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
Start with the infinitive (eg “parler” to speak)
Delete the “r” at the end of the infinitive (“parle”)
Change the final “e” to “é” (e with an acute accent)
Parler becomes “parlé” (spoken/spoke/did speak)
The past participle of “-er” verbs sounds exactly the same as the infinitive, even though it is spelt differently.
Regular “-ir” verbs
Start with the infinitive (eg “finir” to finish)
Delete the “r” at the end of the infinitive (“fini”)
Finir becomes “fini” (finished)
Regular “-re” verbs
Start with the infinitive (eg “vendre” to sell)
Delete the “-re” at the end of the infinitive (“vend”)
Add “u” to the end (vendu)
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
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