The passé composé
The most commonly used past tense in spoken French, built with "avoir" or "être".
The most commonly used past tense in spoken French, built with "avoir" or "être".
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Vocabulary for this lesson
- j'ai mangé : I ate
- j'ai fini : I finished
- je suis allé(e) : I went
- je suis venu(e) : I came
- j'ai vu : I saw (irregular participle)
- j'ai fait : I did/made (irregular participle)
🇫🇷 A bit of French culture
The passé composé is built in two parts: the auxiliary (avoir or être) conjugated in the present + the past participle of the main verb. Most verbs use "avoir": "J'ai mangé" (I ate). But around 15-17 verbs, mostly verbs of motion (aller, venir, partir, arriver, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, naître, mourir...), use "être": "Je suis allé(e)" (I went). With "être", the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject: "Elle est allée" (she went, with an extra "e").
