Overview
This lecture covers the French past tense "passé composé," including when and how to use it, how to form it with regular and irregular verbs, and the differences from other past tenses. The lesson also addresses common questions and practice sentences.
Introduction to Passé Composé
- Passé composé is a French past tense used for actions that are completed.
- It contrasts with the imperfect (imparfait), which is for ongoing or repeated past actions.
- Example: "I fed the cat" (done action) uses passé composé.
Forming Passé Composé
- Formed with an auxiliary verb (either "avoir" = to have, or "être" = to be) in present tense + past participle of the main verb.
- Most verbs use "avoir" as the auxiliary; some use "être."
Regular Past Participles
- For regular -ER verbs: drop "r" and add "é" (e.g., "manger" → "mangé").
- For regular -IR verbs: drop "r" (e.g., "choisir" → "choisi").
- For regular -RE verbs: drop "re" and add "u" (e.g., "vendre" → "vendu").
Irregular Past Participles & Third Group Verbs
- Many third group verbs (irregular) have unique past participle forms (e.g., "boire" → "bu").
- Lists of irregular verbs should be memorized.
When to Use Être vs. Avoir
- Use "être" for reflexive and movement verbs (e.g., "aller" = to go, "partir" = to leave).
- All other verbs generally use "avoir."
- When using "être," the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject (add "e" for feminine, "s" for plural).
Special Notes on Agreement & Negation
- With "être" as auxiliary, add "e" or "s" to past participle as needed for agreement with the subject.
- To negate in passé composé, place "ne" before the auxiliary and "pas" after it (e.g., "je n'ai pas mangé").
Practice & Examples
- Example: "Elle est partie hier." (She left yesterday.)
- Example: "Mateo a choisi." (Mateo has chosen.)
- Example: "Je n'ai pas acheté." (I did not buy.)
- Example: "Vous avez beaucoup bu." (You drank a lot.)
- Example: "Charlotte n'est pas revenue." (Charlotte did not come back.)
Forming Questions in Passé Composé
- Switch the order: Auxiliary + subject pronoun + past participle (e.g., "Avez-vous bu ?": Did you drink?)
Key Terms & Definitions
- Passé composé — A French past tense for completed actions.
- Auxiliary verb — Helper verb ("avoir" or "être") used before the main verb's past participle.
- Past participle — Verb form used in compound tenses; changes based on verb group and sometimes gender/number.
- Imparfait — French past tense for ongoing or repeated actions in the past.
- Reflexive verb — Verbs referring to actions done by the subject to themselves.
- Movement verb — Verbs indicating motion, often requiring "être" as the auxiliary.
Action Items / Next Steps
- Memorize the list of movement/reflexive verbs that take "être."
- Practice forming passé composé with regular and irregular verbs.
- Review agreement rules for past participle with "être."
- Try to complete the last three practice sentences provided in the lesson.
- Watch related videos or review support guides for further examples.