French 2 / Unit 2: The Passé Composé with Avoir
2.1 Forming the Passé Composé with Avoir
Notes
The passé composé describes a completed action in the past. It has two parts: the present tense of avoir (auxiliary) + the past participle.
- Regular -er: drop -er, add é (parler → parlé). Regular -ir: drop -ir, add i (finir → fini). Regular -re: drop -re, add u (vendre → vendu).
- Example: J'ai parlé. Tu as fini. Elle a vendu sa voiture. Nous avons mangé. Vous avez choisi. Ils ont attendu.
- The passé composé has three English meanings: J'ai mangé = I ate / I have eaten / I did eat.
- With avoir, the past participle does not change for the subject: Elles ont parlé (no extra s).
Practice
How do you say "We sold the bike" in the passé composé?
Vendre is a regular -re verb, so the participle is vendu and the auxiliary is avoir.
What is the past participle of choisir?
Regular -ir verbs form the participle with -i.
Which English sentence can "Elle a regardé un film" mean?
The passé composé is translated as a simple past or present perfect.
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