The most common French past tense — formed with avoir + a past participle
The passé composé is the main past tense in spoken and written French. It describes completed actions in the past. It is formed with two parts: a present-tense auxiliary (avoir or être) + a past participle.
| Part 1: avoir (present) | Part 2: past participle | English |
|---|---|---|
| j'ai | parlé | I spoke / I have spoken |
| tu as | mangé | you ate / you have eaten |
| il/elle a | fini | he/she finished |
| nous avons | attendu | we waited |
| vous avez | choisi | you chose |
| ils/elles ont | vendu | they sold |
The past participle is formed from the infinitive. Each verb group has its own ending:
| Infinitive group | Rule | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -er verbs | drop -er, add -é | parler → parlé, manger → mangé, travailler → travaillé |
| -ir verbs | drop -ir, add -i | finir → fini, choisir → choisi, partir → parti |
| -re verbs | drop -re, add -u | attendre → attendu, vendre → vendu, répondre → répondu |
Examples in full: J'ai parlé avec elle. (I spoke with her.) — Il a fini son travail. (He finished his work.) — Nous avons attendu le bus. (We waited for the bus.)
Many very common verbs have irregular past participles. These must be learned individually:
| Infinitive | Past Participle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| avoir (to have) | eu | J'ai eu de la chance. (I was lucky.) |
| être (to be) | été | Il a été malade. (He was ill.) |
| faire (to do/make) | fait | Tu as fait quoi? (What did you do?) |
| prendre (to take) | pris | Elle a pris le train. (She took the train.) |
| dire (to say) | dit | Il a dit bonjour. (He said hello.) |
| mettre (to put) | mis | J'ai mis mon manteau. (I put on my coat.) |
| voir (to see) | vu | Nous avons vu ce film. (We saw that film.) |
| savoir (to know) | su | Elle a su la vérité. (She found out the truth.) |
To make the passé composé negative, place ne...pas around the auxiliary verb (avoir), not around the whole phrase:
Note: after negation, indefinite articles change: une pizza → pas de pizza.
Unlike être verbs, avoir verbs do NOT agree with the subject. The past participle stays in its base form. There IS one exception: agreement with a preceding direct object — but this is rarely tested at A2.
| Subject | No agreement needed |
|---|---|
| Il | Il a mangé (not mangés) |
| Elle | Elle a mangé (not mangée) |
| Elles | Elles ont mangé (not mangées) |
Key rule: With avoir, the past participle does not change to match the subject. This is the opposite of être verbs (see G02).
Contrast: Elle est allée (être → agreement) vs Elle a mangé (avoir → no agreement).