Passé Composé Flashcards by Jeff erkkila

Q

What are the two most common forms of paste tense?

A

Like English, French has more than one past tense. The two most common are the passé composé (the present perfect in English) and the imparfait (the imperfect).

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

What does passé composé indicate? How is it formed?

A

The passé composé indicates completed action or actions in the past. It is the usual tense that recounts events and incidents, used far more often than the English present perfect (“I have seen that movie”). The French passé composé is also a compound tense. It is formed with the present tense of the auxiliary verbs avoir or être 􏰀 the past participle of the verb showing the action.

•The passé composé of most French verbs is formed with the present tense of the auxiliary verb avoir 􏰀 the past participle of the verb.

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

Passé composé of parler

A

Passé composé of parler

J’ai parlé
Tu as parlé
Il/elle/on a parlé
Nous avons parlé
Vous avez parlé
Ils/elles/ont partlé

The passé composé has several equivalents in English: J’ai parlé can mean I spoke, I have spoken, or I did speak.

Est-ce que tu as parlé avec le prof? (Did you speak with the professor?)
Marie et Blanche ont parlé de l’étude. (Marie and Blanche spoke about the study.)

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

How to conjugate past tense -er verbs

A

To form regular past participles of -er and -ir verbs, the final -r is dropped from the infinitive. For -er verbs, an accent aigu ( ́) is added to the final -e (-é).

acheter=acheté
commencer=commencé
J’ai acheté un DVD. (I bought a DVD.)
Le film a commencé? (Did the movie start?)

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

How to conjugate past tense -ir verbs

A

Regular -ir verbs simply drop the final -r of the infinitive to form the past participle.

choisir=choisi
finir=fini
Jean a choisi un appartement. (Jean chose an apartment.)
Nous avons fini de manger. (We finished eating.)

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

How to conjugate past tense -re verbs

A

To form regular past participles of -re verbs, drop the -re from the in- finitive, and add the letter -u.

attendre=attendu
perdre=perdu
Tu as attendu longtemps? (Did you wait long?)
Elles ont perdu leurs clés. (They lost their keys)
Mon cousin a fini par faire son droit. (My cousin ended up studying law)

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Apercevoir

A

Aperçu

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Avoir

A

Eu

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Boire

A

Bu

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Connaître

A

Connu

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Croire

A

Cru

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Devoir

A

Dû

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Lire

A

Lu

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Obtenir

A

Obtenu

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Paraître

A

Paru

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Plaire

A

Plu

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Pleuvoir

A

Plu

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Pouvoir

A

Pu

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Recevoir

A

Reçu

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Revoir

A

Revu

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Savoir

A

Su

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Tenir

A

Tenu

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Vivre

A

Vécu

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Q

Irregular verbs with past participles

Voir

A

Vu

How well did you know this?

1

Not at all

2

3

4

5

Perfectly

Irregular verbs with past participles | Vouloir

Voulu

Irregular verbs with past participles Apprendre

Appris

Irregular verbs with past participles Comprendre

Compris

Irregular verbs with past participles Prendre

Pris

Irregular verbs with past participles | Promettre

Promis

Irregular verbs with past participles | Mettre

Mis

Irregular verbs with past participles | Remettre

Remis

Irregular verbs with past participles | Permettre

Permis

Irregular verbs with past participles | Conduire

Conduit

Irregular verbs with past participles | Couvrir

Couvert

Irregular verbs with past participles | Découvrir

Découvert

Irregular verbs with past participles | Dire

Dit

Irregular verbs with past participles | Écrire

Écrit

Irregular verbs with past participles | Faire

Fait

Irregular verbs with past participles | Feindre de

Feint

Irregular verbs with past participles | Offrir

Offert

Irregular verbs with past participles | Ouvrir

Ouvert

Irregular verbs with past participles | Produire

Produit

Irregular verbs with past participles | Réduire

Réduit

Irregular verbs with past participles | Souffrir

Souffert

Irregular verbs with past participles | Traduire

Traduit

Irregular verbs with past participles | Dormir

Dormi

Irregular verbs with past participles | Mentir

Menti

Irregular verbs with past participles | Poursuivre

Poursuivi

Irregular verbs with past participles | Rire

Ri

The past participle of être (to be) is

Été Être in the passé composé always uses the auxiliary verb avoir. It can have the meaning of to go, to travel (to). * Ont-ils été en Angleterre au printemps? (Did they go to England in the spring?) * Je n’ai jamais été au Canada. (I have never been to Canada)

Passé composé in the negative

In negative sentences in the passé composé, ne/n’... pas and other negative expressions surround the auxiliary verb. In this type of sentence, rien (noth- ing) and personne (no one, anyone) can follow a preposition. * Nous n’avons pas fait ce devoir. (We didn’t do [haven’t done] that assignment.) * Elle n’a pas dit bonjour. (She didn’t say [hasn’t said] hello) * Je n’ai jamais voyagé en Asie. (I have never traveled in Asia) * Ils n’ont écrit à personne. (They did not write to anyone)

How to ask questions in passé composé

Questions in the passé composé can be made with intonation, est-ce que, and inversion. In questions using inversion, invert the auxiliary verb only and attach the subject pronoun. Noun subjects are repeated by an inverted subject pronoun. * Vous avez lu les romans de Camus? (Have you read Camus’s novels?) * Est-ce que Michel a choisi une voiture? (Did Michel choose a car?) * As-tu vu Hélène? (Did you see Helene?) * Où a-t-il acheté sa voiture? (Where did he buy his car?) * Jean-Luc a-t-il pris son vélo? (Did Jean-Luc take his bike?) * N’ont-ils pas voyagé en Europe? (Didn’t they travel in Europe?)

Adverbs with passé composé

Short adverbs such as déjà (already), souvent (often), and toujours (always) are usually placed between the auxiliary verb and the past * Tu as déjà visité Chartres? (Have you already visited Cartres?) * Nous avons souvent pris du cidre. (We’ve often had cider) * J’ai toujours conduit une Renault. (I’ve always driven a Renault) * On n’a pas beaucoup mangé au déjeuner. (We did not eat much at lunch)

Transition Words | First (of all)

D’abord

Transition Words | Next

Puis Can be used interchangeably with ensuit

Transition Words | And then...

Ensuite...

Transition Words | After that...

Après...

Transition Words | Finally

Enfin/finalement Can be used interchangeably

Transition Words | Yesterday

Hier

Transition Words | Day before yesterday

Avant-hier

Transition Words | Yesterday morning

Hier matin

Transition Words | Yesterday afternoon, yesterday evening

Hier après-midi, heir soir

Transition Words | At that moment

À ce moment-là

Last year (week)

L’année passée

Transition Words | Last week

La semaine passée

Transition Words | (On) that day

Ce jour-là

Transition Words | For, during + period of time

Pendant

(For) how long...?

(Pendant) Combien de temps

Suddenly

Soudain/tout à coup

One day

Un jour

Once (twice...), one time

Une (deux...), une fois

How to express a span of time or what was done during a time period?

When expressing a span of time, or what was done during a time period, use the feminine nouns journée (day), matinée (morning), and soirée (evening), rather than jour, matin, soir. These terms are used with toute (all, the whole). * toute la matinée (journée, soirée) the whole morning (day, evening) * J’ai passé toute la soirée à terminer ce devoir! (I spent the entire evening finishing that assignment!)

Evening

Soirée