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.