How the passé composé is built
The passé composé is the French past tense for completed actions. It covers both I ate and I have eaten. Like the English present perfect, it is built from two parts: a conjugated auxiliary and the past participle (participe passé).
The participle of -er verbs, the biggest group, ends in -é: parler → parlé, manger → mangé. The other verb groups end differently (il a fini), more on this later.
How it sounds
J'ai mangé une pizza.
I ate a pizza. / I have eaten a pizza.
Tu as parlé avec Marie ?
Did you speak with Marie? / Have you spoken with Marie?
Il a fini son travail.
He finished his work. / He has finished his work.
All persons
Only avoir changes with the person. The participle stays the same, and it does not agree with the subject either: il a mangé, elle a mangé.
manger (to eat) – passé composé
| Person | Passé composé |
|---|---|
| je | j'ai mangé |
| tu | tu as mangé |
| il / elle / on | il a mangé |
| nous | nous avons mangé |
| vous | vous avez mangé |
| ils / elles | ils ont mangé |
avoir + mangé
Ce matin, j'ai mangé un croissant.
This morning I ate a croissant.
Elle a regardé un film.
She watched a movie.
Nous avons acheté un livre.
We bought a book.
Which auxiliary?
Nous avons dormi huit heures.
We slept for eight hours.
Ils ont travaillé toute la journée.
They worked all day.
Negation and questions
In the negative, ne … pas wraps around the auxiliary, not the participle. The participle comes after. French has no equivalent of did: I did not eat is simply je n'ai pas mangé.
Je n'ai pas mangé.
I did not eat. / I have not eaten.
Nous n'avons pas dormi.
We did not sleep.
Elle n'a pas fini ses devoirs.
She did not finish her homework.
Questions work as in the present: rising intonation or est-ce que. Again there is no did: the auxiliary comes before the participle.
Tu as mangé ?
Did you eat? / Have you eaten?
Est-ce que vous avez fini ?
Have you finished?
