Past tense (Le passé composé)
has a very straightforward recipe:
Subject + auxiliary verb (avoir/être) + past participle. Example nous avons fini
Subject and present tense of avoir ( : J’ ai, tu as, il elle on a , nous avons, vous avez, ils elles ont
Past participle : -ER Verbs
For -ER verbs, take off the -ER and replace it with an –é.
marcher (to walk)→ marché (walked)
-IR Verbs
For regular -IR verbs, take off the -IR and replace it with an -I. That simple.
réagir (to react) → réagi
-RE Verbs
For regular -RE verbs, replace the -RE ending with a -U.
perdre (to lose) → perdu
EXAMPLE: parler 'to talk'
j'ai parlé, I (have) talked
nous avons parlé, we (have) talked
tu as parlé, you (have) talked
vous avez parlé, you (have) talked
il, elle / on a parlé, he, she (it) / one (has) talked
ils / elles ont parlé, they (have) talked
Exercise on past tense with avoir, regular verbs
1. J’ _______________ (jouer) au football le weekend.
2. Est-ce que tu _______________ (rendre) tes livres à la bibliothèque.
3. La classe ________________ (choisir) le livre qu’ils allaient lire.
4. Tu _____ bien ________ (dormir) ?
5. J’ __________________ (chercher) partout pour mes chaussures de sport.
6. Elles __________________ (répondre) vite.
7. Nous _____________________ (étudier) pendant des heures.
8. Vous _____________________ (sauter) de joie quand vous ___________________ (entendre).
9. Est-ce que tu _______________ (perdre) ton chat ?
10. Elle ____________________ (préparer) un bon repas.
11. J’___________________ (manger) vite parce que j’avais faim.
12. Ils ____________________ (applaudir) quand le concert _________________ (finir).
13. Jenifer _____________ (remplir) la tasse de café avant de s’asseoir.
14. Nous ___________________ (dîner) au restaurant cinq fois.
15. Il _______________________ (voyager) en Espagne l’été dernier.
16. Marc et Alice ___________________ (travailler) toute la nuit.
2. IRREGULAR PAST PARTICIPLES
There are, of course, some commonly used verbs whose past participles do not follow the rules and look a little unexpected. Some useful ones are listed below:
verbe
past participle
prendre
pris
avoir
eu
dire
dit
écrire
écrit
être
été
faire
fait
lire
lu
mettre
mis
voir
vu
vouloir
voulu
Some irregular verbs do look a bit odd but the good thing is that many groups follow similar patterns:
apprendre → appris (to learn, learned)
satisfaire → satisfait (to satisfy, satisfied)
promettre → promis (to promise, promised)
prévoir → prévu (to foresee, foreseen)
As a general rule of thumb, verbs ending in -aître, -tenir, -courir, and –venir (and the verbs that are derived from them) add -u to the stem to form the past participle.
connaître → connu (to know, knew / known)
courir → couru (to run, ran)
soutenir → soutenu (to support, supported)
prévenir → prévenu (to warn, warned)
Verbs ending in -indre replace that ending with -int
craindre → craint (to fear, feared)
plaindre → plaint (to complain, complained)
atteindre → atteint (to reach, reached)
peindre → peint (to paint, painted)
joindre → joint (to join, joined)
éteindre → éteint (to turn off, turned off)
Some verbs ending in -rir replace this ending with -ert
ouvrir → ouvert (to open, opened)
couvrir → couvert (to cover, covered)
offrir → offert (to offer, offered)
souffrir → souffert (to suffer, suffered)
SECTION 3
The Passé Composé with Être
The passé composé of 17 verbs is formed by combining the present tense of être (je suis, tu es, il est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont) and then adding the past participle of the verb showing the action. Most of these verbs express motion or a change of place, state, or condition (that is, going up, going down, going in, going out, or remaining).
These verbs can be remembered by
1. Dr. and Mrs. Vandertrampp live in the house below. Their name may help you memorize the 17 verbs using être. An asterisk (*) denotes an irregular past participle.
2 – Mnemotechnic Methods To Chose Between Être And Avoir: The Hiker A way to help memorizing these verbs is to imagine a hiker coming to a mountain with a house on top:
Surround the avoir or être part with ne and pas
eg Je n'ai pas fini
Je ne suis pas sorti
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The French imperfect (imparfait)
is a descriptive past tense which indicates an ongoing state of being or a repeated or incomplete action. The beginning and end of the state of being or action are not indicated, and the imperfect is very often translated in English as "was" or "was ___-ing." The imperfect can indicate any of the following:
I. Habitual actions or states of being
Quand j'étais petit, nous allions à la plage chaque semaine.
When I was young, we used to go to the beach every week.
L'année dernière, je travaillais avec mon père.
I worked with my father last year.
II. Physical and emotional descriptions: time, weather, age, feelings
Il était midi et il faisait beau.
It was noon and the weather was nice.
Quand il avait 5 ans, il avait toujours faim.
When he was five, he was always hungry.
III. Actions or states of an unspecified duration
Je faisais la queue parce que j'avais besoin de billets.
I stood in line because I needed tickets.
Il espérait te voir avant ton départ.
He was hoping to see you before you left.
IV. Background information in conjunction with the passé composé
J'étais au marché et j'ai acheté des pommes.
I was at the market and I bought some apples.
Il était à la banque quand il l'a trouvé.
He was at the bank when he found it.
V. Wishes or suggestions
Ah ! Si j'étais riche !
Oh, if only I were rich!
Si nous sortions ce soir ?
How about going out tonight?
VI. Conditions in si clauses
Si j'avais de l'argent, j'irais avec toi.
If I had some money, I would go with you.
S'il voulait venir, il trouverait le moyen.
If he wanted to come, he would find a way.
VII. The expressions être en train de and venir de in the past
J'étais en train de faire la vaisselle.
I was (in the process of) doing the dishes.
Il venait d'arriver. He had just arrived
Viii Interrupted/unfinished actions in the past
Il finissait ses devoirs quand son ami est arrive chez lui.
He was doing his homework when his friend arrived at the house.
Forming the imperfect tenseTo form the imperfect tense of all verbs take the nous form of the present tense, eg avoir --> nous avons and drop the nous and the -ons and add the imperfect endings, eg:
je regardais I looked/ was looking/ used to look
tu regardais
il/elle/on regardait
nous regardions
vous regardiez
ils/elles regardaient
has a very straightforward recipe:
Subject + auxiliary verb (avoir/être) + past participle. Example nous avons fini
- Verbs that take avoir as their auxilary verb to form the past tense
Subject and present tense of avoir ( : J’ ai, tu as, il elle on a , nous avons, vous avez, ils elles ont
Past participle : -ER Verbs
For -ER verbs, take off the -ER and replace it with an –é.
marcher (to walk)→ marché (walked)
-IR Verbs
For regular -IR verbs, take off the -IR and replace it with an -I. That simple.
réagir (to react) → réagi
-RE Verbs
For regular -RE verbs, replace the -RE ending with a -U.
perdre (to lose) → perdu
EXAMPLE: parler 'to talk'
j'ai parlé, I (have) talked
nous avons parlé, we (have) talked
tu as parlé, you (have) talked
vous avez parlé, you (have) talked
il, elle / on a parlé, he, she (it) / one (has) talked
ils / elles ont parlé, they (have) talked
Exercise on past tense with avoir, regular verbs
1. J’ _______________ (jouer) au football le weekend.
2. Est-ce que tu _______________ (rendre) tes livres à la bibliothèque.
3. La classe ________________ (choisir) le livre qu’ils allaient lire.
4. Tu _____ bien ________ (dormir) ?
5. J’ __________________ (chercher) partout pour mes chaussures de sport.
6. Elles __________________ (répondre) vite.
7. Nous _____________________ (étudier) pendant des heures.
8. Vous _____________________ (sauter) de joie quand vous ___________________ (entendre).
9. Est-ce que tu _______________ (perdre) ton chat ?
10. Elle ____________________ (préparer) un bon repas.
11. J’___________________ (manger) vite parce que j’avais faim.
12. Ils ____________________ (applaudir) quand le concert _________________ (finir).
13. Jenifer _____________ (remplir) la tasse de café avant de s’asseoir.
14. Nous ___________________ (dîner) au restaurant cinq fois.
15. Il _______________________ (voyager) en Espagne l’été dernier.
16. Marc et Alice ___________________ (travailler) toute la nuit.
2. IRREGULAR PAST PARTICIPLES
There are, of course, some commonly used verbs whose past participles do not follow the rules and look a little unexpected. Some useful ones are listed below:
verbe
past participle
prendre
pris
avoir
eu
dire
dit
écrire
écrit
être
été
faire
fait
lire
lu
mettre
mis
voir
vu
vouloir
voulu
Some irregular verbs do look a bit odd but the good thing is that many groups follow similar patterns:
apprendre → appris (to learn, learned)
satisfaire → satisfait (to satisfy, satisfied)
promettre → promis (to promise, promised)
prévoir → prévu (to foresee, foreseen)
As a general rule of thumb, verbs ending in -aître, -tenir, -courir, and –venir (and the verbs that are derived from them) add -u to the stem to form the past participle.
connaître → connu (to know, knew / known)
courir → couru (to run, ran)
soutenir → soutenu (to support, supported)
prévenir → prévenu (to warn, warned)
Verbs ending in -indre replace that ending with -int
craindre → craint (to fear, feared)
plaindre → plaint (to complain, complained)
atteindre → atteint (to reach, reached)
peindre → peint (to paint, painted)
joindre → joint (to join, joined)
éteindre → éteint (to turn off, turned off)
Some verbs ending in -rir replace this ending with -ert
ouvrir → ouvert (to open, opened)
couvrir → couvert (to cover, covered)
offrir → offert (to offer, offered)
souffrir → souffert (to suffer, suffered)
SECTION 3
The Passé Composé with Être
The passé composé of 17 verbs is formed by combining the present tense of être (je suis, tu es, il est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont) and then adding the past participle of the verb showing the action. Most of these verbs express motion or a change of place, state, or condition (that is, going up, going down, going in, going out, or remaining).
These verbs can be remembered by
1. Dr. and Mrs. Vandertrampp live in the house below. Their name may help you memorize the 17 verbs using être. An asterisk (*) denotes an irregular past participle.
2 – Mnemotechnic Methods To Chose Between Être And Avoir: The Hiker A way to help memorizing these verbs is to imagine a hiker coming to a mountain with a house on top:
- Being born in the village (elle est née dans le village)
- then coming here (elle est venue ici) ,
- passing pretty flowers (elle est passée à côté de ces jolies fleurs),
- reaching the bottom of the mountain (elle est arrivée en bas de la montagne),
- climbing on top of the mountain (elle est montée en haut de la montagne),
- then going towards the house (elle est allée vers la maison),
- entering the house (elle est entrée dans la maison),
- staying in the house a bit (elle est restée un peu dans la maison),
- then exiting the house (et puis elle est sortie de la maison),
- going down the mountain (elle est descendue de la montagne),
- falling (elle est tombée)…
- but thankfully without dying (mais heureusement, elle n’est pas morte),
- leaving the mountain (elle est partie de la montagne),
- returning to her village (elle est rentrée dans son village)…
- Verbs whose helping verb is être must show agreement of their past participles in gender (masculine or feminine — add e) and number (singular or plural — add s) with the subject noun or pronoun, as shown in Table 2 :
4. Reflexive verb - Reflexive verbs take Être to form the past tense. eg Je me suis lavé
Surround the avoir or être part with ne and pas
eg Je n'ai pas fini
Je ne suis pas sorti
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The French imperfect (imparfait)
is a descriptive past tense which indicates an ongoing state of being or a repeated or incomplete action. The beginning and end of the state of being or action are not indicated, and the imperfect is very often translated in English as "was" or "was ___-ing." The imperfect can indicate any of the following:
I. Habitual actions or states of being
Quand j'étais petit, nous allions à la plage chaque semaine.
When I was young, we used to go to the beach every week.
L'année dernière, je travaillais avec mon père.
I worked with my father last year.
II. Physical and emotional descriptions: time, weather, age, feelings
Il était midi et il faisait beau.
It was noon and the weather was nice.
Quand il avait 5 ans, il avait toujours faim.
When he was five, he was always hungry.
III. Actions or states of an unspecified duration
Je faisais la queue parce que j'avais besoin de billets.
I stood in line because I needed tickets.
Il espérait te voir avant ton départ.
He was hoping to see you before you left.
IV. Background information in conjunction with the passé composé
J'étais au marché et j'ai acheté des pommes.
I was at the market and I bought some apples.
Il était à la banque quand il l'a trouvé.
He was at the bank when he found it.
V. Wishes or suggestions
Ah ! Si j'étais riche !
Oh, if only I were rich!
Si nous sortions ce soir ?
How about going out tonight?
VI. Conditions in si clauses
Si j'avais de l'argent, j'irais avec toi.
If I had some money, I would go with you.
S'il voulait venir, il trouverait le moyen.
If he wanted to come, he would find a way.
VII. The expressions être en train de and venir de in the past
J'étais en train de faire la vaisselle.
I was (in the process of) doing the dishes.
Il venait d'arriver. He had just arrived
Viii Interrupted/unfinished actions in the past
Il finissait ses devoirs quand son ami est arrive chez lui.
He was doing his homework when his friend arrived at the house.
Forming the imperfect tenseTo form the imperfect tense of all verbs take the nous form of the present tense, eg avoir --> nous avons and drop the nous and the -ons and add the imperfect endings, eg:
- j'avais I had/ was having/ used to have
- tu avais
- il/elle/on avait
- nous avions
- vous aviez
- ils/elles avaient
je regardais I looked/ was looking/ used to look
tu regardais
il/elle/on regardait
nous regardions
vous regardiez
ils/elles regardaient