Point de départ
In order to talk about events in the past, French uses two
principal tenses: the passé composé and the imperfect.
In this lesson, you will learn how to form the passé
composé, which is used to express actions or states
completed in the past. You will learn about the imperfect
in Leçon 15.
© and ® 2007 Vista Higher Learning, Inc.
11.2-1
For most verbs, the passé composé is formed with a
present-tense form of avoir (the auxiliary verb) followed
by the past participle of the verb expressing the action.
© and ® 2007 Vista Higher Learning, Inc.
11.2-2
The past participle of a regular -er verb is formed by
replacing the -er ending of the infinitive with -é.
© and ® 2007 Vista Higher Learning, Inc.
11.2-3
Most regular -er verbs are conjugated in the passé
composé as shown below for the verb parler.
© and ® 2007 Vista Higher Learning, Inc.
11.2-4
To make a verb negative in the passé composé, place
ne/n’ and pas around the conjugated form of avoir.
To ask questions using inversion in the passé composé,
invert the subject pronoun and the conjugated form of
avoir. Note that this does not apply to other types of
question formation.
© and ® 2007 Vista Higher Learning, Inc.
11.2-5
The adverbs hier (yesterday) and avant-hier (the day
before yesterday) are used often with the passé
composé.
Place the adverbs déjà, encore, bien, mal, and
beaucoup between the auxiliary verb or pas and the
past participle.
© and ® 2007 Vista Higher Learning, Inc.
11.2-6
The past participles of spelling-change -er verbs have no
spelling changes.
© and ® 2007 Vista Higher Learning, Inc.
11.2-7
The past participle of most -ir verbs is formed by replacing
the -ir ending with -i.
© and ® 2007 Vista Higher Learning, Inc.
11.2-8
© and ® 2007 Vista Higher Learning, Inc.
11.2-9
The passé composé of il faut is il a fallu; that of il y a is
il y a eu.
© and ® 2007 Vista Higher Learning, Inc.
11.2-10
Essayez!
Indiquez les formes du passé composé des
verbes.
commencé, ai payé, ai bavardé (commencer, payer, bavarder)
1. j’ai________________________
2. tu ________________________ (servir, comprendre, donner)
3. on ________________________ (parler, avoir, dormir)
4. nous ________________________ (adorer, faire, amener)
5. vous ________________________ (prendre, employer, courir)
6. elles ________________________ (espérer, boire, apprendre)
© and ® 2007 Vista Higher Learning, Inc.
11.2-11