Grammar: Passé Composé (regular verbs)

ByFast French

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 partSecond 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 avoirPast ParticipleResultMeaning
j’aiparlé (spoke/spoken)j’ai parléI have spoken, I spoke, I did speak
tu asparlé (spoke/spoken)tu as parléyou have spoken, you spoke, you did speak
il aparlé (spoke/spoken)il a parléhe has spoken, he spoke, he did speak
nous avonsparlé (spoke/spoken)nous avons parléwe have spoken, we spoke, we did speak
ils ontparlé (spoke/spoken)ils ont parléthey have spoken, they spoke, they did speak

Finir in the Passé Composé

Present tense of avoirPast ParticipleResultMeaning
j’aifini (finished)j’ai finiI have finished, I finished, I did finish
tu asfini (finished)tu as finiyou have finished, you finished, you did finish
il afini (finished)il a finihe has finished, he finished, he did finish
nous avonsfini (finished)nous avons finiwe have finished, we finished, we did finish
ils ontfini (finished)ils ont finithey have finished, they finished, they did finish

Vendre in the Passé Composé

Present tense of avoirPast ParticipleResultMeaning
j’aivendu (sold)j’ai venduI have sold, I sold, I did sell
tu asvendu (sold)tu as venduyou have sold, you sold, you did sell
il avendu (sold)il a venduhe has sold, he sold, he did sell
nous avonsvendu (sold)nous avons venduwe have sold, we sold, we did sell
ils ontvendu (sold)ils ont venduthey have sold, they sold, they did sell

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