Le Passé Composé the VANDERTRAMP verbs REMINDER: The PC is used to express actions that took place in the past.

Composé=compound The Passé Composé is a 2-part verb tense. COMPOUND! Just like H2O=water,you MUST have both parts of this tense. The auxiliary (in this case, être) The past participle

Now, what’s different about the VANDERTRAMP series? 2 things: These verbs conjugate w/être instead of avoir The past participles of these verbs must AGREE w/the subject in number and gender (add an e to make it feminine; add an s to make it plural; add an es to make it feminine plural)

ETRE—TO BE Je suis nous sommes tu es vous êtes il est ils sont elle est elles sont on est

DRMRSPVANDERTRAMP This is the acronym we use to remember these 17 verbs. Descendre—to descend Rester—to stay Monter—to board, mount, climb Retourner—to return, to turn around Sortir—to go out, exit Passer—to pass by Venir—to come Aller—to go Naître—to be born

Devenir—to become Entrer—to enter Rentrer—to return/re-enter Tomber—to fall Revenir—to come back, to return Arriver—to arrive Mourir—to die Partir—to leave, depart (Remember also the story of the house as a memory tool for these verbs.)

Reminder: Past participles. In English we say I walked I have spoken Reminder: Past participles. In English we say I walked I have spoken. The –ed and –en are past tense endings for those verbs. In French we have to give our verbs past tense endings, too.

PAST PARTICIPLES OF VANDERTRAMP VERBS ALL VANDERTRAMP verbs form their past participles in the normal, regular way, except Venir/devenir/revenir. These drop the –ir and add back a –u: venu, devenu, revenu Mourir=mort (think mortal, mortician) Naître-né

Review of regular formations of past participles of REGULAR VERBS -ER VERBS. Drop the –er and add back –é….parlé -IR VERBS. Drop the –ir and add back –i…..fini -RE VERBS. Drop the –re and add back –u…..vendu

Now add the two together to get your compound verb, the passé composé: BASIC ALLER Je suis allé Nous sommes allés Tu es allé Vous êtes allé Il est allé Ils sont allés

Just as w/other PC verbs, see the translation into English: There are 3 ways to translate the passé composé into English: je suis allé I went I have gone I did go NOTE: Don’t try to force English into the translation!

NOTE! Don’t try to force English into the translation! Just because je suis allé looks like I am gone, it does NOT mean that!

AGREEMENT issues w/the VANDERTRAMP series See the FULL conjugation of ALLER: Je suis allé (male subject) Je suis allée (female subject) Tu es allé (male “you”) Tu es allée (female “you”) Il est allé Elle est allée NOTE: The accent aigu does NOT move from its original e. Just add another e when necessary.

nous sommes allés (all male or mixed “we”) nous sommes allées (all female “we”) vous êtes allé (singular male “you”) vous êtes allée (singular female “you”) vous êtes allés (plural “you” all male or mixed) vous êtes allées (plural “you” all female) ils sont allés (all male, mixed “they”) elles sont allées (all female “they”)

TROUBLE-SHOOTING What’s wrong with the following? They came to my house. Ils sont venu chez moi. She was born in September. Elle est naîtu en septembre. We boarded the train at 9:20. Nous avons montés le train à 9h20.

Corrected: They came to my house. Ils sont venus chez moi. She was born in September. Elle est née en septembre. We boarded the train at 9:20. Nous sommes montés le train à 9h20.

C’est votre tour….it’s your turn… Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the passé composé for the verbs in parentheses. Tu ____________ (sortir) avec Pierre? Je____________ (entrer) le café vietnamien. Il __________ (arriver) mardi, le 12 novembre. Nous __________ (tomber) l’escalier. Vous __________ (devenir) infirmier? Ils __________ (mourir) en Allemagne.

Les réponses correctes: Est-ce que vous avez réussi? Did you succeed? Tu _es sorti avec Pierre? Je__suis entré____ dans le café vietnamien. Il __est arrivé________ mardi, le 12 novembre. Nous _sommes tombés__dans l’escalier. Vous _êtes devenu_________ infirmier? Ils _sont morts_________ en Allemagne.

Re-cap Passé composé=compound past verb tense MUST have 2 parts: auxiliary & past participle Auxiliary is être for VANDERTRAMP verbs Past participles come from the main verb. Regular verbs drop their –er, -ir, -re endings and add back –é, -i, -u respectively. There are 5 VANDERTRAMPs that are irregular: venir, devenir, revenir, mourir, naître The PC translates like this: je suis allé=I went, I have gone, I did go.

Can you name the VANDERTRAMP verbs?

Descendre to descend Retourner to return Monter to climb Revenir to come back, returnPP: revenu Sortir to exit or go out Passer to pass by (physically) Venir to come PP: venu Aller to go Naître to be born PP: né Devenir to become PP: devenu Entrer to enter Rentrer to return Tomber to fall Rester to stay` Arriver to arrive Mourir to die PP: mort Partir to leave (depart)