The past
The Passé Composé
What is the past tense?

It is used to express an action that
occurred in the past.
In English...

There are 5 different past tenses.





I
I
I
I
I
worked = simple past
have worked = present perfect
was working = past progressive
used to work = with helping verb “used to”
did work = past emphatic
In French...
 There
are only two!
 Passé
Composé
 Imparfait
Simple past vs. compound past

Simple past consists of one word


I worked
Compound past consists more than one
word

an auxiliary (helping verb) and a main verb

I have worked
The passé composé
It is a compound tense
 It is formed with the auxiliary verb
avoir or être conjugated in the present
tense + the past participle of the main
verb


auxiliary + past participle = passé composé
avoir/être