Formation Check
How do you form the passe compose?
Two-part structure
What this helps with: tense formation
Passe compose
Present tense of avoir OR etre + past participle of the main verb
Most verbs use avoir as auxiliary.
A specific group uses etre (movement/state verbs + all reflexive verbs).
Example (avoir): J’ai mange une pizza.
Example (etre): Je suis alle au parc.
English: I ate a pizza. / I went to the park.
Formation Check
How do you form the past participle of regular -er verbs?
Verbs like parler, manger, donner
What this helps with: regular past participle formation
-er verbs: drop -er, add -e
parler -> parle / manger -> mange / donner -> donne / travailler -> travaille
This is the most common pattern in French.
Example: Elle a travaille toute la journee.
Journee is feminine.
English: She worked all day.
Formation Check
How do you form the past participle of regular -ir verbs?
Verbs like finir, choisir, reussir
What this helps with: regular past participle formation
-ir verbs: drop -ir, add -i
finir -> fini / choisir -> choisi / reussir -> reussi / grandir -> grandi
Example: Il a fini son travail a midi.
Travail is masculine.
English: He finished his work at noon.
Formation Check
How do you form the past participle of regular -re verbs?
Verbs like attendre, repondre, perdre
What this helps with: regular past participle formation
-re verbs: drop -re, add -u
attendre -> attendu / repondre -> repondu / perdre -> perdu / vendre -> vendu
Example: Nous avons attendu le bus pendant vingt minutes.
Bus is masculine.
English: We waited for the bus for twenty minutes.
Formation Check
Which verbs use ETRE as the auxiliary in passe compose?
DR MRS VANDERTRAMP verbs + all reflexives
What this helps with: auxiliary verb selection
DR MRS VANDERTRAMP verbs + all reflexive verbs
Devenir, Revenir / Monter, Rester / Sortir / Venir, Aller, Naitre / Descendre, Entrer, Retourner / Tomber, Rentrer, Arriver, Mourir, Partir
Memory aid: DR MRS VANDERTRAMP
All reflexive verbs (se lever, se coucher, etc.) also use etre.
Example: Elle est arrivee en retard.
Arrivee agrees with elle (feminine) -> -e added.
English: She arrived late.
Formation Check
What is the agreement rule when using ETRE as auxiliary?
Past participle must agree with the subject
What this helps with: etre auxiliary agreement
Past participle agrees with subject in gender and number
Add -e for feminine subject, -s for plural, -es for feminine plural
il est parti / elle est partie / ils sont partis / elles sont parties
Example: Mes soeurs sont arrivees hier soir.
Soeurs is feminine plural -> arrivees.
English: My sisters arrived last night.
Formation Check
What is the agreement rule when using AVOIR as auxiliary?
Past participle usually does NOT agree with subject
What this helps with: avoir auxiliary agreement
No agreement with subject — BUT agrees with a PRECEDING direct object
If the direct object comes before the verb (pronoun or relative clause), the past participle agrees with it
No agreement: J’ai mange la pizza. (pizza comes after)
Agreement: La pizza que j’ai mangee etait delicieuse. (pizza precedes)
Pizza is feminine -> mangee.
English: The pizza I ate was delicious.
Formation Check
How do you form the NEGATIVE passe compose?
Ne…pas wraps the auxiliary
What this helps with: negation in compound tenses
ne + auxiliary + pas + past participle
Ne and pas go around the auxiliary verb, NOT around the past participle
Example: Je n’ai pas mange ce matin.
Example: Elle n’est pas venue hier.
Common error: putting pas after the past participle - incorrect.
English: I didn’t eat this morning. / She didn’t come yesterday.
Formation Check
How do you form a QUESTION in passe compose using inversion?
Inversion in compound tenses
What this helps with: question formation
Invert the subject pronoun and auxiliary verb, keep past participle after
auxiliary-subject + past participle
Example: As-tu mange ? (Did you eat?)
Example: Est-elle arrivee ? (Did she arrive?)
Note: the hyphen between verb and pronoun is required.
English: Did you eat? / Did she arrive?
Usage Decision
Which tense do you use for a completed past action with a specific time reference?
Time markers: hier, ce matin, la semaine derniere, en 2020
What this helps with: passe compose trigger recognition
Passe compose
Key time markers: hier, ce matin, la semaine derniere, l’annee derniere, en + year, il y a + time
Example: Il y a deux ans, j’ai visite le Canada.
Canada is masculine.
English: Two years ago, I visited Canada.
These markers anchor the action to a specific completed moment.
Usage Decision
Which tense is used for an action that happened a specific number of times?
Countable completed occurrences
What this helps with: passe compose for counted events
Passe compose
Signals: une fois, deux fois, plusieurs fois, jamais (with ne)
Example: Je suis alle en France trois fois.
English: I went to France three times.
The action is counted and complete - not ongoing or habitual.
Contrast with imparfait which expresses unlimited repetition.
Usage Decision
Which tense expresses an action that changed or interrupted an ongoing situation?
A new event that breaks into the background
What this helps with: passe compose as the interrupting event
Passe compose
The interrupting event is always passe compose; the ongoing background is always imparfait
Example: Je lisais quand le telephone a sonne.
Lisais = imparfait (background) / a sonne = passe compose (event).
Telephone is masculine.
English: I was reading when the phone rang.
Tense Decision
Conjugate in passe compose:
‘Elle _____ (partir) avant midi.’
Movement verb - which auxiliary?
What this helps with: etre auxiliary with DR MRS VANDERTRAMP
Elle est partie avant midi.
partir uses etre / partie agrees with elle (feminine) -> -e
Partir is a DR MRS VANDERTRAMP verb -> uses etre.
Past participle: parti -> partie (feminine agreement).
Midi is masculine.
English: She left before noon.
Tense Decision
Conjugate in passe compose:
‘Nous _____ (voir) un film hier soir.’
Regular verb with avoir
What this helps with: avoir auxiliary + irregular participle
Nous avons vu un film hier soir.
voir uses avoir / past participle: vu (irregular)
Voir -> vu (irregular past participle).
Film is masculine - no agreement needed (object follows verb).
English: We saw a film last night.
Tense Decision
Conjugate in passe compose:
‘Ils _____ (se lever) a 6 heures.’
Reflexive verb - which auxiliary?
What this helps with: etre with reflexive verbs
Ils se sont leves a 6 heures.
All reflexive verbs use etre / leves agrees with ils (masculine plural) -> -s
Reflexive verbs always use etre in passe compose.
Reflexive pronoun (se) stays before the auxiliary.
Leves agrees with ils (masculine plural).
English: They got up at 6 o’clock.
Tense Decision
Conjugate in passe compose:
‘Tu _____ (prendre) un cafe ce matin ?’
Irregular past participle with avoir
What this helps with: pris as past participle
Tu as pris un cafe ce matin ?
prendre uses avoir / past participle: pris (irregular)
Prendre -> pris (irregular).
Cafe is masculine - no agreement needed.
Question formed with intonation (voice rise) - simplest spoken form.
English: Did you have a coffee this morning?
Tense Decision
Conjugate in passe compose:
‘Vous _____ (naitre) en quelle annee ?’
Etre verb - agreement with vous
What this helps with: etre verb agreement with vous
Vous etes ne(s) en quelle annee ?
naitre uses etre / ne agrees with vous - add -s if plural, -e if feminine singular
Naitre -> ne (past participle).
Vous can be singular or plural, masculine or feminine.
Vous etes nes (plural masc) / vous etes nees (plural fem) / vous etes ne (sing masc) / vous etes nee (sing fem).
English: What year were you born?
Translation Practice
Translate: ‘I forgot my keys this morning.’
Single completed event today
What this helps with: passe compose production
J’ai oublie mes cles ce matin.
oublier -> oublie (regular -er) / avoir auxiliary
Oublier is regular: oublie.
Cles is feminine plural - no agreement because object follows verb.
Ce matin = specific completed timeframe -> passe compose.
English: I forgot my keys this morning.
Translation Practice
Translate: ‘My parents got married in 1985.’
Reflexive verb in passe compose
What this helps with: reflexive verb passe compose production
Mes parents se sont maries en 1985.
se marier = reflexive -> etre auxiliary / maries agrees with parents (masculine plural)
Se marier is reflexive -> etre auxiliary.
Maries agrees with mes parents (masculine plural) -> -s.
En + year = passe compose time marker.
English: My parents got married in 1985.
Translation Practice
Translate: ‘Did she call you?’
Question in passe compose
What this helps with: question formation
Est-ce qu’elle t’a appele(e) ? OR T’a-t-elle appele(e) ?
appeler uses avoir / t’ = te (direct object) / agreement depends on gender of person called
Two question forms: est-ce que (simpler) or inversion (formal).
T’ = te (before vowel) = direct object pronoun.
Agreement: appele(e) depends on gender of person being called.
English: Did she call you?
Translation Practice
Translate: ‘We went to the restaurant and ate well.’
Two completed sequential actions
What this helps with: passe compose for sequences
Nous sommes alles au restaurant et nous avons bien mange.
aller uses etre (alles, masc plural) / manger uses avoir (mange)
Two separate completed actions -> both passe compose.
Alles agrees with nous (masculine plural assumed) -> -s.
Restaurant is masculine.
English: We went to the restaurant and ate well.
Translation Practice
Translate: ‘She fell down and hurt herself.’
Etre verb + reflexive verb
What this helps with: two etre-auxiliary verbs in sequence
Elle est tombee et elle s’est fait mal.
tomber uses etre (tombee - feminine) / se faire mal is reflexive (etre auxiliary)
Tombee agrees with elle (feminine) -> -e.
Se faire mal = to hurt oneself. Fait does not agree here (special case: faire in se faire mal is invariable).
English: She fell down and hurt herself.
Translation Practice
Translate: ‘Have you ever been to Japan?’
Ever/never with passe compose
What this helps with: jamais/deja with passe compose
Tu es deja alle(e) au Japon ? / Est-ce que tu es deja alle(e) au Japon ?
aller uses etre / deja = already/ever (in questions) / agreement with subject gender
Deja in a question = ever.
Jamais in a negative = never: Je ne suis jamais alle au Japon.
Japon is masculine -> au (a + le).
English: Have you ever been to Japan?
Irregular Recognition
Give the passe compose of these 5 key verbs:
avoir / etre / faire / prendre / voir
Five most common irregular past participles
What this helps with: high-frequency irregular verb recall
j’ai eu / j’ai ete / j’ai fait / j’ai pris / j’ai vu
eu / ete / fait / pris / vu - all use avoir
These five come up constantly in spoken French.
Memorise them as a group.
Example drill: Qu’est-ce que tu as fait hier ? J’ai vu un film et j’ai pris un verre avec des amis.
Verres is masculine.
English: What did you do yesterday? I saw a film and had a drink with friends.
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1.1 Irregular Verbs & Conjugations (Present Tense)26
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1.2 Irregular Past Participles27
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1.3 Imparfait: Formation & Usage25
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1.4 Passé Composé: Formation & Usage25
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1.5 Passé Composé vs. Imparfait: Side by Side23
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1.6 Passé Composé vs. Imparfait (Decision Drills)20
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1.7 Adjective Agreement21
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1.8 Object Pronouns22
