Perfect Tense in French (Passe Compose) - Grades 10 - 11 (1)

LEÇON : LE PASSÉ COMPOSÉ (aka Perfect Tense)
CLASSE : GRADES 10 & 11 (TROISIÈME ET SECONDE)
What is the PASSÉ COMPOSÉ?
A COMPOUND PAST TENSE in French that describes
a COMPLETED past action. It is usually accompanied
by a specified time, date etc.
OBJECTIVES:
This lesson focuses on the use of the Passé compose
in the Affirmative: ‘I ate’, ‘I have eaten’, ‘I did eat’.
In another lesson, we will learn how to structure a
sentence in the NEGATIVE using this compound past
tense.

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At the end of this lesson, students should be able to:
▪ Identify the Passé Composé (Present Perfect) in French.
▪ Employ it to describe what they did last week.
Let’s go! On y va!
FORMATION OF THE PASSÉ COMPOSÉ:
As seen in the image above, the PASSÉ COMPOSÉ is formed
using the Present Tense of ONE of the Auxiliary Verbs,
‘AVOIR’ (to have) or ‘ÊTRE’ (to be) and the PAST
PARTICIPLE of the main verb.
• It resembles the PRESENT PERFECT in English which is
formed as follows: ‘Subject + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE’
→ I have spoken > J’ai parlé (in French)

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→ You have left > Tu es parti(e)
• It is also equivalent to the English SIMPLE PAST
→ I spoke > J’ ai parlé
→ You left > Tu es parti(e)
• As well as the English EMPHATIC PAST
→ I did speak > J’ ai parlé
→ You did leave > Tu es parti(e)
FORMATION OF THE PAST PARTICIPLE:
In French, verbs may be placed into THREE categories, ‘ER’,
‘IR’ and ‘RE’. The image above shows how the past participle
is generally formed for EACH.
For ‘ER’ verbs, the past participle is formed typically by
dropping the ‘R’ from the Infinitive form (the unconjugated
form) of the verb, then adding an acute accent above the
letter ‘e’. So that ‘e’ → ‘é’.

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For verbs ending in ‘IR’, such as ‘FINIR’, we remove the final
‘r’ to get the past participle of the verb; FINIR → FINI.
Finally, for those verbs ending in ‘RE’, we remove the ‘RE’
ending, then add ‘u’, RÉPONDRE → RÉPONDU.
Most verbs in French, are conjugated with the auxiliary verb
‘AVOIR’. Those conjugated with ‘ÊTRE’, include ALL
PRONOMINAL VERBS (which can be identified by the
PRONOUN ‘SE’ appearing in front of them, e.g. ‘Se doucher’
= to shower one’s self, ‘Se souvenir’ = to remember.
Below is the complete conjugation of the verbs ‘DANSER’ (to
dance) and ‘PARTIR’ (to leave, depart), in the PASSÉ
COMPOSÉ. NOTICE, that for Verbs conjugated with the
auxiliary verb ‘ÊTRE’, the PAST PARTICIPLE agrees with the
subject in number (singular – plural) - by adding ‘s’ at the end
to make it plural; as well as gender (masculine – feminine) –
by adding ‘e’ to make it feminine. See the image below:

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Now let us have a look at REFLEXIVE VERBS in the Passé
Composé. Below is the complete conjugation of the verb ‘Se
reposer’ (to rest, relax, take a break). Notice that between
the subject pronoun and the auxiliary verb, ‘Être’,
(conjugated in the Present Tense), there is a ‘Reflexive
Pronoun. (me/m’, te/t’ etc.). These pronouns accompany all
PRONOMINAL (which includes ‘Reflexive’) Verbs.
REMEMBER: