The Perfect Tense
Why do we need it?
In French when you want to talk about something that has happened in
the past and that is completely over, you use the Perfect Tense. So the
perfect tense is a PAST tense.
We can use the perfect tense in three ways in English:
1. I played
2. I have played
3. I did play
Whereas, in French, there is only one way to express these ideas:
1. j’ai joué
How do we form it?
To form the perfect tense in French, we need three parts:
j’ / je
+
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(The person / thing
doing the action. This
is called the “subject”
of the sentence.)
ai / suis
+
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(A part of the
“auxiliary” – or “helper”
– verb. This will only
ever be part of “avoir”
or “être”.)
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joué / allé(e)
[the past participle]
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(And the “past
participle”, which is
like the “-ed” part of
“played” in English.)
“avoir” and “être”
It is very important that we know the verbs “avoir” (to have) and “être”
(to be). These are such important verbs in French that you should learn
them by heart, just as you learned your times tables in primary school.
AVOIR – to
J’ai
Tu as
Il a
Elle a
On a
Nous avons
Vous avez
Ils ont
Elles ont
have
I have
You have
He has
She has
We have
We have
You have
They have
They have
ETRE – to be
Je suis
Tu es
Il est
Elle est
On est
Nous sommes
Vous êtes
Ils sont
Elles sont
I am
You are
He is
She is
We are
We are
You are
They are
They are
Forming the past participle
Next, we need to know how to form the past participle. As we know, there
are three possible verb endings on infinitive verbs in French – ER/IR/RE.
Each of these follows a simple rule. Here is the rule for regular verbs:



For ER verbs, remove the ER and add É
So “jouer” becomes “ j’ai joué”
For IR verbs, remove the IR and add I
So “finir” becomes “j’ai fini”
For RE verbs, remove the RE and add U
So “vendre” becomes “j’ai vendu”
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Of course, you know enough by now to know that there are lots of irregular
verbs in French. These verbs do not follow the normal rules and the most
common ones should be learned by heart. But don’t panic! Remember that
you can find the past participle of irregular verbs in the verb table in your
dictionary if you’re stuck.
English
to be
to have
to do/ make
to open
to offer
to laugh
to follow
to sleep
to take
to put (on)
to write
to say
to drive
to see
to read
to drink
to receive
to live
to run
to believe
to know ( a person or a place)
to want
to have to
to be able to
to know (a fact)
French
être
avoir
faire
ouvrir
offrir
rire
suivre
dormir
prendre
mettre
écrire
dire
conduire
voir
lire
boire
recevoir
vivre
courir
croire
connaître
vouloir
devoir
pouvoir
savoir
Perfect Tense
j’ai été
j’ai eu
j’ai fait
j’ai ouvert
j’ai offert
j’ai ri
j’ai suivi
j’ai dormi
j’ai pris
j’ai mis
j’ai dit
j’ai écrit
j’ai conduit
j’ai vu
j’ai lu
j’ai bu
j’ai reçu
j’ai vécu
j’ai couru
j’ai cru
j’ai connu
j’ai voulu
j’ai dû
j’ai pu
j’ai su
Translation
I have been / I was
I have had / I had
I have done / I did
I have opened / I opened
I have offered / I offered
I have laughed / I laughed
I have followed / I followed
I have slept / I slept
I have taken / I took
I have put / I put
I have said / I said
I have written / I wrote
I have driven / I drove
I have seen / I saw
I have read / I read
I have drunk / I drank
I have received / I received
I have lived / I lived
I have run / I ran
I have believed / I believed
I have known / I knew
I have wanted / I wanted
I have had to / I had to
I have been able to / I could
I have known / I knew
Verbs that take “être”
Verbs that take “être” in the past tense are action verbs which show that
there is a change of place (movement) or state (transformation) happening.
There is a useful acrostic – MRS VAN DER TRAMP – that we can use to
help us remember which verbs take “être” in the past tense:
MONTER – to go up
RESTER – to stay
SORTIR – to go out
VENIR – to come
ARRIVER – to arrive
NAÎTRE – to be born
DESCENDRE – to go down
ENTRER – to enter
RENTRER – to go back
TOMBER – to fall
RETOURNER – to return
ALLER – to go
MOURIR – to die
PARTIR – to leave
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Past participles with “être”
•
•
•
•
With être, the past participle often has an extra –e or an –s.
If the person is feminine you add an extra –e
If there is more than one you add an extra –s
If there is more than one and they are feminine add and –es
For example:
Je suis allé(e) - I went / I have gone
Tu est monté(e) – you went up / you have gone up
Il est arrivé – he arrived / he has arrived
Elle est rentrée – she went back
Nous sommes parti(e)s – we left
Vous êtes allé(es) – you went
Ils sont sortis – they went out
Elles sont restées – they stayed
Letters are in
brackets because
they might be
feminine or might
be plural –
depends on the
individual case.
A checklist for forming the perfect tense with “être”
1.
2.
3.
4.
Check if the verb is a Mr Van Der Tramp…
Use the verb être
Add the past participle
Make sure that the past participle agrees.
e.g. “I went”
ALLER
Mrs Van Der Tramp?

Je suis
Used correct part of être?

Je suis allé
Added past participle?

Je suis allée
Agreed past participle?
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
Exercises to check your comprehension
The past participle with “avoir”
Find the past participle of these regular verbs:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
manger (to eat)
jouer (toplay)
vendre (to sell)
dormer (to sleep)
finir (to finish)
parler (to speak)
chanter (to sing)
grandir (to grow up)
Now use these past participles to help you translate these sentences:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
I have eaten a pizza.
You have played football.
He sold the cat.
We have slept in Paris.
They (m) have finished the sandwich.
They (f) spoke French.
She has sung.
You grew up.
The past participle with “être”
Translate these sentences into French, and use the Mrs Van Der Tramp
checklist to make sure you follow all the steps!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
I went to Paris.
You went back home. (chez toi)
He went down to the kitchen. (à la cuisine)
She left.
We fell.
You went out with your friends. (vos amis)
They (m) entered the house. (dans la maison)
They (f) stayed in town. (en ville)
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More exercises
A. Choisis la bonne réponse.:
1 Elle ____ mangé .( a/ ai / ont)
2- Elles _____ visité. ( ai / avez / ont)
3- Nous ______ bu. ( ont / avons / ai)
4- IL _____ acheté. ( a / ai / ont)
5- J'____ pris ( avez / a / ai)
6- Tu ____ vu ( a / ai / as)
7- Vous ______ fait ( avez / ont /avons )
8- Ils ______ regardé ( ont/ avez / a)
B. Complète les phrases.
Elle a bu
J' ai mangé
Nous avons pris
Vous avez choisi
Il a vendu
Nous avons fait
l'avion
sa voiture
une limonade
les magasins
une pizza
la solution facile
C. Traduis les expressions suivantes en anglais.(utilise ton dictionnaire)
Hier: ______________
Avant-hier: ______________________
La semaine dernière: _________________
Le week-end dernier: ________________
D. Ecris le bon pronom.( je, tu , il etc…)
123456-
_____ a visité Londres.
_____ avons mangé un sandwich.
_____' ai vu la Tour de Londres.
______ avez écouté de la musique.
______ ont joué au foot.
______ as pris un taxi.
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E. Traduis les phrases suivantes en anglais
12345678-
J'ai bu de la limonade.
Elle a acheté des baskets.
Nous avons écouté une cassette.
Tu as vu la Tour Eiffel?
Ils ont joué au tennis.
Il a visité Madrid.
Elles ont fait les magasins.
Vous avez mangé à l'hotel.
F. Complète la lettre
Paris, le 12 octobre 2001
Use these words to help if you
need them :
Chére Charlotte,
Je suis à __________.
Hier, j'ai __________
le musée du Louvre.
Il faisait chaud, alors,
j'____ acheté une
_______. J'ai _____
la Tour Eiffel, c'était
super. Puis, j'ai _____
les magasins.
Le soir, avec mes ___________,
nous avons ____________ dans un
restaurant très chic.
_______________
Marc
Au revoir
parents
ai
Paris
vu
fait
acheté
visité
glace
mangé
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G. Write the correct form of the verb in the perfect tense and translate
into English
Example : je (gagner)
je (finir)
j’ai gagné = I won; I have won
j'ai fini
= I finished; I have finished
nous (attendre) nous avons attendu = we waited; we have waited
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
nous (gagner)
vous (gagner)
ils (tirer)
je (tirer)
je (demander)
je (danser)
tu (penser)
je (détester)
il (montrer)
elle (montrer)
vous (toucher)
je (cacher)
j’(expliquer)
elles (expliquer)
on (expliquer)
j’(oublier)
vous (deviner)
il (traverser)
nous (discuter)
je (marcher)
tu (finir)
on (finir)
ils (choisir)
il (choisir)
je (attendre)
nous (vendre)
vous (attendre)
elle (vendre)
je (quitter)
je (manger)
elle (trouver)
nous (donner)
tu (fermer)
je (raconter)
nous (garder)
tu (habiter)
nous (habiter)
je (trouver)
nous (marcher)
on (parler)
nous avons ......
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THE PERFECT TENSE
REGULAR “-RE” VERBS
Remember that in French, the Perfect Tense is made up of two things:
1. a helping verb (a bit of avoir)
2. a past participle
Reminder of AVOIR:
j’ai
tu as
il a
elle a
on a
nous avons
vous avez
ils ont
elles ont
To make the past participle of regular RE verbs :
1. take off the RE
2. add u
(e.g. vendre changes to vendu)
Exercise A:
Write down the past participle and English meaning of the following verbs.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
vendre
attendre
défendre
battre
romper
(to sell)
(to wait)
(to defend)
(to beat)
(to break)
PAST PARTICIPLE
MEANING
______________
______________
______________
______________
______________
(______________)
(______________)
(______________)
(______________)
(______________)
Exercise B:
Now write these sentences in the present tense, using the correct RE verb.
Remember you need 2 things : (abit of AVOIR, and a PAST PARTICIPLE)
1. Mon frère ____ _____ son vélo.
2. Marseilles _____ _____ Paris St
Germain.
3. J’ _____ ______ mon nouveau portable.
4. Elle ____ ____ son droit de voter.
5. Nous _____ ______ le bus.
6. Est-ce que tu _____ ______ la voiture?
7. On ____ _____ le début du concert.
8. Ma mere _____ ______ les oeufs.
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(My brother sold his bike)
(Marseilles beat Paris St Germain)
(I broke my new phone)
(She defended her right to vote)
(We waited for the bus)
(Have you sold the car?)
(We waited for the start of the
concert)
(My mother beat the eggs)
Exercise C:
Now change the first five sentences into negatives using “not” (ne…pas), then
write the English meaning of the new sentences beside them. (Remember – the
negative goes ROUND the bit of AVOIR).
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