The passé composé is the everyday past tense of French. It reports completed events: things that started, finished, and can be ticked off a list. J'ai mangé. Elle est partie. Nous avons visité Québec.
It's called "composed" because it is built from two pieces, exactly like English "I have eaten":
subject + avoir/être (present) + past participle
J' + ai + mangé = J'ai mangé (I ate / I have eaten).
The helper verb carries the person; the participle carries the action. Get the helper right and you're 80% of the way there.
| Infinitive ending | Participle ending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -er | -é | parler → parlé, manger → mangé |
| -ir (regular) | -i | finir → fini, choisir → choisi |
| -re | -u | vendre → vendu, attendre → attendu |
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| avoir → eu | ü | had |
| être → été | ay-TAY | been |
| faire → fait | fay | done, made |
| prendre → pris | pree | taken |
| voir → vu | vü | seen |
| boire → bu | bü | drunk |
| lire → lu | lü | read |
| écrire → écrit | ay-KREE | written |
| dire → dit | dee | said |
| mettre → mis | mee | put |
| ouvrir → ouvert | oo-VAIR | opened |
| venir → venu | vuh-NÜ | come |
| pouvoir → pu | pü | been able to |
| vouloir → voulu | voo-LÜ | wanted |
| devoir → dû | dü | had to |
| savoir → su | sü | known |
| connaître → connu | ko-NÜ | known (a person) |
The large majority of verbs take avoir. A small closed list takes être, and every reflexive verb takes être too.
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| J'ai mangé une pizza. | zhay mahn-ZHAY | I ate a pizza. |
| Tu as vu ce film ? | tü ah VÜ | Have you seen this film? |
| Nous avons fini. | noo-zah-vohn fee-NEE | We finished. |
| Ils ont pris le train. | eel-zohn pree luh TRAN | They took the train. |
These are almost all verbs of coming and going, or of changing state. Learn them as pairs of opposites and the list stops feeling arbitrary.
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| aller / venir | ah-LAY / vuh-NEER | to go / to come — allé, venu |
| arriver / partir | ah-ree-VAY / par-TEER | to arrive / to leave — arrivé, parti |
| entrer / sortir | ahn-TRAY / sor-TEER | to enter / to go out — entré, sorti |
| monter / descendre | mohn-TAY / day-SAHNDR | to go up / to go down — monté, descendu |
| naître / mourir | NETR / moo-REER | to be born / to die — né, mort |
| rester / retourner | res-TAY / ruh-toor-NAY | to stay / to return — resté, retourné |
| tomber / rentrer | tohn-BAY / rahn-TRAY | to fall / to go home — tombé, rentré |
| devenir / revenir | duh-vuh-NEER / ruh-vuh-NEER | to become / to come back — devenu, revenu |
| passer | pah-SAY | to go past — passé |
With être, the participle behaves like an adjective — it agrees with the subject:
Il est allé · Elle est allée · Ils sont allés · Elles sont allées.
With avoir, nothing agrees with the subject: Elle a mangé, never mangée.
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Je suis allé(e) au marché. | zhuh swee-zah-LAY | I went to the market. |
| Elle est partie hier. | el ay par-TEE ee-AIR | She left yesterday. |
| Nous sommes arrivés à midi. | noo som-zah-ree-VAY | We arrived at noon. |
| Ils sont rentrés tard. | eel sohn rahn-TRAY tar | They got home late. |
Je me suis levé(e) · Elle s'est couchée · Nous nous sommes amusés · Ils se sont dépêchés. The reflexive pronoun goes before the helper, and the participle normally agrees with the subject.
Monter, descendre, sortir, rentrer, retourner and passer switch to avoir when they have a direct object, and their meaning shifts:
Je suis sorti. (I went out.) vs J'ai sorti la poubelle. (I took out the bin.)
Elle est montée. (She went up.) vs Elle a monté les valises. (She carried the cases up.)
The negative sandwich wraps the helper verb, not the participle — the participle stays outside.
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Je n'ai pas mangé. | zhuh nay pah mahn-ZHAY | I didn't eat. |
| Elle n'est pas venue. | el nay pah vuh-NÜ | She didn't come. |
| Nous n'avons rien vu. | noo nah-vohn ree-en VÜ | We saw nothing. |
| Est-ce que tu as compris ? | ess kuh tü ah kohn-PREE | Did you understand? |
| As-tu fini ? | ah-tü fee-NEE | Have you finished? |
Short adverbs also slide between helper and participle: J'ai déjà mangé, Il a bien dormi, On a beaucoup marché.
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| hier | ee-AIR | yesterday |
| avant-hier | ah-vahn-tee-AIR | the day before yesterday |
| la semaine dernière | lah suh-men dair-nee-AIR | last week |
| l'année dernière | lah-nay dair-nee-AIR | last year |
| il y a deux jours | eel ee ah duh ZHOOR | two days ago |
| ce matin | suh mah-TAN | this morning |
| une fois / deux fois | ün FWAH / duh FWAH | once / twice |
| soudain | soo-DAN | suddenly |
J'ai mangé covers "I ate", "I have eaten" and "I did eat". Don't look for three separate French tenses — the passé composé does all three jobs, and the context supplies the nuance.
The passé composé rules speech. The passé simple (il mangea) survives only in novels, history books and fairy tales — recognise it when reading, but never use it when speaking.
Identical structure, but listen for the helper contracting: J'ai → "j'ai" stays, while tu as → "t'as" and il a → "y'a". You'll hear J'ai-tu dit ça ? with the Québécois question particle, and avoir in places where France says être in very casual speech.
1. "She went to the market" is:
2. Where does pas go in the passé composé?
3. Which verb takes avoir?
4. J'ai sorti la poubelle means: