Unit 3 · Lesson 1
Passé Composé with avoir
The passé composé is the main past tense used in spoken and written French. It describes specific, completed events. Formed with a conjugated auxiliary verb (avoir or être) plus a past participle, it is the first past tense you need to master.
Most verbs use avoir as their auxiliary. Conjugate avoir in the present tense, then add the past participle of the main verb. For -er verbs remove -er and add -é; for -ir verbs remove -ir and add -i; for -re verbs remove -re and add -u.
avoir — present tense (auxiliary)
j'ai — I have
nous avons — we have
tu as — you have
vous avez — you have (pl)
il/elle a — he/she has
ils/elles ont — they have
Past participle formation
-er verbs → remove -er, add -é
parler → parlé | manger → mangé
-ir verbs → remove -ir, add -i
finir → fini | choisir → choisi
-re verbs → remove -re, add -u
vendre → vendu | répondre → répondu
Formula
subject + avoir + past participle
J'ai parlé. — I spoke.
Nous avons fini. — We finished.
Past participles of common verbs
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French
parler
tap to flip
English
parlé: spoken
J'ai parlé avec mon ami hier.: I spoke with my friend yesterday.
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Negation in the passé composé
In negation, ne...pas wraps the auxiliary verb — not the past participle. The structure is: ne + avoir + pas + past participle.
Il n'a pas mangé.
He didn't eat.
Nous n'avons pas fini.
We didn't finish.
Elle n'a pas répondu.
She didn't answer.
Ils n'ont pas vendu.
They didn't sell.
Infinitive → past participle
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Click a French word, then click its English match.
Form the passé composé
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Hint: avoir (j'ai) + past participle of finir (fini)
I finished my homework yesterday evening.
Passé composé with avoir quiz
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How is the passé composé formed?