The Passé Composé (or The Perfect Tense)

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1 The Passé Composé (or The Perfect Tense)
Avoir as an auxiliary Etre as an auxiliary Reflexive Verbs

2 Forming the Perfect Tense
The passé composé (or the perfect tense or the past tense) is used to describe completed actions in the past. It formed from the following three things: Subject pronouns The Auxiliary Verb – avoir or être* The Past Participle *Most verbs use ‘avoir’ in the past tense apart from a few which use ‘être’

3 + The Perfect Formula + = Je Tu Il Elle On Nous Vous Ils Elles ai as a
mangé = J’ai mangé Subject pronoun Auxiliary Verb Past Participle Completed Phrase Subject Pronouns + Auxiliary Verb Past Participles Je Tu Il Elle On Nous Vous Ils Elles ai as a avons avez ont Regular –ER verbs MANGER  MANG + É = MANGÉ Regular –IR verbs FINIR  FIN + I = FINI Regular –RE verbs VENDRE  VEND + U = VENDU Summary – -ER verbs –é -IR verbs –i -RE verbs -u

4 Elle a écouté de la musique.
Exercice Traduisez les phrases suivantes (en français). I have eaten some chips. ______________________________________________________ We have drunk some tea. They have watched the TV. She has listened to music. Have you finished? J’ai mangé des frites. Nous avons bu du thé. Ils ont regardé la télé. Elle a écouté de la musique. Tu as/As-tu fini?

5 Il a joué au rugby dans le parc.
He has played rugby in the park. _____________________________________________________ You (pl.) have visited the museum. In Spain I spoke Spanish. She hasn’t washed the car. We haven’t done the washing-up Il a joué au rugby dans le parc. Vous avez visité le musée. En Espagne, j’ai parlé en espagnol. Elle n’a pas lavé la voiture. Nous n’avons pas fait la vaisselle.

6 The Perfect Tense with ‘être’
This is formed in the same way as the perfect tense with avoir. However, there are only a specific set of verbs that use ‘être’ as an auxiliary. N.B. There is also an agreement with the subject with ‘être’ verbs.

7 MRS VAN DER TRAMP Verbe en français Verbe en anglais Participe passé
Monter To go up/ascend Rester To stay Sortir To go out Venir To come Arriver To arrive Naître To be born Descendre To go down/descend Entrer To enter Revenir To come back Tomber To fall Rentrer To go back Aller To go Mourir To die Partir To leave

8 To agree or not to agree? That is the question
An example of a verb showing all of the agreements that you need to remember. aller – to go Je suis allé (e) Tu es allé (e) Il est allé Elle est allée Nous sommes allé(e)s Vous êtes allé (e)(s) Ils sont allés Elles sont allées

9 Reflexive Verbs and the Perfect
Reflexive verbs are those where the action is done to ‘oneself,’ i.e. the action reflects back on to the subject/person doing the action. To form the perfect tense with reflexive verbs, you need to remember the following information: Subject pronouns Reflexive pronouns Auxiliary verb – être Past participle Agreement of the past participle

10 Perfect tense with reflexive verbs
A failsafe method Je + me suis lavé(e) = Perfect tense with reflexive verbs Subject pronoun Reflexive pronoun Auxiliary verb Past participle

11 Je me suis souvenu(e) de la guerre civile.
Exercise Translate the following sentences into French. You must write the French and the English. I have remembered the civil war. (se souvenir – to remember) He made his way to school. (se mettre en route – to make one’s way) They have worried about the risk of flu. (s’inquiéter – to worry) What time did you (vous) get up? She felt good about herself/”well in her skin”. (se sentir bien dans sa peau – to feel good about oneself) Les réponses Je me suis souvenu(e) de la guerre civile. Il s’est mis en route à l’école. Ils/Elles se sont inquiété(e)s sur le risque de la grippe. Vous vous êtes levé(e)(s) à quelle heure ? Elle ne s’est pas sentie bien dans sa peau.