Passé Composé vs. Imparfait
Francais III
Objectifs:
After completing this tutorial, you will be able to…
• Identify and conjugate verbs in the passé composé
• Identify and conjugate verbs in the imparfait
• Use the appropriate verb tense in the context of a
sentence or story.
Instructions:
• Make sure you are viewing this PowerPoint
tutorial in Presentation mode.
• Click through the slides at your own pace,
writing down 2 things as you go:
▫ any corrected answers
▫ information that you did not guess before it
appeared
• If you are asked to click a button, make sure to
click a button and not the background to move
on to the next slide.
Allons-y!
Passé Composé
2 words = 2 parts (Helping Verb + Past Participle)
Step 1: Choose a HV & conjugate
DRMRSVANDERTRAMP & Reflexive verbs = Etre
?
Everything else = ?Avoir
Click the verb that is NOT part of
DRMRSVANDERTRAMP
Aller
Entrer
Arriver
Voir
Venir
Sortir
Rester
Essaie encore!
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Aller is a DRMRSVANDERTRAMP
= to go
Essaie encore!
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Arriver is a DRMRSVANDERTRAMP
= to arrive
Essaie encore!
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Entrer is a DRMRSVANDERTRAMP
= to enter, to go in
Essaie encore!
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Venir is a DRMRSVANDERTRAMP
= to come
Essaie encore!
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Rester is a DRMRSVANDERTRAMP
= to stay
Essaie encore!
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Sortir is a DRMRSVANDERTRAMP
= to go out
Félicitations!
Voir is not DRMRSVANDERTRAMP
= to see
HV
PP
Ex: Nous avons vu le film Etre et Avoir.
Passé Composé
2 words = 2 parts (Helping Verb + Past Participle)
Step 1: Choose a HV & conjugate
DRMRSVANDERTRAMP & Reflexive verbs = ?Etre
Everything else = ?Avoir
Step 2: Form the PP
Drop the infinitive ending and add ?
-er = é
-ir = i
-re = ?
After taking off the –re, click the letter
you add to make the PP of perdre (to lose).
u
i
é
e
Essaie encore!
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i replaces the infinitive ending for –ir verbs!
choisir
choisi
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é replaces the infinitive ending for –er verbs!
aimer
aimé
Essaie encore!
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e is not a PP ending by itself – it is missing the
accent for –er verbs.
Félicitations!
To form the PP of perdre,
• take off the –re
• Add –u
perdre
perdu
Ex: M. Rouge a perdu le match.
Passé Composé
2 words = 2 parts (Helping Verb + Past Participle)
Step 1: Choose a HV & conjugate
DRMRSVANDERTRAMP & Reflexive verbs = ?Etre
Everything else = ?Avoir
Step 2: Form the PP
Drop the infinitive ending and add
-er = é
-ir = i
-re = u
(Step 3): If using etre, make PP agree
Click the letter(s) you would add to
allé to make it agree with Alice.
-
s
e
es
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Alice is a girl.
Adding nothing is only for masculine singular
subjects!
Essaie encore!
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Alice is one girl.
Adding s is only for masculine plural subjects!
Essaie encore!
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Alice is only one girl.
Adding es is for feminine plural subjects.
Félicitations!
When using etre, add e to the past participle for
feminine singular subjects.
Ex: Alice est allée au match de M. Bleu et
M. Rouge!
Passé Composé
2 words = 2 parts (Helping Verb + Past Participle)
Step 1: Choose a HV & conjugate
DRMRSVANDERTRAMP & Reflexive verbs = ?Etre
Everything else = ?Avoir
Step 2: Form the PP
Drop the infinitive ending and add
-er = é
-ir = i
-re = u
(Step 3): If using etre, make PP agree
Practice rewriting these sentences in
the passé composé on a sheet to be
handed to your teacher at the end of
this tutorial:
1. Je travaille avec mes amis.
2. Nous retournons chez moi à 22h.
3. Philippe se couche à 1h du matin!
Bon effort!
Maintenant, tu es pret à
commencer l’imparfait!
Now you are ready to
begin the imperfect!
Imparfait
1 word = 1 part
Step 1: Find your stem by taking only the –ons off
of the present tense nous form of the verb.
Click on the correct imparfait stem for
the verb choisir:
Chois
Choisiss
Choisissons
Essaie encore!
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You took off too many letters!
Remember, ONLY take off the -ons
Essaie encore!
Try again!
You forgot to remove the –ons from the nous form!
Très bien fait!
choisiss- is the correct imparfait stem!
Ex. Je choisissais mon dejeuner.
Imparfait
1 word = 1 part
Step 1: Find your stem by taking only the –ons off
of the present tense nous form of the verb.
Step 2: Add the imparfait ending for your subject.
Je –ais
Tu –ai?
Il –ait
Nous -ions
Vous -iez
Ils -aient
Click on the correct imparfait ending
for tu.
-ais
-ait
-aient
Essaie encore!
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-ait is the imparfait ending for il/elle/on
Essaie encore!
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-aient is the imparfait ending for ils/elles
Formidable!
-ais is the correct imparfait ending for tu
Ex. Chaque soir, tu regardais la télé.
Imparfait
1 word = 1 part
Step 1: Find your stem by taking only the –ons off
of the present tense nous form of the verb.
Step 2: Add the imparfait ending for your subject.
Je –ais
Tu –ait
Il –ait
Nous -ions
Vous -iez
Ils -aient
Practice rewriting these sentences in
the imparfait on a sheet to be handed
to your teacher at the end of this
tutorial:
1. Je parle avec mes parents.
2. D’habitude, on finit le déjeuner à 12h04.
3. Vous vivez en ville.
Chapeau!
Maintenant, tu es pret à
utiliser les deux!
Now you are ready to
use both tenses!
Quand est-ce qu’on les utilise?
Imparfait
Passé Composé
• Habitual actions or what one
“used to do”
▫ Ex. Chaque été, nous allions à
la plage.
• Uncompleted past actions or
what one “was doing”
▫ Ex. À 16h37 ils jouaient au
foot.
• Background information /
scenery conditions or how “it
was”
▫ Ex. Quand j’étais petit(e),
nous habitions à la
campagne.
▫ Ex. Il était 13h15 et il faisait
beau.
• Completed past actions or what
someone “did”
▫ Ex. Samedi soir, ils ont joué
au foot.
• A succession of events
▫ Ex. Je suis allé au cinéma,
j’ai vu un film, et je suis
rentré chez moi.
• An action repeated a specified
number of times or within a
specified time limit
▫ Ex. J’ai vu quatre fois ce film.
▫ Ex. Elle a fait son choix en dix
minutes.
Remember our clues?
Click the clue word that indicates you
should use the Passé Composé.
Le lundi
Chaque soir
Le 30 mai
Parfois
Essaie encore!
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Le, when combined with a day or time, is like
saying every or Mondays.
It implies repetition and the use of the imparfait.
Essaie encore!
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Parfois = sometimes
It is an undefined amount of times, indicating the
imparfait.
Essaie encore!
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Chaque = each/every
It implies repetition and the use of the imparfait.
Réussi!
Le 30 mai is a specific date, indicating a
completed action is to come.
Read the following sentence and click
the verb that best completes the blank.
Samedi, j(e) ___________ du vélo.
ai fait
faisais
Essaie encore!
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Samedi implies that I did this just one Saturday.
Excellent!
Samedi implies that I did this just one Saturday.
Samedi, j’ai fait du vélo.
Read the following sentence and click
the verb combination that best
completes the blank.
D’habitude, elle _________ aux examens, mais
hier, elle _________ l’examen de biologie.
a réussi;
ratait
réussissait;
a raté
a réussi;
a raté
réussissait;
ratait
Evenements specifiques
Evenements habituels
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Un soir
Mardi
Un mardi
Un jour
Le 3 avril
Une fois
Deux fois
Plusieurs fois
Le soir
Tous les soirs
Le mardi
Tous les mardis
Chaque jour
Tous les jours
D’habitude
Habituellement
Autrefois
Parfois
Essaie encore!
Try again!
Essaie encore!
Try again!
You are 50% correct:
hier is a clue to use the PC.
However:
D’habitude (usually), she would succeed on tests.
Essaie encore!
Try again!
You are 50% correct: D’habitude is a clue for the
Imparfait.
However:
Hier (yesterday) interupted this repetition – it was
a specific event.
Bravo!
D’habitude was your clue for the imparfait and
hier indicated the need for the passé composé!
D’habitude, elle réussissait aux
examens, mais hier, elle a raté
l’examen de biologie.
Click on the most appropriate way to
tell this story.
Il y avait un arbre et
il a fait beau.
Il y a eu un arbre
et nous chantions.
Il faisait beau et
nous avons chanté.
Essaie encore!
Try again!
• Il y avait un arbre is the correct way to
describe there was a tree.
• Il a fait beau is describing how the weather
was and needs the imparfait.
Essaie encore!
Try again!
• The tree is part of the background (a description)
– it requires the imparfait to say it was
Ex. Il y avait un arbre.
• The actors singing are performing an action that
the audience can watch happen – we require the
passé composé to express the completed action.
Ex. Nous avons chanté.
Formidable!
• Il faisait beau is describing how the weather
was.
• Nous avons chanté describes an action we did.
Tu as réussi à ce cours de grammaire!
Now that you have successfully reached the end of
this tutorial, it is your turn to write a story using
the imparfait and passé composé!
Assignment: Draw or go online to
www.makebeliefscomix.com to create a comic
strip containing at least 4 scenes. The dialogue or
narrative should contain a minimum of 4
examples of each tense (That means at least 8
verbs total). This project is due lundi, le 11 mars.
To organize your thoughts:
• Qui était la?
• Où était il/elle?
• Qu’est-ce qui est arrivé?
Et après?
• Quand est-ce que l’action s’est passé?
• Comment était le lieu/le méteo?