Chp 5: Le Passé Composé
Passé composé in French, is a compound tense with the auxiliaries avoir (to have) and être (to
be) conjugated in the present tense followed by a participe passé.
It doesn’t follow a specific translation between English and French, but it has similarities with
the present perfect, the simple past, and the emphatic past.
The present perfect - I have eaten
The simple past - I ate
The emphatic past - I did eat
In French, the passé composé can replace these three conjugations: J’ai mangé.
The passé composé is used to talk about the past, mostly actions that took place in the past
and were completed in the past.
The Past Participle
Passé Composé with Avoir
The passé composé of verbs conjugated with avoir: the verb avoir in the present tense
followed by the past participle of the verb. The past participle doesn’t agree with the subject
in gender and number.
Example:
- Elle a expliqué le problème au professeur. She explained the problem to the teacher.
- On a réservé le restaurant pour samedi. We booked the restaurant for Saturday.
- Est-ce que tu as réussi ? Have you succeeded?
- J’ai déjà mangé. I already ate
Passé Composé with Être
The passé composé of verbs conjugated with être: the verb être in the present tense followed
by the past participle of this verb. The past participle of verbs conjugated with être agrees in
gender and number with the subject.
We can see that depending on the subject, if the subject is masculine or feminine, singular or
plural, the past participle will take a -e, -s, -es or nothing at all if the subject is masculine
singular.
What about ON?
When on translates to WE, the past participle agrees with the subject in gender and number,
but the verb is still conjugated like il and elle.
- On est entrées dans le magasin. We entered the store.
- On est arrivés à l’aéroport. We arrived at the airport.
Agreement - Passé Composé with Avoir
As we saw before, the past participle of verbs conjugated with avoir doesn’t agree in gender
and number with the subject. However, it agrees in gender and number with the direct object
if the direct object is before the verb.
Direct object + avoir + past participle + e.s.es
The direct object can be:
A direct object pronoun = Le, La, Les, L’, Nous, ….
Elle a envoyé une lettre. = Elle l’a envoyée.
J’ai reçu les colis du voisin. = Je les ai reçus.
Il nous a appelés.
The relative pronoun = Que – Qu’
The relative pronoun replaces the direct object.
Elle a envoyé une lettre. = La lettre qu’elle a envoyée.
J’ai reçu les colis du voisin. = Les colis du voisin que j’ai reçus.
*If it’s easier for you, remember only the direct object which you can still find easily in the
sentence instead of remembering the relative pronoun.
*The pronouns lui and leur are not direct pronouns but indirect pronouns. Therefore the past
participle doesn’t change if lui or leur are before the conjugated verb.
When to Use the Passé Composé
1. To describe something that took place in the past at a very specific moment. Usually, the
sentence will indicate some time references indicating that the action is completed. Here is a
list of words frequently used with passé composé:
- Il est arrivé ce matin.
- Je t’ai appelé il y a deux jours.
- Il a plu la semaine dernière.
2. To describe an event that usually only happens once. The verbs used in this case show that
the action is not repeated. Here is a list of verbs frequently used with passé composé:
- Il est mort l’année dernière.
- Elles se sont mariées cet été.
- Ma fille est née.
- J’ai récemment eu 30 ans.
3. To talk about something that happened repeatedly or at least a few times.
- J’ai visité le Canada deux fois.
- Elle vous a appelé plusieurs fois.
4. To indicate something that happened suddenly. Here is a list of words frequently used for
sudden actions:
- La police est arrivée tout de suite.
- Le magicien a disparu tout à coup.
5. To talk about a series of actions taking place successively. Here is a list of words frequently
used for stories with successive actions:
D’abord, j’ai essayé de l’appeler au bureau, puis j’ai appelé son téléphone portable. Enfin, j’ai
téléphoné à sa secrétaire.
Verbs with Avoir and Être
A few verbs can be conjugated with the auxiliaries avoir and être. The meaning of the sentence
will be different depending on the auxiliary. With avoir, the verb will act as a transitive verb
(which allows a direct object). With être, the verb is intransitive.
The Passé Composé of Reflexive Verbs
Reflexive verbs are always conjugated with the auxiliary être, which means that the past
participle will agree in gender and number with the direct object.
Passé Composé and Negation
Negation in the case of the passé composé follows a specific order. Ne is placed before the
auxiliary and pas is placed before the past participle. Of course, other negations follow the
same order: ne … rien, ne … jamais, etc.
Pronoun + ne – n’ + avoir – être + pas + past participle
- Je n’ai pas dit ça.
- Nous n’avons rien reçu.
- Elle n’est jamais partie.
- *Je n’ai vu personne.
Ne + reflexive pronoun + être + pas + past participle
- Je ne me suis pas inscrite.
- Elle ne s’est rien demandée.
- Nous ne nous sommes jamais demandé(e)s pourquoi.
Questions Using the Passé Composé
→ Raising your voice at the end of the question:
Tu es déjà parti(e) ?
Ils ont célébré son augmentation ?
Tu t’es lavé les cheveux ?
→ Using est-ce que:
Est-ce que tu es déjà parti(e) ?
Est-ce qu’ils ont célébré son augmentation ?
Est-ce que tu t’es lavé les cheveux ?
→ Using inversion:
Es-tu déjà parti(e) ?
Ont-ils célébré son augmentation ?
A-t-elle été en Australie ?
T’es-tu lavé les cheveux ?
NOTE:
*When using inversion, the auxiliary is placed first, then the pronoun, and finally the past
participle.
*For il and elle, add a -t- between the pronoun and the auxiliary.
*For reflexive verbs, the reflexive pronoun is placed first, followed by the auxiliary, then the
pronoun, and finally the past participle.
