Join TSR
 
 About Us | FAQs | Sign in
 
HomeForumsArticlesRevision NotesPersonal StatementsUniversity GuidesHealth & RelationshipsPostgraduate StudyCareersFreshers
Join the UK's largest student community  
Advanced
Search

Join The Student Room Today

Be part of the UK's largest and fastest growing student community.

It's free to join and a lot of fun - Get inspired, express your ideas, interact and share

Join The Student Room Today

Revision:Perfect Tense (French)

From The Student Room

TSR Wiki > Study Help > Subjects and Revision > Revision Notes > French > Perfect Tense

Contents

The Perfect Tense (Le Passé Composé)

Avoir

Most verbs take the form of "avoir":

j’ai + past participle
tu as + past participle
il/elle/on a + past participle
nous avons + past participle
vous avez + past participle
ils/elles ont + past participle


Forming the past participle

The past participle is formed by removing the ending from the nous form of the verb in the present tense (forming the stem of the verb), and adding "é" (for -er verbs), "i" (for -ir verbs), or "u" (for -re verbs).


être

Certain verbs, however, use "être":

je suis + past participle
tu es + past participle
il/elle/on est + past participle
nous sommes + past participle
vous êtes + past participle
ils/elles sont + past participle


Verbs which take être as the auxiliary verb

Mourir (past participle = mort)
Sortir
Partir
Venir
Aller
Naître (past participle = né)
Descendre
Entrer
Retourner
Tomber
Rester
Arriver
Monter
Passer

(verbs which end in the above also take être, such as devenir, rentrer).


NB. The past participle must agree when the auxiliary verb takes être. In addition, all reflexive verbs take être, and must agree.


Reflexive verbs

The format for reflexive verbs in the perfect tense is: personal pronoun (je, tu, il/elle/on, nous, vous, ils/elles) + reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous, se) + être + past participle.

'e.g. je me suis lavé


Agreements

masculine - no change
feminine - add “e”
masculine plural - add “s”
feminine plural - add “es”


The only exception is "mourir", the past participle of which is mort in all cases. It is invariable.


Irregular past participles

Some verbs have irregular past participles:

avoir: eu
boire: bu
connâitre: connu
croire: cru
devoir: du
dire: dit
écrire: écrit
être: été
falloir: fallu
faire: fait
lire: lu
mettre: mis
ouvrir: ouvert
pleuvoir: plu
prendre: pris (also, Comprendre: compris and Apprendre: appris)
pouvoir: pu
recevoir: reçu
rire: ri
savoir: su
suivre: suivi
tenir: tenu
vivre: vécu
voir: vu
vouloir: voulou

Comments

Retrieved from "http://thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Revision:Perfect_Tense_%28French%29"
Article Tools:  Create New Article  |  Report This Article  |  This Article's History  |