Replace the infinitive ending
The participe passé (past participle) is the verb form you combine with an auxiliary to build the passé composé: j'ai parlé, tu as fini, il a vendu. Like English -ed, it is formed with an ending, but French has three. For regular verbs you drop the infinitive ending and add the participle ending to the stem. Which ending depends on the verb group, not on the person.
Verbs in -er → -é
Most French verbs end in -er. Their participle is always regular: the stem stays and the ending becomes -é.
Nous avons mangé au restaurant.
We ate at the restaurant.
manger
Elle a regardé un film hier soir.
She watched a movie last night.
regarder
Tu as acheté un billet ?
Did you buy a ticket?
acheter
Verbs in -ir → -i
Most -ir verbs form the participle with -i: stem plus -i. This holds for verbs like finir and choisir as well as for dormir → dormi.
Elle a choisi une robe rouge.
She chose a red dress.
choisir
J'ai réussi mon examen.
I passed my exam.
réussir
Il a dormi dix heures.
He slept for ten hours.
dormir
Verbs in -re → -u
Regular -re verbs such as vendre, attendre, répondre and perdre form the participle with -u. Many other common -re verbs are irregular, for example prendre → pris.
Ils ont attendu le bus.
They waited for the bus.
attendre
J'ai perdu mes clés.
I lost my keys.
perdre
Elle a vendu sa voiture.
She sold her car.
vendre
