Chapitre Cinq
Le passé composé avec avoir
Exercice 5.28 - 5.29
Le passé composé avec avoir
Le passé composé is one of the most useful ways to talk about the past because it is so commonly used in French. To form le passé composé, we must have two different parts: either the verb être or avoir (depending on the action word) and the past participle. There is another past tense, l’imparfait, which works together with the passé composé frequently. We will learn more about this in a later chapter. For now, we are going to focus on the passé composé with avoir.
Le passé composé is used to discuss events in the past that were:
- one-time occurrences
- completed actions or completed series of actions
- interrupting actions
- actions confined to a specific time period
Le passé composé encompasses three different meanings in English. Look at the following examples:
Je me suis promené.e. I walked. I have walked. I did walk.
J’ai pris un croque monsieur. I ate/I did eat a croque monsieur. I have eaten a croque monsieur.
There are several different endings for the participes passés: -é, -i, and -u, are the most common. Others are -is, -it,-ert, -nt. Start to memorize the most common ones, and double-check your spellings against a reliable source, such as a good online dictionary with a conjugation component. Here are a few common verbs:
Modèles :
- La première fois que je suis allée au Mexique, j'ai suivi un cours de yoga. J’ai aussi appris à faire un poirier sur la plage. C’était difficile, mais j’ai réussi.
- Édouard est sorti de la ville pour passer du temps dans la nature. Il a voyagé au Canada et il a visité les montagnes. Il a pris deux semaines de vacances. Il est revenu hier.
Forming les participes passés
-ER verbs in French drop the ending and add -é to the stem to become the past participle.
Note: the pronunciation of the past participle for-ER verbs is the same as the pronunciation of the infinitive. Spelling is key!
-RE verbs in French drop the ending and add -u to the stem to become the past participle.
Note: there are lots of irregulars in this category
Exercice 5.28
Exercice 5.29
to be
this word has two separate meanings
1. summer
2. the past participle of être, "been"
to choose
past participle of choisir, "chosen"
to take in/to take
past participle of prendre, "taken"
to say
past participle of dire, "said"
to do
past participle of faire, "made/done"
to drink
past participle of boire, "drank/drunk"
to open
past participle of ouvrir, "opened"
to have
past participle of avoir, "had"
to paint
past participle of peindre, "painted"
the first time
what
I went
to/in Mexico
I took a yoga class
I also learned
at
a headstand
on the beach
it was hard
but
I succeeded/I did it
left the city
in order to spend some time in nature
he traveled to Canada
and
he visited the mountains
he took two weeks of vacation
he returned yesterday
he spoke
she danced
we forgot
I ate an apple this afternoon
they finished their homework
to catch hold of; to detain; to hold back
past participle of retenir, "caught hold of, detained, held back"
to run
past participle of courir, "run/ran"
to come
past participle of venir, "come/came"
to cover
past participle of couvrir, "covered"
to save
past participle of secourir, "saved, rescued"
I visited my friends in Europe
to learn
past participle of apprendre, "learned"
to understand
past participle of comprendre, "understood"
to drive
past participle of conduire, "driven/drove"
to know (a person, place, or work of art)
this word has two meanings:
famous/known
past participle of connaître, "knew/known"
to write
past participle of écrire, "wrote, written"
to put/to place
past participle of mettre, "placed, put"
I didn't finish breakfast today
I took the train to Normandy in July
