Objectives: Learn the use
of the past tense (1)
Formation
Verbs ER
Verbs IR-Verbs RE
être/avoir
Exercises
Qu’est-ce que tu as fait hier?
You use the perfect tense to talk about the past. In French this is called the
‘passé composé’ because it is ‘composed’ of 2 parts: the auxiliary or ‘helper’ verb
and the past participle of the main verb.
J’ai + ………é
Part 1 is the helper verb which you
must always have in the sentence to
make the past.
Part 2 is the past participle of
the main verb
The past participle depends on the verb ending-See below
Verbs ending
in ER
Remove ‘er’
and add ‘é’
Verbs ending
in RE
Remove ‘re’
and add ‘u’
é
Ex: jouer
aller
joué (played)
allé (gone)
Verbs ending
in IR
Remove ‘ir’
and add ‘i’
u
Ex: vendre
attendre
vendu (sold)
attendu (waited)
i
Ex: partir
choisir
parti (gone)
choisi (chosen)
Most verbs ‘go with’ avoir
‘to have’ (just as in English)…
J’ai mangé une pomme
J’ai mangé une carotte
Tu as mangé une pomme
Elle a mangé une pomme
On a parlé de
sport.
Insert the right part of ‘avoir’
I have
You have (informal)
She has
We have
You have (formal)
They have (feminine)
Insert the right part of ‘avoir’
I have
J'ai
You have (informal)
tu as
She has
elle a
We have
nous avons/on a
You have (formal)
vous avez
They have (feminine)
elles ont
…but some ‘go with’ être
(usually verbs of movement
or reflexive verbs)
Aller and rester are two examples of the verbs
which ‘go’ with ‘être’. There are 16 in all!
When you are writing you have to remember to
make the past participle ‘agree’, but when you are
speaking you can’t hear the difference:
Il est allé- he went
Elle est allée- She went
Ils sont allés- They went (boys)
Elles sont allées- They went (girls)
DR MRS VANDERTRAMP
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