La Formation du Passé Composé
1. Formation with avoir:
The passé composé of most verbs is formed with a present tense form of avoir (the auxiliary verb)
followed by the past participle of the verb expressing the action.
Nous
avons
fêté (we celebrated/have celebrated)
a. auxiliary verb:
avoir
J’ _________
Nous ___________
Tu _________
Vous ____________
Il/elle/on _________
Ils/elles __________
b. past participle:
i.
the past participle of most regular –er verbs is formed by replacing the –er ending of the
infinitive with ___
ii.
the past participle of most regular –ir verbs is formed by replacing the –ir ending with ___
iii.
the past participle of most regular –re verbs is formed by replacing the –re ending with ___
Examples
J’_______________________________ I spoke/have spoken
Tu ____________________________ you spoke/have spoken
Il/elle/on ____________________________ he/she/it spoke/has spoken
Nous ______________________________ we spoke/have spoken
Vous ______________________________ you spoke/have spoken
Ils/elles ______________________________ they spoke/have spoken
Notes:
1. Some irregular past participles
a. Apprendre - __________________
b. Avoir - ______________________
c. Boire - ______________________
d. Comprendre - _________________
e. Courir _______________________
f. Être - ________________________
g. Faire - _______________________
h. Pleuvoir - _____________________
i. Prendre - _____________________
j. Surprendre - ___________________
2. To make a verb negative in the passé composé, place the ne/n’ and pas around the conjugated form of
avoir (auxiliary verb).
Ex. On n’a pas fêté mon anniversaire.
3. To ask questions using inversion in the passé composé, invert the subject pronoun and the conjugated
form of avoir (auxiliary verb).
Ex. Avez-vous fêté votre anniversaire?
4. Place the adverbs déjà, encore, bien, mal, and beaucoup between the auxiliary verb or pas and the
past participle.
Ex. Tu as déjà mangé la pizza.
5. The past participle of spelling-change –er verbs has no spelling changes.
Ex. Vous avez envoyé la letter.
6. The passé composé of il faut is il a fallu; that of il y a is il y a eu.
2.Formation with être:
Some verbs take être as the auxiliary verb when conjugated in the passé composé form. Formation is made
using a present-tense form of être (the auxiliary verb) and the past participle of the verb that expresses the
action.
Je
suis
allé.
a. auxiliary verb:
être
Je ______________
Nous _____________
Tu ______________
Vous _____________
Il/elle/on __________
Ils/elles ____________
b. past participle:
D________________ ______________
D________________ ______________
R________________ ______________
E________________ ______________
M________________ ______________
R________________ ______________
R________________ ______________
T________________ ______________
S________________ ______________
R________________ ______________
V________________ ______________
A________________ ______________
A________________ ______________
M________________ ______________
N________________ ______________
P________________ ______________
P________________ ______________
Notes:
1. The past participles of verbs conjugated with être agree with their subjects in number and in gender.
a. Ex. Charles, tu es allé à Montréal?
b. Ex. Florence est partie en vacances.
c. Ex. Mes frères sont rentrés.
d. Elles sont arrivées hier soir.
2. To make a verb negative in the passé composé, place ne/n’ and pas around the auxiliary verb, in this
case, être.
a. Ex. Emma et Elodie ne sont pas sorties?
3. The verb passer takes être when it means to pass by, but it takes avoir when it means to spend time.
a. Ex. Maryse est passée par la douane (Maryse passed through customs)
b. Ex. Maryse a passé trois jours à la campagne (Maryse spend three days in the country)
4. To form a question using inversion in the passé composé, invert the subject pronoun and the conjugated
form of être.
a. Ex. Est-elle descendue à l’hôtel?
5. Place short adverbs such as déjà, encore, bien, mal, and beaucoup between the auxiliary verb être or
pas and the past participle.
6. Past participles of nonreflexive verbs conjugated with être agree with the subject (i.e. Céline et Hervé
sont parties de Québec.), HOWEVER, if one of these verbs has a direct object, avoir must be used.
a. Ex. Céline est descendue de l’autocar but
Elle a descendu sa valise.