.

How the verb itself is formed in the past tense:

Verbs first group forming the past form is very simple: ending -er be replaced by -é :

travailler – travaillé

Past tense for verbs 2nd group is formed even more simply: just remove the ending -r :

You can also just remember typical endings for verbs in the past tense:

ending - é

This applies to verbs 1 group(with an infinitive to - er), as well as irregular verbs aller, ê tre, na ître:

ending - i

This applies to verbs 2 groups(with an infinitive to - ir), as well as irregular verbs ending in - tir , -mir :

ending - t

For the verbs écrire, faire, dire:

ending - rt

For verbs ending in - frir, -vrir :

aller

Attention! Remember that when a verb changes into the past tense with ê tre, it must be of the same gender (masculine – feminine) and number (singular – plural) as the subject it refers to.

Il est entré dans la chambre. – He entered the room (literally: He there is in shiy).
Elle est entrée dans la chambre. – He A entered A into the room (literally: she there is in and I).
Ils sont entrés. – He And entered And (They there is in no).
Elles sont entrées. – They (the women) entered.
Vou s vous etes bien amuses? – Did you have fun?

If you noticed, we coordinated the past tense form of the verbs (we made them the same in gender and number) with the subject. (I, you, we...), since the auxiliary verb was ê tre.

When the auxiliary verb is avoir, with a subject no need to coordinate.

Il a lu cette nouvelle. – He read this novella (he has read the novella).
Elle a lu cette nouvelle. – She read this novella (she has read the novella).

Doesn't matter Who(he or she) read the novella. The word “read” refers to the novella itself! That is why it does not need to be coordinated with the subject “he – she”.

BUT! If we replace the word “short story” with the corresponding pronoun - object(short story - her), then according to the rule it will appear before the verb (in the case of this past tense before the auxiliary verb). And then we will have to reconcile it with the past tense form. Why? As always evident from the literal translation))

Il l "a lue (il la a lue). – He read it (he her has read Noah).
Elle l"a lue. – She read it (she her has read nnoy).

In both cases, the short story was read, although now it has been replaced by the word “her,” that is, here we must agree on the feminine gender.

Il les a lues. – He read them (he has them read).

Feminine and plural agreement.

When negated, the particles ne and pas surround auxiliary verb (avoir or ê tre):

Ils n " ont pas encore mangé. – They haven't eaten yet.
Ils ne sont pas encore partis. – They haven't left yet.

Attention! When we deny returnable verb, do not forget that the part of it is reflexive pronouns is part of it (although it stands before it), and therefore is denied along with it:

Je ne me suis pas réveillée. – I didn’t wake up.

The same applies to pronouns - objects(me, you, them...). They will also stand before the auxiliary verb and negated with it.

Je lui ai telephone. - I called him.
Je ne lui ai pas telephone. – I didn't call him.

Attention! Very important!

Some verbs can also be conjugated with avoir (if after them will just stand word without preposition), and with ê tre (when after it there will be some pretext). At the same time, they will change their meaning.

Je suis descendue de la voiture. – I got out (descended) from the car.
J"ai descendu ma valise. – I lowered my suitcase.

Je suis passée devant ta maison. – I walked in front of your house.
J"ai passé mes vacanciesà l "étranger. – I spent my holidays abroad.

Je suis sortie de la maison. – I left the house.
J"ai sorti me papiers. – I pulled out my documents.

If you need explanations of this grammar topic in voice, as well as an additional set of exercises, you can find it in our audio course