To form the perfect (past) tense, you will need to use the verb avoir, plus a past participle.
1
2 What do you think is the meaning
of these past participles?
joué
_______________
regardé
_______________
fait
_______________
mangé
_______________
visité
_______________
fini
_______________
attendu
_______________
Avoir – To Have
j’ai
tu
il
elle
nous
vous
ils
elles
______
______
______
______
______
______
______
= I have
= you have (informal)
= he has
= she has
= we have
= you have (formal)
= they have (masc)
= they have (fem)
Have you spotted any patterns yet?
To make the past participle you need to take the infinitive and apply these simple rules:
Verbs ending in…
er
ir
re
Such as…
regarder
finir
répondre
Take off the…
er
ir
re
And replace with…
é
i
u
For example…
regardé
fini
répondu
3
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
What is the past participle of
these verbs?
acheter
_______________
parler
_______________
attendre
_______________
donner
_______________
choisir
_______________
perdre
_______________
vendre
_______________
commencer _______________
réussir
_______________
Do you know what all of these mean in
English?
Putting it all together
Remember that you need your part of
avoir from section 1 plus a
past participle
J’ai joué
= I played
il a regardé
= he watched
elle a attendu
= she waited
nous avons choisi
= we chose
ils ont parlé
= they spoke
Could you explain all of this to someone else?
Sometimes it can help you to understand
better!
©2013 FrenchTeacherResources.com
While most verbs follow the patterns on page one, some verbs are
irregular and unfortunately work differently.
4 What do these past participles mean?
a. lu
(lire)
______________
b. bu
(boire)
______________
c. vu
(voir)
______________
d. compris (comprendre) ______________
e. fait
(faire)
______________
f. eu
(avoir)
______________
g. été
(être)
______________
h. pris
(prendre)
______________
i. su
(savoir)
______________
j. dû
(devoir)
______________
5
a. I drank
Fill in the gaps:
= J’ai _______
b. He took
= il a _______
c. We did
= nous avons_______
d. She saw
= elle _____ vu
e. They ate
= ils ont ________
f. I sold
= J’____ vendu
g. He read
= il a _______
h. He had to = _____ a dû
i. They gave = elles _____ donné
j. You spoke = tu as ________
The infinitive is in brackets to help you!
So rememember, in order to make the perfect tense in French you need:
Person
eg.
+
Avoir
+
Past Participle
j’
ai
mangé
il
a
bu
nous
avons
écouté
Then, to make a full sentence, you need to add a detail on to the end!
Translate these into French:
a) I ate a pizza.
_________________________________
b) He drank coke.
_________________________________
c) We listened to music.
_________________________________
d) They did their homework. (mixed)
_________________________________
e) I bought a T-shirt.
_________________________________
f) He understood the book.
_________________________________
g) You spoke French. (sing)
_________________________________
h) She waited for the bus.
_________________________________
i) You chose freedom. (plural)
_________________________________
j) They played tennis in the afternoon.
_________________________________
©2013 FrenchTeacherResources.com