The compound past tense (past indefinite), more commonly known as the passé composé, refers to an action or event completed in the past. The word “compound” in this tense is important because it tells you that this tense is made up of more than one part: Two elements are needed to form the passé composé: a helping verb (often called an auxiliary verb) and a past participle.
Although the overwhelming majority of French verbs use avoir (to have) as their helping verb, a few verbs use être (to be), and even fewer may use either of these two helping verbs, depending on the meaning the speaker wishes to impart.
To form the passé composé of verbs using avoir, conjugate avoir in the present tense (j'ai, tu as, il a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont) and add the past participle of the verb expressing the action. Elle a expliqué son problème. (She explained her problem.) Ils ont réussi. (They succeeded.) J'ai entendu les nouvelles. (I heard the news.) J'ai travaillé hier. (I worked yesterday.) Il a choisi un bon livre. (He chose a good book.) Ils ont vendu leur maison. (They sold their house.)
Only 17 verbs use être as their helping verb. These verbs generally, but not always, express motion or a change of place, state, or condition, such as going up, going down, going in, going out, or remaining. When être is the helping verb, the past participle must agree in number and gender with the subject; this is done by adding ‐e for a feminine subject and ‐s for a plural subject.
descendre (to go down) rester (to remain)- passer (to pass by) mourir ( to die)- devenir (to become) retourner (to return)- arriver (to arrive) naître (to be born)- partir (to leave) sortir (to go out)- monter (to go up) venir (to come)- aller (to go) entrer (to enter) rentrer (to return) tomber (to fall) revenir (to come back)
Il est rentré. (He returned home.) Elle est née en juin. (She was born in June.) Nous sommes revenus hier. (We came back yesterday.) Elles sont tombées. (They fell.)
LeAnn ______________ (téléphoner) à sa mère. Hier soir, nous ______________ (étudier). Elle _____________ (sortir). Je ___________ (avoir) beaucoup de problèmes. Oscar ______________ (prendre) un coca. Nous ______________ (faire) un voyage l’ été dernier. Je ______________ (aller) au Sénégal. Les étudiants _______________ (travailler) dur. Nous ________________ (aller) au cinéma. Kathy et Zoe _____________ (arriver) à l’heure.
La regle generale: ETRE: on fait l’accord ◦ Feminin singuliere (elle est tombee) ◦ Feminin plurieles (ells sont parties) ◦ Masculin pluriels (ils sont arrives) AVOIR: on ne fait pas l’accord MAIS
Quand le C.O.D. est place devant AVOIR…. 1) J’ai vu Marie – Je l’ai vue (la) J’ai vu les garcons – Je les ai vus 2) Quelle robe as-tu achetee? (quells, quelle, quelles) 3) Combien de livres as-tu lus? (combien de) 4) La maison que nous avons achetee