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Revision:Past Tenses (French)

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TSR Wiki > Study Help > Subjects and Revision > Revision Notes > French > Past Tenses

The Perfect tense/The Passee Composee translates to either "one [i]did[/i]" or "one [i]has done[/i]" something. It is formed with the present tense of "avoir" and a past participle of the verb. The exceptions are from MRS. VANDERTRAMP which take the present tense of "être" and a past participle which must agree with the verb.

Contents

Past Tenses

To form the perfect tense, one needs the present tense of avoir or etre:

Avoir Etre
j'ai je suis
tu as tu es
il/elle a il/elle est
nous avons nous sommes
vous avez vous êtes
ils/elles ont ils/elles sont

Then the infinitive of a verb is taken, the "er", "ir" or "re" ending is removed and replaced with the following:

-er: é
-ir: i
-re: u

Examples: Manger: To eat -> J'ai mangé (I ate) Finir: To finish -> Il a fini (He finished) Vendre: To sell -> Nous avons vendu (We sold)


Verbs taking être in the passé composé
DevenirTo become
RevenirTo come back
MourirTo die
RentrerTo re-enter or go home
Sortir*To go out
PartirTo leave
VenirTo come
AllerTo go
NaîtreTo be born (active in French as opposed to the English passive)
Descendre*To go/take down
EntrerTo enter
RetournerTo return
TomberTo fall
ResterTo stay
ArriverTo arrive
MonterTo go up, get on
Passer (par)To pass (by)

Including all pronominal/reflexive verbs such as se detendre, se laver etc.

NOTE: when using etre, this verb implies movement, one therefore adds:

-er: é
-ir: i
-re: u

add:

-e with je if you are a girl, or with elle
-es with elles
-s with nous, vous, ils.


Examples

j'ai mangé je suis allé(e)
tu as mangé tu es allé(e)
il a mangé il/elle est allé/allée
nous avons mangé nous sommes allé(e)s
vous avez mangé vous êtes allé(e)s
ils ont mangé ils/elles sont allés/allées

Verbs of movement

aller - to go
venir - to come
descendre - to go up
monter - to go down


Irregular verbs

prendre - pris
mettre - mis
rire - rit

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