Revision:Past Tenses (French)

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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.

Past Tenses

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

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)

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

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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