FrenchLesson 3 of 4 in the course French verbs

Passé composé: Formation, Auxiliaries, and Agreement

5 flashcards · 4 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

The passé composé is a French past tense used to describe actions that are completed or viewed as completed in the past. This lesson introduces its basic structure and shows how to form past participles.

The passé composé literally means “compound past.” It is used for an action completed at or before the time of speaking, including actions at a specific or unspecified time in the past. In modern French, it often serves much like the English simple past, though it can also correspond to the English present perfect or emphatic past.

All flashcards

What is the basic structure of the passé composé?
A subject followed by a conjugated auxiliary verb and a past participle.
What past meanings can the passé composé express?
It commonly describes completed past actions and may translate as the English simple past or present perfect, depending on context.
How are most -er past participles formed?
Remove -er from the infinitive and add -é, as in parler → parlé.
How are many regular -ir and -re past participles formed?
Many second-group -ir verbs take -i; many -re verbs take -u after their infinitive ending is removed.
How does past-participle agreement generally work with être and avoir?
With être, the participle generally agrees with the subject; with avoir, it generally agrees with a preceding direct object.

Quiz questions

  1. Which sequence describes the basic formation of the passé composé?Answer: Subject + conjugated auxiliary + past participle
  2. In “Il ___ un outil” (“He took out a tool”), which passé composé form of sortir fits the transitive meaning?Answer: a sorti
  3. In “Elle est arrivée,” why does arrivée have a written -e ending?Answer: The subject is feminine singular, and the participle agrees with it.
  4. When “l’” in “Je l’ai vue” refers to the feminine noun “la voiture,” why is vue written with -e?Answer: The preceding direct object is feminine singular.

Based on the Wikipedia article Passé composé, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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