Introduction to Passé Composé in French

Overview

• Passé Composé: A French past tense used to describe completed actions.
• Formed using an auxiliary verb (être or avoir) + past participle of the main verb.

Auxiliary Verbs

• Être (to be)
  • Conjugated in present tense.
• Avoir (to have)
  • Conjugated in present tense.
• Purpose: Called auxiliary because they form other tenses, such as passé composé.

Past Participle Formation

• Definition: A form of a verb used in creating tenses or as adjectives.
• First Group Verbs: Regular verbs ending in -er (e.g., marcher) have past participles ending in -é.
• Second Group Verbs: Regular verbs ending in -ir (e.g., finir) have past participles ending in -i.
• Third Group Verbs: Irregular, ending in -is, -u, or -t.

Choosing the Correct Auxiliary

• Most Verbs: Use avoir.
• Some Verbs and Reflexive Verbs: Use être.
• Mnemonic: "Dr & Mrs Vandertramp" helps remember verbs that use être.

Forming Negative Sentences

• Structure for Avoir: ne + auxiliary + pas + past participle
• Structure for Être: ne + reflexive pronoun(optional) + auxiliary + pas + past participle

Agreement of Past Participle

• With Être: Past participle agrees with subject’s gender and number.
  • Masculine singular: no change
  • Feminine singular: add -e
  • Masculine plural: add -s
  • Feminine plural: add -es
• With Avoir: Past participle does not change.

Reflexive Verbs

• Use Auxiliary Être
• Structure: Subject + reflexive pronoun + auxiliary + past participle
• Negative Form: ne + reflexive pronoun + auxiliary + pas + past participle

Conclusion

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