Le passé composé

Le passé composé:
Describing past actions
Les normes:
Communication 1.2
Comparisons 4.2
Le questions essentielles:
What does the passé composé exrpress?
What is the “formula” for passé composé
(P.C)?
How are the past participles formed for the 3
families of regular verbs?

Le passé composé:
Used to describe completed actions in
the past
Is a compound tense
Two parts = helping verb + past participle
Translation: J’ai parlé = I spoke, I did
speak, I have spoken

The helping verb: Avoir (to have)
J’ai
Tu as
Il/elle/ on a
Nous avons
Vous avez
Ils/elles ont

The past participle:
For –er verbs: Infinitive –er + é
Ex: Parler - parlé
For –ir verbs: Infinitive –ir + i
Ex: Finir - fini
For –re verbs: Infinitive –re + u
Ex: Vendre - vendu

Put it all together: Parler au passé
composé
J’ai parlé***
Tu as parlé
Il/elle/ on a parlé
*** I spoke, I did
speak, I have
spoken,
Nous avons parlé
Vous avez parlé***
Ils/elles ont parlé
*** You spoke, you
did speak, you
have spoken