How to Use the Past Tense in French

Practice forming and using the passé composé often, especially the verbs that use 'être' and irregular past participles, to fully internalize them.

The passé composé is a past tense in French used to express actions that have happened in the past.

The two auxiliary verbs used are 'avoir' (to have) and 'être' (to be).

To form the past participle of regular -er verbs, remove the -r and add an é with an accent (e.g., 'parler' becomes 'parlé').

'We ate' is 'nous avons mangé,' using the auxiliary 'avoir' conjugated as 'nous avons' and the past participle 'mangé.'

For regular -ir verbs, remove the -r and the past participle ends in -i (e.g., 'finir' becomes 'fini').

For regular -re verbs, replace the -re ending with -u (e.g., 'vendre' becomes 'vendu').

Certain verbs, often verbs of movement or change of state like 'aller' (to go), 'venir' (to come), 'arriver' (to arrive), 'tomber' (to fall), and others, use 'être' as their auxiliary.

'I arrived' is 'je suis arrivé,' using 'être' as the auxiliary.

The past participle of 'avoir' is 'eu.'

The past participle of 'être' is 'été.'

'I have had' is 'j'ai eu.'

'Dire' (to say/tell) becomes 'dit' in the past participle.

The past participle of 'venir' is 'venu.'

The past participle of 'ouvrir' is 'ouvert.'

The past participle of 'connaître' is 'connu.'

The past participle of 'voir' is 'vu.'

Yes, especially those formed with 'être' as auxiliary (and some exceptions), the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject.

By practicing them in conversation until they sound natural and are internalized.

Learn and practice the irregular past participles and study the rules for agreement in gender and number.

Practice forming and using the passé composé often, especially the verbs that use 'être' and irregular past participles, to fully internalize them.

The passé composé is a past tense in French used to express actions that have happened in the past.