The “passé composé” means the “compound past.” It is called the compound past because it is made up of two verbs put together into a compound form. Eg “I do” is the present tense and it is called a simple tense, because it only has one verb. But “I have done” is a compound tense because it contains two verbs – “have” and “done.”

English equivalents (eg: to speak)

I have spoken, I spoke, I did speak
You (informal) have spoken, you spoke, you did speak
He has spoken, he spoke, he did speak
We have spoken, we spoke, we did speak
You (plural/formal) have spoken, you spoke, you did speak
They have spoken, they spoke, they did speak

How to form the Passé Composé

First part	Second part
Present tense of “avoir”	Past participle of other verb

How to find the Past Participle of a regular verb

Regular “-er” verbs

1. Start with the infinitive (eg “parler” to speak)
2. Delete the “r” at the end of the infinitive (“parle”)
3. Change the final “e” to “é” (e with an acute accent)
4. Parler becomes “parlé” (spoken/spoke/did speak)
5. The past participle of “-er” verbs sounds exactly the same as the infinitive, even though it is spelt differently.

Regular “-ir” verbs

1. Start with the infinitive (eg “finir” to finish)
2. Delete the “r” at the end of the infinitive (“fini”)
3. Finir becomes “fini” (finished)

Regular “-re” verbs

1. Start with the infinitive (eg “vendre” to sell)
2. Delete the “-re” at the end of the infinitive (“vend”)
3. Add “u” to the end (vendu)
4. Vendre becomes “vendu” (sold)

Parler in the Passé Composé

Present tense of avoir	Past Participle	Result	Meaning
j’ai	parlé (spoke/spoken)	j’ai parlé	I have spoken, I spoke, I did speak
tu as	parlé (spoke/spoken)	tu as parlé	you have spoken, you spoke, you did speak
il a	parlé (spoke/spoken)	il a parlé	he has spoken, he spoke, he did speak
nous avons	parlé (spoke/spoken)	nous avons parlé	we have spoken, we spoke, we did speak
ils ont	parlé (spoke/spoken)	ils ont parlé	they have spoken, they spoke, they did speak

Finir in the Passé Composé

Present tense of avoir	Past Participle	Result	Meaning
j’ai	fini (finished)	j’ai fini	I have finished, I finished, I did finish
tu as	fini (finished)	tu as fini	you have finished, you finished, you did finish
il a	fini (finished)	il a fini	he has finished, he finished, he did finish
nous avons	fini (finished)	nous avons fini	we have finished, we finished, we did finish
ils ont	fini (finished)	ils ont fini	they have finished, they finished, they did finish

Vendre in the Passé Composé

Present tense of avoir	Past Participle	Result	Meaning
j’ai	vendu (sold)	j’ai vendu	I have sold, I sold, I did sell
tu as	vendu (sold)	tu as vendu	you have sold, you sold, you did sell
il a	vendu (sold)	il a vendu	he has sold, he sold, he did sell
nous avons	vendu (sold)	nous avons vendu	we have sold, we sold, we did sell
ils ont	vendu (sold)	ils ont vendu	they have sold, they sold, they did sell

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